The Frozen Logger Explained

The Frozen Logger
Written:	1928
Published:	1949
Genre:	American folk

"The Frozen Logger" is an American folk song, written by James Stevens.^[1] It is a tall tale song which makes reference to a logger being identifiable by the habit of stirring coffee with his thumb.^[2]

Renditions

The song has been recorded and/or performed by several musicians:^[3]

• The Weavers 1951
• Odetta & Larry The Tin Angel 1954
• Cisco Houston Hard Travellin 1954
• Homer and Jethro "Barefoot Ballads" 1957
• Jimmy Rogers 1960
• Odetta At the Town Hall 1963
• Rolf Harris Man With The Microphone 1966
• Alex Campbell Way Out west 1967
• Johnny Cash "Country & Western Classics" 1982
• The Wakami Wailers River Through the Pines 1999
• Oscar Brand

The first verse or the first two verses were sometimes played as a snippet during instrument tuning breaks by the Grateful Dead in concert, mainly in 1970. It was usually sung by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.^[4]

Cinema

An animated version is available as The Frozen Logger 1963 directed by Gene Deitch

Published

• Bunk Shanty Ballads and Tales, James Stevens, Oregon Historical Quarterly, volume 50, number 4. December 1949.
• Rise Up Singing 1988 page 137

Parody

The Frozen Jogger.^[5]

Notes and References

1. News: Time, December 31, 1951 . https://archive.today/20130204070614/http://www.time.com/magazine/article/0,9171,821984,00.html?promoid=googlep . dead . 2013-02-04 . web review . 2008-01-26 . 1951-12-31 .
2. The Frozen Logger . USA Today . 2008 . November 12 . 2008-11-24 .
3. http://www.deaddisc.com/songs/Frozen_Logger.htm Grateful Dead Family Discography
4. Deadbase Web site: DeadBase Home . 2010-10-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101005081833/http://deadbase.com/ . 2010-10-05 . retrieved 2010-10-26
5. Web site: Hendrickson . Stewart . James Stevens-Paul Bunyan and the Frozen Logger (Jogger) . 2008-01-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071217040219/http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hend/VictoryMusic/November2005Review.html . 2007-12-17 .