"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song, written by Jimmy Driftwood and popularized by country music singer Johnny Horton, based on Andrew Jackson's exploits at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. James Corbitt Morris (20 June 1907 - July 12, 1998) – better known as Jimmy Driftwood or Jimmie Driftwood – was a prolific United States folk songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs The Battle of New Orleans and Tennessee Stud. ... Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music. ... John Gale Johnny Horton (April 30, 1925–November 5, 1960) was an American country music singer. ... Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845), was the seventh President of the United States (1829-1837), hero of the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a founder of the Democratic Party, and the eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Commanders Edward Pakenham † John Lambert Andrew Jackson Strength 11,000–14,500 4,000–6,000 Casualties 2,036 71 The Battle of New Orleans, also known as the Battle of Chalmette Plantation, took place on January 8, 1815, during the War of 1812, when... The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and United Kingdom from 1812 to 1815, on land in North America and at sea around the world. ...

For other uses of the name, see Battle of New Orleans (disambiguation) Two battles and a song have the name Battle of New Orleans. ...

History

The melody has its roots in a well-known American fiddle tune The 8th of January, which was the date of the Battle of New Orleans. Jimmy Driftwood, a school principal in Arkansas with a passion for history, set a historical account of the battle to this music in an attempt to get students interested in learning history. It worked, and Driftwood became well known in the region for his historical songs. He was "discovered" in the late 1950s by Don Warden, and eventually signed to a recording contract by RCA, for whom he recorded 12 songs in 1958, including The Battle of New Orleans. Old-time music, a traditional style of American music, has roots in Irish, Scottish and African folk music. ... Official language(s) English Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 29th 137,732 km² 385 km 420 km 2. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: History History studies the past in human terms. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Johnny Horton was a little-known country musician living near Nashville, Tennessee at the time. He heard the song on the radio one night in 1959 and told Columbia, his label, he wanted to record it. By summer, his recording had shot to the top of both the country and pop music charts. Jimmy Driftwood won a Grammy for Song of the Year, and Horton won a Grammy for Best Country and Western Performance. The Nashville skyline Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the 1979 song by M, see Pop Muzik. ... Grammy Award statuette The Grammy Awards, presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music Awards, the American Music...

A new parody version was written in refrence to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Parodies

• The Battle of All Saints Road - Big Audio Dynamite, 1988
• The Battle of Kookamonga [1] - Homer and Jethro, 1959
• The Battle of the Waikato [2] - Howard Morrison Quartet, 1960
• The Battle of Tora Bora [3] - Sharon Longworth
• Goin' Postal [4] - Linda Koski and Larry Franks
• The Ballad of Fetteh Shmeel - Country Yossi and the Shteeble Hoppers

Big Audio Dynamite is the primary musical outlet of Mick Jones, formerly of punk pioneers The Clash. ... Homer and Jethro were an American country music team with a long career from the 1940s through the 1960s, sometimes known as the thinking mans hillbillies, specializing in comedy records and satirical versions of popular songs. ...

External links

• Tom Simon's Battle of New Orleans page
• The Bluegrass Messengers history and recordings
• MIDI file of music (from Louisiana History, which includes Johnny Horton's lyrics)
• Library of Congress page, includes recording of The Eighth of January