COTTON FIELDS ( y IV ) - Definitive - No están todos los que son , sí son todos los que están !
No podemos negar nuestra especial predilección per el tema de Huddie Ledbetter. Como muestra éste nuestro cuarto post dedicado a la canción que en su momento escribió Leadbelly. La conocimos a traves del cover de CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL en su album Willie & The Poor Boys. y desde entonces que le venimos siguiendo la pista. Aquí tenéis algunas de las versiones que se hicieron . Por cierto , y ya puestos a decir algo diferente, es un tema muy poco versionado entre los bluesmen locales .... no creéis ? ....... Iniciaremos con la versión en origen y otra de realmente curiosa un grupo mexicano denominado LOS APSON ( tambien Ramon Ayala de Los Bravos del Norte - México - cantante hizo su propia version ) que hace su propia versión en castellano que podéis oir:
«Cotton Fields» fue grabada por el grupo estadounidense The Beach Boys. La grabación fue realizada el 18 de noviembre de 1968.
Sencillo
Al Jardine grabó una versión con un estilo más hacia el rock a pedido de Brian, pues Jardine quedó insatisfecho con el arreglo de Brian había realizado de la canción para el álbum 20/20, posteriormente la canción fue regrabada. Esta nueva versión fue grabada el 15 de agosto de 1969, con Orville "Red" Rhodes en guitarra, fue editada y renombrada como "Cottonfields" en 1970, en un sencillo distribuido por su sello discográfico original Capitol Records, siendo el único sencillo de la década de 1970 en ser distribuido por Capitol. Incluía el tema instrumental "The Nearest Faraway Place", como lado B.
No fue un éxito en los Estados Unidos, pues sólo llegó al puesto n.º 64, aunque las posiciones en el Reino Unido fueron mejores, ya que alcanzó el n.º 5 y estuvo en las listas durante 17 semanas.2 Llegó al puesto n.º 12 en Holanda y llegó al número uno en Australia y Noruega.
La versión de sencillo tiene una leve distorsión a causa de la compresión, especialmente durante las partes de percusión, el salto esporádico se pueden oír desde 1:03-1:31. Esto es mucho más notable en la mezcla estéreo de la canción. En la mezcla mono de la canción que aparece en Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys, el salto es menos audible y la canción en sí está en un tono ligeramente más alto que en esta versión estéreo.
Publicaciones
La versión con el título "Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" fue incluida en el álbum 20/20 de 1969. La versión al estilo rock fue compilada en el box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys de 1993, en Rarities de 1983, en The Greatest Hits - Volume 2: 20 More Good Vibrations de 1999, en el archivo Hawthorne, CA de 2001, en The Very Best of The Beach Boys de 2001 y en el inglés Platinum Collection: Sounds of Summer Edition de 2005.
Versión de Creedence
El grupo Creedence Clearwater Revival grabó una versión de esta canción y la pusieron en su álbum Willy and the Poor Boys de 1969. Esta versión llegó al número uno en México en 1970.
Otras versiones
Esther Ofarim cantó en vivo "Cottons Fields" en 1969.
Elton John realizó un grabación de esta canción en su álbum Reg Dwight's Piano Goes Pop.
Johnny Cash en su álbum The Sound of Johnny Cash.
El grupo The Pogues grabó una versión y la puso en su álbum Peace and Love (álbum de The Pogues) de 1989.
En el programa chileno El Festival de la Una a principios la década de los 80, Ramón Valdés interpretó esta canción.3
La canción tiene muchas más grabaciones de otros artistas como la de Harry Belafonte.
Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song)" 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 via its inclusion on the 1954 album release Odetta & Larry which comprised performances by Odetta[1] 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 via 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 been singing it in concert as early as 1955. A No. 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), 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.
American rock band the Beach Boys recorded "Cotton Fields" on November 18, 1968: the track with Al Jardine on lead vocals debuted on the group's 1969 album 20/20.
Dissatisfied with Brian Wilson's arrangement of the song, Jardine later led the group to record a more country rock style version; this version recorded on August 15, 1969, featured Orville "Red" Rhodes on pedal steel guitar. Entitled "Cottonfields", the track afforded the Beach Boys their most widespread international success while also consolidating the end of the group's hit-making career in the US (although they would enjoy periodic comebacks there). "Cottonfields" would be the final Beach Boys' single released on Capitol Records – the group's label since May 1962 – and their last single released in mono.
While barely making a dent in the US (number 95 Record World, number 103 Billboard) though promoted with an appearance on the network TV pop show Something Else, the song succeeded across the Atlantic, reaching number two in the UK's Melody Maker chart[2] and listed as the tenth-biggest seller of the year by the New Musical Express. Worldwide – outside North America – it nearly replicated the success of the group's "Do It Again" two years before. It was number 1 in Australia, South Africa, Sweden and Norway, number 2 in Denmark, number 3 in Ireland, similarly top 5 in the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and Rhodesia; number 12 in the Netherlands, number 13 in New Zealand and number 29 in Germany. Because of this popularity, it was placed on the international release of the group's Sunflower album. The single achieved sales of over 50,000 copies in Australia, being eligible for the award of a Gold Disc.
Album version
Al Jardine – lead vocals
Brian Wilson – keyboards, producer, arrangement
Ed Carter – lead guitar
Al Vescovo – banjo
Lyle Ritz – bass
Hal Blaine – drums
Bill Peterson, Virgil Evans, Roy Caton – horns
Single version
The Beach Boys
Al Jardine – lead vocals, guitar, producer, arrangement
Brian Wilson - vocals
Carl Wilson – guitar
Dennis Wilson – drums
Bruce Johnston – keyboards
Additional personnel
Ed Carter – bass
Daryl Dragon – keyboards
Orville "Red" Rhodes – pedal steel guitar
Frank Capp – percussion
Bill Peterson, Fred Koyen, David Edwards, Ernie Small – horns
The Beach Boys – producer
Notes
The single version of the song has mild distortion due to compression, especially during the drum fills, and sporadic skipping can be heard from 1:03 to 1:31 in the song. This is much more noticeable in the stereo mix of the song. In the mono mix of the song featured in the Good Vibrations box set, the skipping is less audible and the song itself is in a slightly higher pitch than in this stereo version.[citation needed]
Creedence Clearwater Revival cover
"Cotton Fields"
Single by Creedence Clearwater Revival
from the album Willy and the Poor Boys
Genre Roots rock, country rock
Length 2:57
Songwriter(s) Huddie Ledbetter
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.
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.
Johnny Cash on his 1962 album The Sound of Johnny Cash
Ace Cannon recorded a popular version of the song in 1963.
The Angels in 1963 that went to No. 119 in the US
Johnny Mann Singers on the 1963 album Golden Folk Song Hits – Liberty LST-7253
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.[7]
Eddy Arnold (with the Needmore Creek Singers) on the 1964 album "Folk Song Book"
Rose Marie on episode 102 of The Dick van Dyke Show "The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail" (1964)
The Carter Sisters on their album The Best of The Carter Family (1966)
Webb Pierce on the 1966 Decca album Webb's Choice
Harry Dean Stanton, in one scene of the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, plays a sped-up version
Udo Jürgens a 1968 single
Charley Pride on his album Charley Pride in Person released January 1969.
Elvis Presley in the 1970 movie Elvis: That's the Way It Is
Candies on their album Namida no Kisetsu in English as track 10 in 1974.
Joe Dassin on 1989 Sony Music compilation Vol.2.
Donna Douglas on her 1989 album Back on the Mountain
The Pogues on their 1989 album Peace and Love (while this version references the original in its lyrics, the song itself is not a cover per se)
Teresa Brewer on The Muppet Show
Tesla released a cover version as the B-side to the single Call It What You Want, released in 1991
Kitten recorded a version of the song on their 2007 album Yodeling Cowgirl
Flatfoot 56 (a Celtic Oi! band) covered it on their album Toil, released in 2012
Elton John on the Cotton Fields: 16 Legendary Covers From 1969/70 album, released in 2004 [8]
The Springfields
Ramón Ayala
James Last on the 1971 album Happyning and reissued on the 4 CD set Beachparty released in 2015.
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.
Further use
The song has been taken up by bluegrass musicians far from actual cotton-producing regions; for example, the German skiffle band Die Rhöner Säuwäntzt describe their style as "Musik von den Baumwollfeldern der Rhön," which means "music played in the [imaginary] cotton fields of the Rhön Mountains."[In Spanish, the song was covered by the '60s rock and roll group Los 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. Regional Mexican musician Ramon Ayala also covered the Spanish version of "Cottonfields" in 1989, and it became a well-known hit for years.
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