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"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known asIn Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by Americanblues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known asLead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940.
Recorded by Lead Belly in 1940, "Cotton Fields" was introduced into the canon offolk music via its inclusion on the 1954 album releaseOdetta & Larry which comprised performances byOdetta[1] at the Tin Angel nightclub in San Francisco with instrumental and vocal accompaniment byLawrence Mohr; this version was entitled "Old Cotton Fields at Home". The song's profile was boosted via its recording byHarry Belafonte first on his 1958 albumBelafonte Sings the Blues, with a live version appearing on the 1959 concert albumBelafonte at Carnegie Hall. Belafonte had learned "Cotton Fields" from Odetta and been singing it in concert as early as 1955. A #13 hit in 1961 forThe Highwaymen, "Cotton Fields" served as an album track for a number ofC&W and folk-rock acts includingFerlin Husky (The Heart and Soul of Ferlin Husky 1963),The Delltones (Come A Little Bit Closer 1963),Buck Owens (On the Bandstand 1963),the New Christy Minstrels (Chim-Chim-Cheree 1965) andthe Seekers (Roving With The Seekers 1964). Odetta also made a new studio recording of the song for her 1963 albumOne Grain of Sand.The Springfields included "Cotton Fields" on a 1962EP release; this version is featured on the CDOn an Island of Dreams: The Best of the Springfields. "Cotton Fields" was also recorded byUnit 4+2 for theirConcrete and Clay album (1965). A rendering in French, "L'enfant do", was recorded in 1962 byHugues Aufray andPetula Clark.
| "Cottonfields" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single bythe Beach Boys | ||||
| from the album20/20 | ||||
| B-side | "The Nearest Faraway Place" | |||
| Released | April 20, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | November 18–19, 1968 (album version) August 8 & 15, 1969 (single version) | |||
| Length | 2:21 (album version) 3:05 (single version) | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Huddie Ledbetter | |||
| Producer(s) | (album) The Beach Boys (single) | |||
| The Beach Boys singles chronology | ||||
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| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" onYouTube | ||||
Americanrock bandthe Beach Boys first recorded "Cottonfields" on November 18–19, 1968. The track (withAl Jardine on lead vocals) debuted on the group's 1969 album20/20. It was Jardine's idea for the band to cover the song. He explained:
I first heard [the song] in the mid-'50s. I loved Lead Belly's vocals and of course his 12-string guitar sound but it was really his heartfelt emotional lyrics written during theGreat Depression that affected me. I was determined to record a new version for the Beach Boys at a time when we were going off in quite a few different musical directions.[2]
Dissatisfied withBrian Wilson'sbaroque pop-influenced arrangement of the song, Jardine prevailed upon the group to record a new version (inspired by the contemporaneous vogue forcountry rock, as exemplified by such acts asthe Flying Burrito Brothers,Stone Poneys andMichael Nesmith &the First National Band) in August 1969. The re-recording featured notable session musician and longtime Nesmith collaboratorOrville "Red" Rhodes onpedal steel guitar. Retitled "Cottonfields", the second iteration afforded the Beach Boys their most widespread international success while also denoting the end of the group's hit-making career in the US (although they would enjoy periodic comebacks there). "Cottonfields" would be the Beach Boys' final single released byCapitol Records – the group's label since May 1962 – and their last single released inmono.
While underperforming in the U.S. (peaking at No. 103 inBillboard) despite a promotional appearance on the short-lived variety showSomething Else, the song succeeded across the Atlantic, reaching No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart (and No. 2 on theMelody Maker chart[3]) and later listed as the tenth-biggest seller of the year by theNew Musical Express. Outside of North America, it nearly replicated the success of the group's "Do It Again" two years before, peaking at No. 1 inAustralia andNorway; No. 2 in Denmark, South Africa and Sweden; No. 3 in Ireland; No. 12 in theNetherlands; No. 13 inNew Zealand; and No. 29 inWest Germany. Because of this popularity, it was placed on the international release of the group'sSunflower album. The single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.[4]
The single was initially only issued in mono, though a reprocessed stereo mix opened international issues of theSunflower album. It was remixed into stereo for the 2001 compilationHawthorne, CA. A further stereo remix found on theFeel Flows box set opens with Al Jardine's son trying to count off the song with the help of his father. Unlike the older stereo mix, this version recreates the reverb effect on the opening vocals.
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Go-Set)[5] | 1 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] | 1 |
| Denmark (IFPI)[7] | 2 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] | 21 |
| Germany (GfK)[9] | 29 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[10] | 3 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[11] | 12 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 13 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[13] | 13 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[14] | 1 |
| Rhodesia (Lyons Maid)[15] | 5 |
| South Africa (Springbok)[16] | 2 |
| Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[17] | 2 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[18] | 5 |
| UKMelody Maker Pop 30[19] | 2 |
| UKNew Musical Express Top 30[20] | 3 |
| USBubbling Under the Hot 100 (Billboard)[21] | 103 |
| USCash Box Top 100[22] | 101 |
| USRecord World Top 100[23] | 95 |
Sourced from Craig Slowinski.[24][25]
The Beach Boys
Additional personnel
The Beach Boys
Additional personnel
| "Cotton Fields" | |
|---|---|
| Single byCreedence Clearwater Revival | |
| from the albumWilly and the Poor Boys | |
| Released | 1969 |
| Recorded | 1969 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:57 |
| Songwriter(s) | Huddie Ledbetter |
Creedence Clearwater Revival included their cover of "Cotton Fields" as the third track on their 1969 albumWilly and the Poor Boys. Their versionhit No. 1 in Mexico in 1970.
The original lyrics, written byLead Belly, state that the fields are "down inLouisiana, just ten miles fromTexarkana". Later versions (e.g.,Creedence Clearwater Revival's) say the fields are "down in Louisiana, just about a mile from Texarkana". While the twin cities of Texarkana (in Texas andin Arkansas) are about 30 miles north of theArkansas–Louisiana border,[30][31][32] the largerTexarkana metropolitan area directly abuts the Arkansas-Louisiana state line.
The song has been taken up by bluegrass musicians far from actual cotton-producing regions; for example, the German skiffle bandDie Rhöner Säuwäntzt describe their style as "Musik von den Baumwollfeldern der Rhön," which means "music played in the [imaginary] cotton fields of theRhön Mountains."[33] In Spanish, the song was covered by the '60s rock and roll groupLos Apson titled "Cuando Yo Era Un Jovencito" (When I Was A Young Boy). In order to keep the words sounding similar, the meaning of the song was completely changed.[34] Regional Mexican musician Ramon Ayala also covered the Spanish version of "Cottonfields" in 1989, and it became a well-known hit for years. TheFinland Swedish artist Lasse Eriksson, having among other artworks a large repertoire of covers of well-known songs with completely unrelated, humorous lyrics in theOstrobothnian dialect of the town ofNärpes ofFinland Swedish, wrote a cover of "Cottonfields" in this vein, i.e. a cover with completely unrelated, humorous lyrics in theOstrobothnian dialect of the town ofNärpes ofFinland Swedish, published 1984 by Kåtong lav records.[35][36]
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