"Walking the Floor Over You" is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

song written by

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, " Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...

, recorded on April 26, 1941 in Fort Worth, Texas, and released in the United States that year. Allmusic entry for Walking the Floor Over YouRetrieved 14 May 2012 The original version included only Tubb's vocals and acoustic guitar accompanied by "Smitty" Smith on electric guitar. Tubb later re-recorded the song with his band, the Texas Troubadours. The original single became a hit, reaching the number-23 spot in the charts in 1941 but eventually the song sold over a million copies. Critic David Vinopal called "Walking the Floor Over You" the first

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

song that launched the musical genre itself. Tubb's version is heard on the soundtrack of the 1980 film '' Coal Miner's Daughter''. In 2022, the single was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

for preservation in the United States

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Other recordings

Ernest Tubb himself re-recorded the song several times during his career, with those versions recorded in 1944, 1959, 1963, and 1977. Additionally, Tubb recorded another version with

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled a ...

in 1979; that version reached number 31 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart that fall. * Bing Crosby recorded the song for Decca Records on May 27, 1942, with Bob Crosby's Bob Cats. *

Georgia Gibbs Georgia Gibbs (born Frieda Lipschitz; August 17, 1918December 9, 2006) was an American popular singer and vocal entertainer rooted in jazz. Already singing publicly in her early teens, Gibbs achieved acclaim and notoriety in the mid-1950s interp ...

recorded the song as "I'm Walking the Floor Over You" in 1957 and it charted briefly in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the number-92 spot. *

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

recorded the song in 1959, and it had a modest success reaching number 44 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and #39 in the UK charts in 1960. * Patti Page included the song on her album ''Patti Page Sings Country And Western Golden Hits'' (1961) *

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

included the song on her album ''Songs Everybody Knows'' (1961) *

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting '' The Glen Campbell Good ...

included the song on his album '' Too Late to Worry – Too Blue to Cry'' (1963). *

Mississippi John Hurt John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), better known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer and guitarist. Raised in Avalon, Mississippi, Hurt taught himself to play the guitar around the age of nine. He w ...

performed a cover of the song in his recordings for the

in 1963. *

George Hamilton IV George Hege Hamilton IV (July 19, 1937 – September 17, 2014) was an American country musician. He began performing in the late 1950s as a teen idol, switching to country music in the early 1960s. Biography Hamilton was born in Winston-Salem, ...

recorded the song for his album ''Mister Sincerity ..... A Tribute To Ernest Tubb'' (1965). *

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

recorded the song for his album ''My Country'' in 1966. *

recorded the song for his album '' Strangers'' in 1965. *

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

recorded the song during sessions for her album ''

The North Star Grassman and the Ravens ''The North Star Grassman and the Ravens'' is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, ''The North Star Grassman and the Ravens'' is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpe ...

'' (1971).Clinton Heylin. No More Sad Refrains - The Life and Times of Sandy Denny. London, Helter Skelter, 2002. ISBN 1-900924-35-8 p138.

References

Ernest Tubb songs Glen Campbell songs Songs written by Ernest Tubb Merle Haggard songs 1941 songs 1941 singles United States National Recording Registry recordings Decca Records singles {{1940s-country-song-stub

Other recordings

See also

References