Born Clarence Albert Poindexter on May 4, 1905, Al Dexter penned the lyrics to “Pistol Packin’ Mama and adapted the melody of an old folk song. Sung by American slaves from Niger, “Boil Them Cabbage Down” tells of a slave breakfast: “Boil them cabbage down, down. Turn them hoe cakes round, round. The only song that I can sing is, boil them cabbage down.”

Mr. Dexter owned a bar, where he helped popularize “honky-tonk” music. He may have been the first country singer to use the term on a record, “Honky Tonk Blues,” during his first recording session, on 11/28/36.

“Pistol Packin’ Mama”, by Al Dexter and His Troopers, tells the story of a cheating man and his incensed paramour, who confronts him. A cover by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters in 1943 was the first song to top the Juke Box Folk Records Chart, which later became the Hot Country Songs Chart. Mr. Dexter’s version placed second.

Before Mr. Dexter passed away on January 28, 1984, he recorded a number of country hits, including one called, “Polka Guitar.” But “Pistol Packin’ Mama was his greatest hit, earning him almost $250,000 in royalties from its use in the film of the same name. The flip side of that record, “Rosalita”, also topped the chart.

Mr. Dexter was the first country singer to perform on Broadway and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and, posthumously, into the Texas Country Music Hall Of Fame.

For the record, in the original version, Mama used the pistol.

More Info: www.luftex.com