Fables of Faubus First recorded on May 5, 1959 for Columbia Records, on Mingus Ah-Um. Orval E. Faubus was a governor of Arkansas who, in 1957, sent out the National Guard to prevent a few black children from entering Little Rock’s Central High School. Mingus’ condemnation of this action was apparently too strong for those in charge at Columbia Records, who prohibited Mingus and his drummer Dannie Richmond from singing the following lyrics which, on this recording, are slightly audible in the background:

Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em shoot us! Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em stab us! Oh, Lord, don’t let ‘em tar and feather us! Oh, Lord, no more swastikas! Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan! Name me someone who’s ridiculous, Dannie. Governor Faubus! Why is he so sick and ridiculous? He won’t permit integrated schools. Then he’s a fool! Boo! Nazi Fascist supremists! Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan) Name me a handful that’s ridiculous, Dannie Richmond. -Faubus-Rockefeller-Eisenhower Why are they so sick and ridiculous? Two, four, six, eight: They brainwash and teach you hate. H-E-L-L-O–Hello. (From Charles Mingus: More Than a Fake Book.) Later retitlings of “Fables of Faubus” included “Nix on Nixon” and “Oh, Lord, Help Mr. Ford.” Although Orville Faubus died in the fall of 1994, “Fables of Faubus” lives on.

Mingus website