Sing Along With Keef Addendum: “Estes”

While I was researching Monday’s story about Hank Fort and how she leveraged her hit Kefauver campaign songs into a career as a singer-songwriter and a queen of Washington society, I became enchanted by the story of the plucky girl from Tennessee who made the most of her creativity, charm, and seeming boundless energy. (If you haven’t read the story, you should.)

One part of the story bothered me a bit, though. As Hank’s star continued to rise in the years after Kefauver’s 1952 Presidential campaign, it seemed like she’d left her home-state Senator behind.

To be fair, she would hardly be the only musician who cashed in on a campaign song before moving on to bigger and better things. But it seemed a little sad to think that as she rose to great heights both professionally and socially, she outgrew Kefauver, whose ambitions hit a hard upper limit imposed by party leaders.

Say it ain’t so, Hank!

I’m happy to report that, in fact, it wasn’t so. Even as Hank was hobnobbing with the cream of D.C. society and joining the Kennedy/Johnson campaign on their “flying tea parties,” she didn’t forget about the long tall guy who’d previously worn the coonskin cap.

When Kefauver entered his final Senate campaign in 1960, he faced a tough primary challenge from Judge Tip Taylor, an open segregationist who ran hard against Kefauver on civil rights.

Fortunately, Kefauver was able to call on his old friend Hank Fort for help, and she came through with another campaign song. This one, simply called “Estes,” came out in June 1960, just in time for the incumbent to use in his primary campaign against Taylor.

The Nashville Tennessean described the song as having “a lively march tempo that sounds something like a football fight song.” They also printed the lyrics, which went as follows:

Who’s renowned throughout the land?
Estes, Estes
Always for the little man,
Estes, Estes
Who for 22 full years
Served for you and me?
Whose record shows he always goes
All out for Tennessee?

‘Gainst crime, who led the famous fight?
Estes, Estes,
Looks ahead and stands for right,
Estes, Estes,
He won acclaim, he knows the game,
Let’s keep him up at bat
We can’t neglect to re-elect
This fearless Democrat

The song was first unveiled at a women’s campaign luncheon at the Maxwell House hotel in Nashville, where a crowd of over 400 turned out to back Kefauver’s reelection. The campaign played the song from sound trucks at their rallies, and used the jingle in radio and TV commercials as well. Ultimately, Kefauver was successful in crushing Taylor’s challenge and went on to win a third term in the Senate.

Learning about this song delighted me for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly, I was delighted to learn that Hank remained loyal to Kefauver through the years. She hadn’t forgotten her Tennessee roots, and the fact that she was still writing songs on his behalf after he’d ceased to be a Presidential contender suggests that her stated affection for him in 1952 was likely genuine.

Second, “Estes” frankly strikes me as a better song than “Long Tall Guy.” The rhymes and meter are sharper, and it hits on a long of the key themes of Kefauver’s reelection campaign: his progressive worldview, his courageous independence, his long record of service, and his hard work on behalf of the average voter. It even sneaks in a reference to his organized crime probe!

At any rate, I raise a glass once again to Hank Fort, a true American original. I would pay good money to see a musical about her life. Like the woman herself, I have no doubt that it would be lively and full of fun.