Tennessee Ernie Ford made the song popular in the mid-50s. I remember hearing it on the radio all the time when I was a kid.
From Wikipedia:
Ford scored an unexpected hit on the pop charts in 1955 with his rendering of "Sixteen Tons", a sparsely arranged coal-miner's lament, that Merle Travis first recorded in 1946 reflecting his own family's experience in the mines of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The song's authorship has been claimed by both Travis and George S. Davis, although Travis is recognized as the sole author on the recording itself, by BMI and in virtually all reference works. The song's fatalistic tone contrasted vividly with the sugary pop ballads and rock & roll just starting to dominate the charts at the time:
You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store...[7]
With Ford's snapping fingers[7] and a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement by Ford's music director, Jack Fascinato, "Sixteen Tons" spent ten weeks at number one on the country charts and seven weeks at number one on the pop charts. The record sold over twenty million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[8] The song made Ford a crossover star, and became his signature song.
Amazon's "fulfillment centers" are the new coal mines, "company store" included.
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