Music: King Davy & Friends

Summer’s heat waves proved too much for many a coonskin cap. but Davy Crockett has summer’s sound waves well in hand. The Ballad of Davy Crockett with a flash sale of some 7,000,000 records seems on the way to the summit of non-seasonal sales.* Davy is undisputed King of the Wild Frontier in three cold-cash categories—Popular. Western and Kiddie.

And behind the giant strides of Davy came the clowns.

Pancho Lopez (Lalo Guerrero; Real), a parody in a Mexican accent that originated on the West Coast, has sold more than 200,000 records: Born in Chihuahua in 1903 On a serape out under a tree, He was so fat he could almost not see, He could eat 12 tacos when he was only three ! Pancho, Pancho Lopez, the pride of old Mexico.

Out of Manhattan’s Lower East Side came a Yiddish-speaking frontiersman named Duvid Crockett (Mickey Katz; Capitol), who has also sold more than 200,000 disks:

Born in the wilds of Delancey Street, Home of gefilte fish and kosher meat, Handy with a knife, oh herr sack tzi [listen with care], Flicked [plucked] him a chicken when he was only three! Duvid, Duvid Crockett, King of Delancey Street.

Hillbilly-humor lovers have already bought more than 110,000 recordings of the month-old Ballad of Davy Crew-cut (Homer & Jethro; RCA Victor):

Born in a taxicab in Tennessee, Slowest cab that you ever did see, Warmed up his bottle and he took him a nip — He didn’t even leave the driver a tip! Davy, Davy Crewcut, the cat with the coonskin cap.

Texas bubble-gum snappers have their own violent version, as yet mercifully unrecorded :

Born on a tabletop in Joe’s Café, The dirtiest place in the U.S.A., Killed his paw with TNT . Killed his maw with DDT . . .

* White Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer can count on selling each December.