THROWBACK THURSDAY: Country Stars Salute Joe Stalin

J. Stalin

Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, aka Josef Stalin, the Fearless Leader of the Soviet Union (technically the general secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR) for 30 years suffered a stroke on March 1, 1953. He never recovered. Just four dayslater, in the words of American country singer Ray Anderson, "Stalin kicked the bucket."

Apparently country singers, including a couple of America's best-known hillbilly stars, had a thing for Stalin, Here's a 1951 "tribute" from Roy Acuff:

A year before that, Hank Williams himself weighed in on the Stalin question. (Unfortunately, Hank died two months before Stalin did.)



Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith wasn't nearly as famous as Roy Acuff or Hank Williams, but with his band The Crackerjacks, he had a thing or two to say about Stalin in 1950.



But let's let Ray Anderson have the last word. Here's his 1953 novelty hit: