Really nice toe-tapper of a tune from Ferlin Husky during a brief period in the dawning Rocket Age when he was on Cincinnati’s King Records:
“Electrified Donkey”
Ferlin Husky
(1959)
“Electrified Donkey” was the album closer on Ferlin’s 1959 King LP, Ferlin Husky, as well as the A-side of a 45 released in April 1961 on King.
1959 LP
(King 647)
The odd thing about this album is that it appears to have been released twice in 1959 with the same catalog number but different title — Country Tunes Sung From the Heart — and cover art.
1959 LP
(King 647)
However, it needs to be pointed out – as noted in Michel Ruppli’s recording session notes – that all of Ferlin’s King releases appear to have been leased from another label, 4 Star, (later acquired by King), and thus not likely to have been recorded in Cincinnati. In fact, according to PragueFrank researchers, “Electrified Donkey” was recorded as Terry Preston in Hollywood, California as early as 1951 —
Q = Does this mean 4 Star simply sat on the recording until Syd Nathan’s acquisition of the label resulted in the song’s vinyl debut in 1959?
Johnny Horton would dress up “Electrified Donkey” with a roots rockin’ backbeat — released by Columbia in November 1959 as the flip side of “They Shined Up Rudolph’s Nose.”
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LINK to “Twin Guitar Polka”
