Song of the Day 2/12: Johnny Horton, “Young Abe Lincoln”

If you’re old enough, you might remember Feb. 12 as a holiday, Lincoln’s Birthday. At least it was in Delaware – it never was a federal holiday, though most Northern states observed it, despite it falling just 10 days before what was a federal holiday, Washington’s Birthday.

All that was swept away when Nixon declared in 1970 that we would have Presidents Day instead. Most states bundle the two together into a floating holiday on the third Monday in February, though Delaware nowadays doesn’t celebrate any president at all. I guess Nixon thought he’d look better if we forgot about Washington and Lincoln, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why Trump wants to ditch the penny.

In 1960 country singer Johnny Horton, fresh off his success with “The Battle of New Orleans,” released a whole LP of history story-songs, “Johnny Horton Makes History.” It included this tune about Honest Abe.

Horton’s wasn’t the first song called “Young Abe Lincoln.” Just five years earlier crooner Don Cornell released a song of the same name by Tin Pan Alley songwriters. It made Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 25, but fell off the chart entirely a week later. It still holds the distinction of the highest debut for a single that spent only one week on the chart.