Photo courtesy of Pictor Photo Archives
When I was a little baby, my mother would rock me in a cradle
In them old cotton fields at home
Coton Fields, Leadbelly (1940)
Texas Gal Tracy poses in a bikini out in the desert.
Today’s youtube is the old folk standard Cotton Fields. Cotton Fields was written by Texas blues musician Hudson “Huddie†Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly. The song was first recorded by Leadbelly in 1940.
The song was covered by numerous artists including The Highwaymen, The Beach Boys, John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Charlie Pride.
The original of Cotton Fields recording by Leadbelly. Not that Leadbelly’s original lyrics were “When I was a little baby, my
mother would rock me in a cradle, In them old cotton fields
at home†Later covers changed “my mother†to “my Mama†and “at home†to “back homeâ€. This made it sound more country and more nostalgic.
Interesting trivia: Texarkana is a portmanteau of TEXas, ARKansas and LouisiANA. Texankana is on the border of Texas and Arkansas. The Louisiana border is about 30 miles away.
In case you were wondering, a pormanteau is a leather suitcase. A portmanteau word is a combination of two or more words or sounds into one new word. An example is is smog, smoke-fog. This meaning originally came from
Lewis Carrol in Through The Looking Glass, where Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice that slithy means lithe and slimyâ€"â€two meanings packed into one word.â€
The Highwaymen sung Cotton Fields on television. It looks like sometime around 1960.
Here is a live performance of Cotton Fields by the Beach Boys in 1969. The lead singer is Beach Boy Al Jardine. The added a lot of their own lyrics.
John Fogerty and Credence Clearwater Revival did an upbeat country rock version with some good guitar work. This is a television performance with subtitles.
Many people are familiar with Cotton Fields by country singer Charlie Pride. It sounds like Lloyd Green on steel guitar.
Charlie Pride: Cotton Fields
Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter): COTTON FIELDS Lyrics
When I was a little baby, my mother rocked me in the cradle
In them old old cotton fields at home
When I was a little baby, my mother rocked me in the cradle
In them old cotton fields at home
CHORUS:
Oh when them cotton bolls get rotten, you couldn’t pick very much cotton
In them old cotton fields at home
It was down in Louisiana, just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields at home
It may sound a little funny, but you didn’t make very much money
In them old cotton fields at home
It may sound a little bit funny, but you didn’t make very much money,
In them old cotton fields at home
CHORUS
I was over in Arkansas, people ask me what you come here for
In them old cotton fields at home
I was over in Arkansas, people ask me what you come here for
In them old cotton fields back home
CHORUS 2x
