| "Green, Green Grass of Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byPorter Wagoner | ||||
| from the album On the Road: The Porter Wagoner Show | ||||
| B-side | "Dooley" | |||
| Released | July 1965 | |||
| Recorded | June 7, 1965 | |||
| Studio | RCA Studio B,Nashville | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:24 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter | Curly Putman[1] | |||
| Porter Wagoner singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Green, Green Grass of Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byTom Jones | ||||
| from the albumGreen, Green Grass of Home | ||||
| B-side | "Promise Her Anything" | |||
| Released | November 1966 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Decca Records F22511[1] | |||
| Songwriter | Curly Putman[1] | |||
| Producer | Peter Sullivan[1] | |||
| Tom Jones singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Green, Green Grass of Home", written byClaude "Curly" Putman Jr., and first recorded by singerJohnny Darrell in 1965, is acountry song made popular byPorter Wagoner the same year, when it reached No. 4 on the Country chart.[2] It was also recorded byBobby Bare and byJerry Lee Lewis, who included it in his albumCountry Songs for City Folks (later re-issued asAll Country).Tom Jones learned the song from Lewis' version and, in 1966, he had a worldwide No. 1 hit with it. The song was also recorded by, among others,Joan Baez on her 1969 albumDavid's Album,Elvis Presley on his 1975 album ‘Today’, andTed Hawkins on his 1986 Album 'On The Boardwalk'.
The singer returns to his childhood home for what seems to be his first visit there since leaving in his youth. When he steps down from the train, his parents are there to greet him, and his sweetheart, Mary, comes running to join them. They meet him with "arms reaching, smiling sweetly". With Mary, the singer strolls at ease among the monuments of his childhood, including "the old oak tree that I used to play on", feeling that "it's good to touch the green, green grass of home".
But the singer then awakens to see grey walls surrounding him and realizes that his return home was only a dream and that he is actually in prison. It is the day of his scheduled execution.[3] He sees a guard and "a sad oldpadre" who will walk with him to his execution at daybreak, and then he will return home "in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home".
TheJoan Baez version ends: "Yes, we'll all be together in the shade of the old oak tree / When we meet beneath the green, green grass of home."
Welsh singerTom Jones, who was appearing onThe Ed Sullivan Show in 1965, visited Colony Records while staying inNew York City. On asking if they had any new works by Jerry Lee Lewis, he was given the new country album.
Impressed with the song, Jones recorded and released the song in the UK in 1966 and it reached No. 1 on December 1, staying there for a total of seven weeks.[4] The song also spent 7 weeks at No. 1 on theIrish Singles Chart.[5] The song has sold over 1.25 million copies in the UK as of September 2017.[6] Jones' version also reached No. 11 pop, No. 12 easy listening on theBillboard US charts.[7]
In September 2006, Jones performed the song as a duet with Lewis during the taping of the latter'sLast Man Standing TV special in New York City, and credited Lewis with providing the inspiration for his own recording.[citation needed]
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 1 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] | 2 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] | 1 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10] | 14 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary Singles (RPM) | 10 |
| CanadaRPM Top 100[11] | 5 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[12] | 1 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] | 2 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[14] | 2 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[15] | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[16] | 1 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[17] | 11 |
| USAdult Contemporary (Billboard)[18] | 12 |
| West Germany (GfK)[19] | 6 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[21] | Silver | 1,257,737[20] |
In 2006,Czech country singerJan Vyčítal with his band - theGreenhorns - recorded a cover version of this song, calledZelené louky domova (Green Meadows of Home). This version reflects the painful history of the Czech nation, narrating about a man and his faithful wife, who both had suffered twice: first under theNazi occupation, and then again under theCommunist persecution.[22]
