Cotton Fields

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US blues song

title: "Cotton Fields" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1963-singles", "songs-written-by-lead-belly", "lead-belly-songs", "the-highwaymen-(folk-band)-songs", "creedence-clearwater-revival-songs", "the-beach-boys-songs", "elvis-presley-songs", "trini-lopez-songs", "harry-belafonte-songs", "petula-clark-songs", "johnny-cash-songs", "elton-john-songs", "odetta-songs", "the-pogues-songs", "buck-owens-songs", "bill-monroe-songs", "the-angels-(american-group)-songs", "number-one-singles-in-australia", "number-one-singles-in-norway", "american-folk-songs", "1940-songs", "capitol-records-singles", "esther-&-abi-ofarim-songs"] description: "US blues song" topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Fields" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary US blues song ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox song"]

Field	Value
name	Cottonfields
cover	Beach Boys - Cottonfields.jpg
type	single
artist	the Beach Boys
album	20/20
B-side	The Nearest Faraway Place
released	April 20, 1970
recorded	November 18–19, 1968 (album version)

"Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" (also known as In Them Old Cotton Fields Back Home) is a song written by American blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly, who made the first recording of the song in 1940.

Early versions

Recorded by Lead Belly in 1940, "Cotton Fields" was introduced into the canon of folk music by its inclusion on the 1954 album Odetta & Larry which comprised performances by Odetta at the Tin Angel nightclub in San Francisco with instrumental and vocal accompaniment by Lawrence Mohr; this version was entitled "Old Cotton Fields at Home". The song's profile was boosted by its recording by Harry Belafonte, first on his 1958 album Belafonte Sings the Blues, with a live version appearing on the 1959 concert album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. Belafonte had learned "Cotton Fields" from Odetta and had been singing it in concert as early as 1955. A #13 hit in 1961 for The Highwaymen, "Cotton Fields" served as an album track for a number of C&W and folk-rock acts including Ferlin 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) and the Seekers (Roving With The Seekers 1964). Odetta also made a new studio recording of the song for her 1963 album One Grain of Sand. The Springfields included "Cotton Fields" on a 1962 EP release; this version is featured on the CD On an Island of Dreams: The Best of the Springfields. "Cotton Fields" was also recorded by Unit 4+2 for their Concrete and Clay album (1965). A rendering in French, "L'enfant do", was recorded in 1962 by Hugues Aufray and Petula Clark.

The Beach Boys cover

August 8 & 15, 1969 (single version) | studio = | venue = | length = 2:21 (album version) 3:05 (single version) | label = Capitol | writer = Huddie Ledbetter | producer = (album) The Beach Boys (single) | prev_title = Add Some Music to Your Day | prev_year = 1970 | next_title = Slip on Through | next_year = 1970 | misc = American rock band the Beach Boys first recorded "Cottonfields" on November 18–19, 1968. The track (with Al Jardine on lead vocals) debuted on the group's 1969 album 20/20. It was Jardine's idea for the band to cover the song. He explained:

Dissatisfied with Brian Wilson's baroque pop-influenced arrangement of the song, Jardine persuaded the group to record a new version in August 1969, inspired by the contemporaneous vogue for country rock, as exemplified by such acts as the Flying Burrito Brothers, Stone Poneys and Michael Nesmith & the First National Band). The re-recording featured notable session musician and longtime Nesmith collaborator Orville "Red" Rhodes on pedal steel guitar. Retitled "Cottonfields", the second version a gave the Beach Boys their greatest international success while also marking the end of the group's hit-making career in the US (although they would enjoy periodic comebacks there). "Cottonfields" was the Beach Boys' final single released by Capitol Records, the group's label since May 1962, and their last single released in mono.

While underperforming in the U.S. (peaking at No. 103 in Billboard) despite a promotional appearance on the short-lived variety show Something Else, the song succeeded across the Atlantic, reaching No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart (and No. 2 on the Melody Maker chart{{Cite book| last = McAleer | first = Dave | year = 2004 | title = Singles Top 20 Charts From 1954 To The Present Day | publisher = Backbeat Books | isbn = 9780879308087 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejjQUZr2iPcC&q=beach+boys+melody+maker+cottonfields&pg=PA142

The single was initially only issued in mono, though a reprocessed stereo mix opened international issues of the Sunflower album. It was remixed into stereo for the 2001 compilation Hawthorne, CA. A further stereo remix found on the Feel 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 history

::data[format=table] | Chart (1970) | Peak position | Australia (Go-Set) | Australia (Kent Music Report) | Denmark (IFPI) | Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) | New Zealand (Listener) | Rhodesia (Lyons Maid) | South Africa (Springbok) | Sweden (Kvällstoppen) | UK Melody Maker Pop 30 | UK New Musical Express Top 30 | US Bubbling Under the Hot 100 (Billboard) | US Cash Box Top 100 | US Record World Top 100 | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 103 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 101 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 95 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Personnel

Sourced from Craig Slowinski.

Album version

The Beach Boys

Al Jardine – lead vocals, banjo
Brian Wilson – backing vocals, piano, Rhodes piano, producer, arrangement Additional personnel
Hal Blaine – drums
Ed Carter – guitar, electric bass
Lyle Ritz – upright bass
Bill Peterson, Virgil Evans, Roy Caton – horns
Al Vescovo – banjo, guitar

Single version

The Beach Boys

Al Jardine – lead vocals, guitar, producer, arrangement
Bruce Johnston – keyboards
Mike Love - vocals
Brian Wilson – vocals
Carl Wilson – guitar
Dennis Wilson – drums Additional personnel
Frank Capp – percussion
Ed Carter – bass
Daryl Dragon – keyboards
Orville "Red" Rhodes – pedal steel guitar
Bill Peterson, Fred Koyen, David Edwards, Ernie Small – horns
The Beach Boys – producer

Creedence Clearwater Revival cover

| name = Cotton Fields | released = 1969 | recorded = 1969 | genre = *Roots rock

Southern rock
country rock | type = Single | length = 2:57 | writer = Huddie Ledbetter | album = Willy and the Poor Boys | artist = Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival included their cover of "Cotton Fields" as the third track on their 1969 album Willy and the Poor Boys. Their version hit No. 1 in Mexico in 1970.

The song was later re-released as a single from the 1981 compilation Creedence Country; this release provided the band with their only charting song on the Billboard country charts, peaking at #50.

Certifications

Covers

Bill Monroe 1962, Decca Records DL4266
In 1962, The Highwaymen (folk band) recorded their version, which peaked at #13 on the US Hot 100 and #3 on the Easy Listening chart.
The Angels in 1963 that went to No. 119 in the US
Esther & Abi Ofarim performed "Cotton Fields" live on television in 1963 and 1969. They recorded a German version, "Wenn ich bei Dir sein kann", in 1964, which reached the Top 10 in West Berlin.

Lyrics

The original lyrics, written by Lead Belly, state that the fields are "down in Louisiana, just ten miles from Texarkana". 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 and in Arkansas) are about 30 miles north of the Arkansas–Louisiana border, the larger Texarkana metropolitan area directly abuts the Arkansas-Louisiana state line.

References

"Show 19 – Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 2]".
(18 July 2022). "The Beach Boys' Al Jardine – My Life In Music".
(2 April 2018). "The Go Set Chart Book, Australia's First National Charts". Lulu.com.
"Go-Set Australian charts - 25 July 1970".
Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
(20 August 1970). "De tyve".
(13 August 2015). "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit BAT - BIF".
"flavour of new zealand - search listener".
Kimberley, C. ''Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book''. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
"SA Charts 1969–March 1989".
"Cotton Fields av Beach Boys".
(27 June 1970). "Pop 30".
(27 June 1970). "Top 30".
Whitburn, Joel. (1982). "Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Hot 100 1959–1981". Record Research.
(23 May 1970). "Looking Ahead".
(30 May 1970). "100 Top Pops".
"Cottonfields / Cotton Fields - BW and AJ version".
"'70s Beach Boys Songs Brian Didn't Sing on".
"Top 5 Creedence Clearwater Revival Songs".
Lingan, John. (October 28, 2024). "A Furious Conclusion: With 'Willy And The Poor Boys', Creedence closed a great year in furious fashion". Vinylmeplease.
"Creedence Clearwater Revival: Charts & Awards – ''Billboard'' Singles". [[Rovi Corporation]].
Whitburn, Joel. (2002). "Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001". Record Research.
(November 7, 1964). "Hits of the World: West Berlin".
"Our City". Ci.texarkana.tx.us.
(February 12, 2011). "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". [[United States Census Bureau]].
(2011-02-12). "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". [[United States Census Bureau]].

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