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The Beach Boys cover "Cottonfields"Īmerican rock band the Beach Boys first recorded "Cotton Fields" on November 18–19, 1968. A rendering in French, "L'enfant do", was recorded in 1962 by Hugues Aufray and Petula Clark. "Cotton Fields" was also recorded by Unit 4+2 for their Concrete and Clay album (1965). 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. Odetta also made a new studio recording of the song for her 1963 album One Grain of Sand. 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), Buck Owens ( On the Bandstand 1963), the New Christy Minstrels ( Chim-Chim-Cheree 1965) and the Seekers ( Roving With The Seekers 1964). Belafonte had learned "Cotton Fields" from Odetta and been singing it in concert as early as 1955. 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. 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 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".
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