Pick a Bale of Cotton

"'''Pick a Bale of Cotton'''" ([[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud]] 10061, sometimes "'''Pick a Bale o' Cotton'''") is a traditional American [[folk song]] and [[work song]] recorded by Texas inmates [[James "Iron Head" Baker and Moses "Clear Rock" Platt|James "Iron Head" Baker]] (1933)<ref>Baker, James. (1933) 1997. "Pick a bale o' cotton." On Field Recordings Vol. 13 1933-1943. Dumfries & Galloway, UK: Document Records.</ref> and [[James "Iron Head" Baker and Moses "Clear Rock" Platt|Moses "Clear Rock" Platt]] (1939)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pick a Bale o' Cotton |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/lomaxbib000199/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA|last=Platt|first=Mose|date=1939}}</ref> and later popularized by [[Lead Belly]] (Huddie William Ledbetter). [[Johnny Cash]], as well as others, have released adaptations of the song.

==Covers== The song has been covered by many artists including [[Harry Belafonte]] (under the name "Jump Down, Spin Around" on ''[[Belafonte (album)|Belafonte]]'', 1955), [[The Vipers Skiffle Group]], [[The Quarrymen]] and [[Lonnie Donegan]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=210 | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | work=HistoryWired | title=Pick a Bale of Cotton | date=16 March 2012 | access-date=7 June 2013 | archive-date=11 January 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111145112/http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=210 | url-status=live }} Includes lyrics of song</ref>

===Johnny Cash=== {{Infobox song | name = Pick a Bale o' Cotton | type = single | artist = [[Johnny Cash]] | album = | A-side = "[[Bonanza (song)|Bonanza!]]" | B-side = "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" | released = {{start date|1962|07|}}/{{start date|1962|08|}} | label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] <small>4-42512</small> | producer = [[Don Law]] and Frank Jones<ref name="Johnny Cash - Bonanza! / Pick A Bale O' Cotton | Discogs">{{cite web | url=https://www.discogs.com/master/view/496956 | title=Johnny Cash - Bonanza! / Pick A Bale O' Cotton | website=[[Discogs]] | date=1962 | accessdate=2019-01-20 | archive-date=2021-04-30 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430073404/https://www.discogs.com/master/view/496956 | url-status=live }}</ref> | misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|HOqjdmGfee4|"Pick a Bale o' Cotton"|link=no}}|header=Audio}} }} [[Johnny Cash]] released an adaptation<ref name= "Smith">{{cite book | author=John L. Smith| title=Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vysKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Bonanza%22| date=1 January 1999| publisher=Scarecrow Press| isbn=978-0-8108-3629-7}}</ref><ref name="Banister2014" /> on a [[single (music)|single]] for [[Columbia Records]] (Columbia 4-42512, with "[[Bonanza (song)|Bonanza!]]" on the flip side.<ref name="Billboard 11 August 1962">{{cite book| author=| title=Billboard| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBcEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Pick+a+Bale+o%27+Cotton%22+%22Bonanza%21%22&pg=PA51| date=11 August 1962| publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.| pages=51–| issn=0006-2510| access-date=2 February 2023| archive-date=5 October 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005205648/https://books.google.com/books?id=KBcEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Pick+a+Bale+o%27+Cotton%22+%22Bonanza!%22&pg=PA51#v=snippet&q=%22Pick%20a%20Bale%20o'%20Cotton%22%20%22Bonanza!%22&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> That version of the song appears in the Cash compilation album ''The Legend''.<ref name="Banister2014">{{cite book| author=C. Eric Banister| title=Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufYTBQAAQBAJ&q=%22Pick+a+Bale+O%27+Cotton%22%22&pg=PT23| date=1 August 2014| publisher=Backbeat Books| isbn=978-1-61713-608-5| pages=| access-date=2 February 2023| archive-date=5 October 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005205644/https://books.google.com/books?id=ufYTBQAAQBAJ&q=%22Pick+a+Bale+O%27+Cotton%22%22&pg=PT23#v=snippet&q=%22Pick%20a%20Bale%20O'%20Cotton%22%22&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> It was released in July<ref>{{cite book|title=The Johnny Cash Record Catalog|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ihbEBcJEx4C&q=%224-42512%22&pg=PA7|year=1994|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-29506-5|page=7|access-date=2023-02-02|archive-date=2024-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005205644/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ihbEBcJEx4C&q=%224-42512%22&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref> or August 1962.<ref name="Turner2005">{{cite book| author=Steve Turner| title=The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qaANnvGwGkC&q=%22Bonanza%22+%22Pick+A+Bale+O%27+Cotton%22+%2242512%22&pg=PT246| date=2005-10-30| publisher=Thomas Nelson| isbn=978-1-4185-7809-1| pages=246–| access-date=2023-02-02| archive-date=2024-10-05| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005205648/https://books.google.com/books?id=6qaANnvGwGkC&q=%22Bonanza%22+%22Pick+A+Bale+O%27+Cotton%22+%2242512%22&pg=PT246#v=onepage&q=%22Bonanza%22%20%22Pick%20A%20Bale%20O'%20Cotton%22%20%2242512%22&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Personnel === {{castlist| * Johnny Cash – vocal, guitar * Joe Hancock – banjo * [[Marshall Grant]] – bass * [[W. S. Holland]] – drums * [[Luther Perkins]] – electric guitar * [[Bill Pursell]] – piano }}

===Other adaptations=== [[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."

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

[[ABBA]] recorded it as a medley, the other tunes in the medley being "[[On Top of Old Smokey]]" and "[[Midnight Special (song)|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 (album)|Thank You for the Music]]'' and on the 2012 remastered ''[[ABBA (album)|ABBA]]'' as a bonus track.

Children's music artist [[Raffi]] recorded the song on his 1979 album, ''The Corner Grocery Store''.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl9bzINcXi8 |title=Pick a Bale O'Cotton |date=2018-12-11 |last=Raffi - Topic |access-date=2024-10-22 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

The song is sung by members of Navin Johnson ([[Steve Martin]]'s) family under the opening and end credits of Martin's 1979 comedy ''[[The Jerk]]''.

[[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)|Peligro]].

[[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 (singer)|Derek Ryan]] covered it in his 2014 album ''The Simple Things'' also releasing a music video.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCHyPnoGPPw |title=Music video - Derek Ryan - "Pick a bale of Cotton" (Nov 29, 2014) |website=[[YouTube]] |date=29 November 2014 |access-date=February 2, 2015 |archive-date=March 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309061544/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCHyPnoGPPw |url-status=live }}</ref>

At some point the tune was adapted to the Hebrew words of “Mishenichnas Adar” — “When Adar arrives” — which is based on a line from the [[Talmud]] ([[Ta%27anit_(Talmud)|Ta’anit]] Portfolio 29a) that means “When Adar arrives, we increase our joy.” [[Adar]] is a Hebrew month — and home to the happy holiday of [[Purim]]. [https://newvoices.org/2013/02/18/lead-bellys-cotton-pickin-purim/]

==Changed perspective== The song, particularly its original lyrics, has been criticized as [[racism|racist]] and reminiscent of—and glorifying—the slavery period in American history. The original lyrics contained the offensive, generally censored racial slur ''[[nigger]]'' multiple times.<ref name= "Lomx" /> Covers of the song changed the offensive lyric. ===Original lyrics=== One of the verses, according to [[John Lomax]]'s ''American Ballads and Folk Songs'', includes:<ref name= "Lomx">{{Cite book |last=Lomax |first=Alan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dn0cSe2ecuoC&dq=cotton&pg=PA231 |title=American Ballads and Folk Songs |date=1994-01-01 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-28276-3 |language=en}}</ref> <blockquote><poem> Dat nigger from Shiloh Kin pick a bale o' cotton Dat nigger from Shiloh Kin pick a bale a day</poem></blockquote>

Later versions of the folk song had amended the lyrics to: <blockquote><poem> Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale of cotton Gonna jump down, turn around Pick a bale a day Oh lordy, pick a bale of cotton Oh lordy, pick a bale a day</poem></blockquote>

The song is sung with increasing speed as it progresses, with ensuing verses having references to "me and my wife" replaced with the likes of "me and my gal", "me and my papa", "me and my friend".<ref name= "Lomx" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:American folk songs]]