In September 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus deployed the National Guard to block nine Black students from integrating Little Rock Central High School. In response, Charles Mingus composed "Fables of Faubus." However, when he recorded it for his 1959 Columbia Records album Mingus Ah Um, the label stripped the lyrics to avoid alienating Southern markets, releasing it strictly as an instrumental track.

A year later, on October 20, 1960, Mingus re-recorded the piece for the independent Candid label. Due to Columbia's contractual restrictions, he renamed it "Original Faubus Fables." This unedited version restored the biting, call-and-response mockery between Mingus and drummer Dannie Richmond, explicitly targeting Faubus and the Ku Klux Klan. The stark contrast between the two releases remains a historical testament to what the mid-century American music industry was willing to censor, and sell, in 1959.