"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" is the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the television series ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

'' and the later movie of that name, providing the introductory story for the series. The song was composed by

Paul Henning Paul William Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American TV producer and screenwriter. Most famous for creating the television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', he was also crucial in developing the "rural" comedies ''Pett ...

, and recorded first by bluegrass musicians

Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs Flatt and Scruggs were an American bluegrass music, bluegrass duo. Singer and guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs, both of whom had been members of Bill Monroe's band, the Bluegrass Boys, from 1945 to 1948, formed the duo in 1948 ...

, with Lester Flatt singing. The single phono-album version, released for radio and retail sale, merges both the beginning and ending lyrics of the theme song of the television series. The beginning theme comprises the first two verses (starting with "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed" and "Well the first thing you know, old Jed's a millionaire"), and the ending theme is the third verse ("Now it's time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin..."). A banjo-dominated sequence occurs between verses and as the ending fade-out. The song was sung by

Jerry Scoggins Jerry Scoggins (September 30, 1911 – December 7, 2004) was an American country/western singer, guitarist, and band leader. He performed on radio, in movies, and on television from the 1930s thru the 1980s. He was noted for his work with Gene ...

for the beginning of the series, with instruments played by Flatt and Scruggs. Although the first two seasons of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' lapsed into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" did not and is typically edited from public-domain releases of these episodes.

History

"The Ballad of Jed Clampett" was written by producer and writer Paul Henning. It was performed by

. At Louise Scruggs' suggestion, the song was released as a single. It was later included on an album, ''Hard Travelin''.

Charts

Beginning on December 8, 1962, the song spent 20 weeks on the Billboard country singles charts, scoring a maximum of number one for three weeks and scored #44 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

during 1962. It was the first bluegrass record to top the Billboard country charts. The song remained one of the best-selling and well-known bluegrass songs into the 21st century.

Adaptations

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

merged the first two stanzas of the ''Ballad'' with the instrumentals to the

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...

song " Money for Nothing" for his 1989 single "

Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a cover of " Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits with the lyrics replaced by those of ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' theme song. The music video, which appeared as pa ...

", which was composed for his movie '' UHF.'' During the late 1970s, the television series ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' featured a spoof of the ''Beverly Hillbillies'' as a skit about a wealthy family from an oil-rich Mideastern country relocating to Southern California. The theme song for the skit was termed "The Bel-Arabs." During

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

's presidential administration, ''

'' staged a spoof of the song, substituting Clinton's name for Jed Clampett's and changing the destination from Beverly Hills to the White House.

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

virtuoso

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

often plays the ballad in concert. Fleck also accompanied Scruggs for a re-recording of the song for the 1993

movie adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of ''The Beverly Hillbillies.'' On August 13, 2009, national broadcaster ''Q&A'' featured a spoof version of the song lampooning the then leader of the

Australian Liberal Party The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Austr ...

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

Stefan Sojka Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

- Bellevue Hillbilly - making fun of his wealth, his relative unpopularity and his admission that he once tried

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

Chart performance

Media

References

Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballad of Jed Clampett Songs about fictional male characters 1962 songs 1963 singles Bluegrass songs Flatt and Scruggs songs Glen Campbell songs Comedy television theme songs The Beverly Hillbillies Song recordings produced by Don Law