Pick a Bale of Cotton

"Pick a Bale of Cotton" is a traditional American folk song and work song first recorded by Texas inmates James "Iron Head" Baker (1933)[1] and Mose "Clear Rock" Platt (1939)[2] and later popularized by Lead Belly (Huddie William Ledbetter).

Lyrics and criticism

The song, particularly its original lyrics, has been criticized as racist and reminiscent and glorifying of the slavery period in American history. The original lyrics contained the racial slur "nigger" multiple times. One of the verses, according to John Lomax's American Ballads and Folk Songs, goes like this: ("Dat nigger from Shiloh / Kin pick a bale o' cotton / Dat nigger from Shiloh / Kin pick a bale a day")[3].

Amended better-known lyrics say:

Gonna jump down, spin around
Pick a bale of cotton
Gonna jump down, spin around
Pick a bale a day
Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton
Oh lordy, pick a bale a day

Ensuing verses have "Me and my wife pick a bale of cotton / Me and my wife pick a bale a day" with "me and my wife" replaced again later as "me and my gal", "me and my papa", "me and my friend" etc.

The more the lyrics progressed, the faster it was sung.

Covers and adaptations

The song has been covered by many artists including Harry Belafonte (in Belafonte, 1955), The Vipers Skiffle Group, The Quarrymen and Lonnie Donegan.[4] A version by Johnny Cash appears in the Cash compilation album The Legend.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee recorded it as a duo. Sonny Terry also recorded it with Woody Guthrie.

Children's music artist Raffi recorded the song on his 1979 album, The Corner Grocery Store.

Allan Sherman performed a parody in the early 1960s which included the lyric, "Jump down, spin around, pick a dress of cotton / Jump down, spin around, pick a dress o' wool."

ABBA recorded it as a medley, the other tunes in the medley being "On Top of Old Smoky" and "Midnight Special". The track just titled "Medley" was recorded in 1975 and was the B-side to the 1978 vinyl single "Summer Night City". The medley also appeared as a track on the German charity album Im Zeichen eines guten Sterns on Polydor. The medley reappeared in the 1994 4-CD boxed set compilation Thank You for the Music and on the remastered ABBA (album) of 2012 as bonus track.

Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro recorded a version of this song under the name "Black Bean Chili Thing" on the 1995 self-titled album of his band Peligro (band).

Ludacris implemented the verse in his 2005 single "The Potion" as a breakdown before the third verse. He also references the verse in his feature on Missy Elliott's 2002 song "Gossip Folks" on the last line of his verse.

In 2014, Country and Irish singer Derek Ryan covered it in his 2014 album The Simple Things also releasing a music video.[5]

References
  1. Baker, James. (1933) 1997. “Pick a bale o’ cotton.” On Field Recordings Vol. 13 1933-1943. Dumfries & Galloway, UK: Document Records.
  2. Platt, Mose. 1939. “Pick a Bale ‘o Cotton.” Washington, DC: Library of Congress. Digital id: hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afcss39.2643a2
  3. Lomax, J. (1934). American ballads and folk songs. New York. The MacMillan Company.
  4. "Pick a Bale of Cotton". HistoryWired. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 7 June 2013. 'Includes lyrics of song
  5. Music video - Derek Ryan - "Pick a bale of Cotton" (Nov 29, 2014)


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