Editing The Big Rock Candy Mountains (section)

==History==
The song was first recorded by McClintock, also known by his "hobo" name of Haywire Mac. McClintock said that he wrote the song, though it was likely partially based on other ballads, including "[[An Invitation to Lubberland]]" and "The Appleknocker's Lament".  Other popular itinerant songs of the day such as "Hobo's Paradise", "Hobo Heaven", "Sweet Potato Mountains", and "Little Streams of Whiskey" likely served as inspiration, as they mention concepts similar to those in "Big Rock Candy Mountain".<ref>{{cite book |title=Nowhere in America: the Big Rock Candy Mountain and Other Comic Utopias |last=Rammel |first=Hal |year=1990 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252017179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UD26WT4XVUsC&q=%22big+rock+candy+mountain%22 |access-date=September 23, 2010}}</ref> "The Big Rock Candy Mountains", along with its A-side "The Bum Song—No. 2", was first recorded on September 6, 1928, in [[Hollywood, California]].<ref name="Country Music Records" /> [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] released the single on November 16, 1928, with the artist name "Mac (Harry McClintock)".<ref name="Talking Machine" />

Before recording the song, McClintock cleaned it up considerably from the version he sang as a street [[busking|busker]] in the 1890s. Originally the song described a child being recruited into hobo life by tales of the "big [[rock candy]] mountain". In later years, when McClintock appeared in court as part of a copyright dispute, he cited the original words of the song, the last stanza of which was:

{{Poemquote|The punk rolled up his big blue eyes
And said to the [[wikt:jocker|jocker]], "Sandy,
I've hiked and hiked and wandered too,
But I ain't seen any candy.
I've hiked and hiked till my feet are sore
And I'll be damned if I hike any more
To be * * * * * * * * 
In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.}}

The lyrics of the missing line have not been made public; in the released version the entire verse was omitted.<ref>{{cite book |title=Harry Partch, Hobo Composer |last=Granade |first=S Andrew |year=2014 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=9781580464956 |pages=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktEwBQAAQBAJ&q=%22big+rock+candy+mountain%22+sore+whore&pg=PA205 |access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref>

The song was not popularized until 1939, when it peaked at #1 on [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' magazine's]] country music charts.<ref>Billboard June 24, 1939, p. 127</ref>  But it achieved more widespread popularity in 1949 when a sanitized version intended for children was re-recorded by [[Burl Ives]].  It has been recorded by many artists throughout the world, but a version recorded in 1960 by [[Dorsey Burnette]] to date was the biggest success for the song in the post-1954 "rock era", having reached No. 102 on Billboard's chart.

The most famous version has this refrain:

{{Poemquote|Oh, the buzzin' of the bees in the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs and the bluebird sings
In that Big Rock Candy Mountain.}}

Sanitized versions have been popular, especially with [[children's music]]ians; in these, the "[[cigarette]] trees" become [[peppermint]] trees, and the "streams of [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]" trickling down the rocks become streams of [[lemonade]]. The lake of [[whiskey]] becomes a lake of [[soft drink|soda pop]].