Driving down highway 89 in central Utah, you will pass the Big Rock Candy Mountain. Have you ever wondered what significance if any this place has to the old hobo balled of the same name?Well the song was first recorded in 1928 by "Haywire Mac", and again in 1949 by Burl Ives, but it has been recorded by many artists throughout the world. It is probably best known today for its use in the soundtrack of the 2000 movie O Brother Where Art Thou? (One of my all time favorite movies).
Shortly after the release of the original recording in 1928, some local residents, as a joke, placed a sign at the base of a cluster of some brightly colored hills a short distance from Marysvale, Utah, naming it "Big Rock Candy Mountain". They also placed a sign next to a nearby stream proclaiming it "lemon Springs" The names stuck and the location is currently home to the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort.
I remember as a kid stopping here when ever we went to southern Utah. We would by rock candy and there once was a sort of "zoo" there with foxes, coyotes and rattlesnakes.
3 comments:
WOW I did not know that bit of Triva. I was always told it was named that because it looked like carmel candy--things you hear when you are a kid! I always liked going past when I was young--well even still do!
I remember getting rock candy there once when we were kids.
I remember going there too and was extremly dissapointed it wasn't made out of candy. Bummer. But now I think I will listen the Oh brother where art thou soundtrack!
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