My loyal blog followers, remember when I used to have a system to my blog and wrote something every week, and featured a song (usually chosen at random) at the same time every month?
Well, I figured it was time for a song again, though I have forgotten when that post was supposed to be blogged, so it's going to be now.
"Well boy it sure feels good to breathe the air back home. You shoulda seen their faces when they seen how I grown. In them old cotton fields back home."
I first came familiar with this song via the Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) cover, but I've recently discovered the Beach Boy's cover, and have been rather obsessed since then.
The song was written by blues musician Huddie Ledbetter, which he recorded in 1940. I know that the CCR version has fewer lyrics than the Beach Boys version, so I'm guessing the CCR cover is how the original one was, but through the surface level Google research I've done, I'm not entirely sure of the original lyrics or where the Beach Boys came up with there version.
Brian Wilson arranged the Beach Boys version of the song and it was recorded on November 18 1968, but Al Jardine, who did lead vocals for the song, was not impressed, so Jardine rearranged the song and it rerecorded in 1969. It went on their album 20/20.
The youtube video above features the 1969 version. If you watch the video, however, don't pay much attention to the lyrics on the bottom as there are several errors. For instance it spells Texarkana as Texacana; this really doesn't matter as that the reference to Texarcana in the song is geographically wrong anyways.
Most likely the reason I'm so in love with this song is it mixes two of my music favorites, the Beach Boy's harmonies and American folk rock music. It essentially combines my California culture, and the Southern cotton picking, hill people influence of my ancestry.
As with most folk music, I try to decode the story of the song, or fill in the gaps to make one up. I have yet to fully interpret the lyrics to this song, but it's something I would like to explore someday and see what kind of story I can come up with.
Please take a listen, and if you would like to come listen to it with me, I would like that even more, and then we can listen to more beach boys, and more old timey folk music.
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