In 1962, the American folk trio the Rooftop Singers recorded a version of the song. Group member Erik Darling recruited two friends to join him in this effort after hearing the original Cannon recording. Darling wanted the track to have a distinctive sound, so he and group member Bill Svanoe both played twelve-string guitars, although they had some difficulty in acquiring the instruments. Darling is quoted as saying that prior to the making of this record, "you couldn't buy a 12-string guitar... I ordered one from the Gibson Company, but in order to record [the song] with two 12-strings, we had to wait for the company to build a second one for Bill!" (a left-handed model).[3] The success of the song was a boon to Cannon, who was in his late 70s and had been forced to pawn his banjo the previous winter to pay his heating bill; he received royalties as a songwriter and saw renewed interest in his music, which led to a recording contract of his own.[4]
In 1977, a version by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show reached No.46 on Billboard's Hot 100,[7] and No.77 in Canada. For year-end charts, it was ranked No.249 on Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual[11] and No.1 in Australia[12] selling well over 50,000 units in just four weeks of release.[13]
^ abcBreihan, Tom (May 11, 2018). "The Number Ones: The Rooftop Singers' "Walk Right In"". Stereogum. Retrieved June 10, 2023. ...the biggest folk single of the year was a chirpy, strummy, generally meaningless novelty version of an old jug-band song...But this is still cheesed-out whitebread pop-folk...
