This popular short echo song can be found in John Feierabend's "First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond" and on the accompanying CD "Had a Little Rooster." 

Lyrics:

Johnny on the woodpile

Johnny on the fence

Johnny got a haircut

For fifteen cents

"N****r in the woodpile" is an idiom dating back to the 1800s that means that something is hidden or suspiciously "off." I found references that suggest that the term was common in literature and film during the 20s and 30s, though it can be found in written sources as early as 1843 and as late as 1960. A 1929 magazine illustration by Dr. Suess (pictured above) depicts a department store in which you can buy "a n****r for your woodpile." The idiom was even the title of a 1904 film. A common variation of the idiom that was also in use is "n****r on the fence"- paralleling the first two lines of the "Johnny on the Woodpile". I have not found any other source of the First Steps song with the same melody, but did find "N****r in the Woodpile," recorded by the old-time group Gid Tanner and his Skillet Lickers in 1930, a fiddle tune with a different melody.  I have seen Johnny pop up is a substitute word for n****r elsewhere- notably in another song The Skillet Lickers recorded, "Run, N****r, Run," that can still be found in frequently-used music ed materials under the title "Run, Johnny, Run" or, with further variation, "Run, Children, Run."  I emailed John Feierabend and asked him where he found "Johnny in the Woodpile"- he wrote that he found it about 40 years ago in a songbook "probably from the 1920s or 30s," but had no further info. The connection between my research findings and the song appears strong. As I move forward in my search for background on "Johnny on the Woodpile," I hope to find texts that highlight the process by which it ended up in the form presented in "First Steps in Music for Preschool and Beyond."