Ben Colder was the alter ego of singer Sheb Wooley (of "The Purple People Eater"{1} fame), which he used specifically for recording parodies of country hits.

Due to various acting commitments, Wooley had been unable to record the song "Don't Go Near the Indians,"{2} which was instead cut by Rex Allen for a significant hit in 1962. Wooley recorded a drunken-sounding parody called "Don't Go Near the Eskimos"{3} and released it under the pseudonym Ben Colder (other choices for his alias reportedly included Ben Freezin and Klon Dyke). "Eskimos" was a Top 20 hit on the country charts, and Wooley decided to keep returning to his new comic persona on a regular basis.

Ben Colder had a few more chart singles throughout the '60s, including the parodies of, David Houston's "Almost Persuaded,"{4} as "Almost Persuaded No. 2,"{5} which went all the way to #6 in 1966, giving Colder the second-biggest country hit of his career; Faron Young's "Hello Walls,"{6} as "Hello Walls No. 2,"{7} which went to the Top 30 in 1963; Jeannie C. Riley's, "Harper Valley PTA,"{8} as "Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later That Same Day)"{9}; Roger Miller's "Little Green Apples,"{10} as "Little Green Apples No. 2"{11}; Johnny Preston's "Running Bear,"{12} as "Running Bare"{13}; Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire,"{14} as "Ring of Smoke"{15}; Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues,"{16} as "Folsome Prison Blues No. 1-1/2"{17}; Cash's "I Walk the Line,"{18} as "I Walk the Line No. 2"{19}; and Ernest Ashworth's "Talk Back Tremblin' Lips,"{20} as "Talk Back Blubberin' Lips."{21}

He continued to release albums on MGM through the '70s. Thanks to his penchant for comedy, Colder was tapped as a staff songwriter for the television series [Hee Haw] when it debuted in 1969. Colder made a comeback in 1996 thanks in part to Billy Ray Cyrus, who inspired the parody of "Shakey Breaky Car,"{22} with his song, "Achy Breaky Heart."{23} (As a side note: Weird Al Yankovic also did a parody of Cyrus' song calle, "Achy Breaky Song."{24}) ____________________________________________________________________________ {1}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "The Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley on mp3lyrics.org at: Sheb Wooley - The Purple People Eater

{2}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Don't Go Near the Indians" by Rex Allen on mp3lyrics.org at: Rex Allen - Don't Go Near the Indians

{3}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Don't Go Near the Eskimos" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Don't Go Near the Eskimos

{4}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Almost Persuaded" by David Houston on mp3lyrics.org at: David Houston - Almost Persuaded

{5}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Almost Persuaded No. 2" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Almost Persuaded No. 2

{6}You can see the lyrics to and watch a video of "Hello Walls" by Faron Young on mp3lyrics.org at: Faron Young - Hello Walls

{7}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Hello Wall No. 2" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Hello Walls No. 2

{8}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Harper Valley P.T.A." by Jeannie C. Riley on mp3lyrics.org at: Jeannie C. Riley - Harper Valley P.T.A.

{9}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later That Same Day)" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Harper Valley P.T.A. (Later That Same Day)

{10}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Little Green Apples" by Roger Miller on mp3lyrics.org at: Roger Miller - Little Green Apples

{11}You can see the lyrics to, "Little Green Apples No. 2" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Little Green Apples No. 2 (Note: there is no video available for this song.)

{12}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Running Bear" by Johnny Preston on mp3lyrics.org at: Johnny Preston - Running Bear

{13}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Running Bare" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Running Bare

{14}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash on mp3lyrics.org at: Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire

{15}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Ring of Smoke" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Ring of Smoke

{16}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash on mp3lyrics.org at: Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues

{17}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Folsom Prison Blues No. 1-1/2" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Folsom Prison Blues No. 1-1/2

{18}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash on mp3lyrics.org at: Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line

{19}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "I Walk the Line No. 2" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - I Walk the Line No. 2

{20}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Talk Back Tremblin' Lips" by Ernest Ashworth on mp3lyrics.org at: Ernest Ashworth - Talk Back Trembling Lips

{21}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Talk Back Blubberin' Lips" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Talk Back Blubberin' Lips

{22}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Shakey Breaky Car" by Ben Colder on mp3lyrics.org at: Ben Colder - Shakey Breaky Car

{23}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus on mp3lyrics.org at: Billy Ray Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart

{24}You can see the lyrics to, and watch a video of "Achy Breaky Song" by Weird Al Yankovic on mp3lyrics.org at: Weird Al Yankovic - Achy Breaky Song

[Biography written by Steve Huey, edited by bri4daz.]