Pick a Bale o' Cotton

"Pick a Bale o' Cotton"
Single by Johnny Cash
from the album Ring of Fire
A-side	"Bonanza!"; "Pick a Bale o' Cotton"
Released	July or August 1962
Genre	country
Label	Columbia 4-42512
Producer(s)	Don Law and Frank Jones[1]
Audio
	"Pick a Bale o' Cotton" on YouTube

"Pick a Bale o' Cotton" is a work song from the repertoire of Lead Belly.[3]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Billboard[2]

Johnny Cash released his adaptation[4] as a single for Columbia Records (Columbia 4-42512, with "Bonanza!" on the flip side)[3][5][6] in July[7][8] or August 1962.[5]

The Billboard magazine evaluated the single upon its release as having a "moderate sales potential",[2] but "Bonanza" only grazed the Hot 100 and entirely missed the Billboard country chart,[4] while "Pick a Bale o' Cotton" didn't make either.

Background

"Pick a Bale O'Cotton" is a simple, repetitious song that Cash wrote on the subject of cotton. The carefree lyric "Jump down, turn around, pick a bale o' cotton," tries to put a positive spin on the grueling, merciless work of the cotton farmer. It might have been sung out in the fields as the cotton was being gathered to help alleviate the backbreaking boredom that would set in daily. The song was not released at the time.
— John M. Alexander. The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash[9]

Track listing

Johnny Cash version

7" single (Columbia 42512, 1962)[2]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Pick a Bale o' Cotton"	Johnny Cash	1:56
2.	"Bonanza!"	Jay Livingston – Raymond Evans	2:24

Personnel

Johnny Cash – vocal, guitar
Joe Hancock – banjo
Marshal Grant – bass
W. S. Holland – drums
Luther Perkins – electric guitar
Bill Pursell – piano[6]

References

"Johnny Cash - Bonanza! / Pick A Bale O' Cotton". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-01-20.
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (11 August 1962). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 51–. ISSN 0006-2510.
C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat Books. pp. 23–. ISBN 978-1-61713-608-5.
C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-1-61713-609-2.
Steve Turner (2005-10-30). The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend. Thomas Nelson. pp. 246–. ISBN 978-1-4185-7809-1.
John L. Smith (1 January 1999). Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3629-7.
John L. Smith (1 January 1999). Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3629-7.
Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
July
"Bonanza"/"Pick A Bale O' Cotton" (Columbia 4-42512) released.
The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1994. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-313-29506-5.
John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Johnny_Cash_-_Bonanza!_/_Pick_A_Bale_O'_Cotton_|_Discogs-1] "Johnny Cash - Bonanza! / Pick A Bale O' Cotton". Discogs. Retrieved 2019-01-20.

[Billboard_11_August_1962-2] Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (11 August 1962). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 51–. ISSN 0006-2510.

[Banister2014_(page_23)-3] C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat Books. pp. 23–. ISBN 978-1-61713-608-5.

[Banister2014_(page_89)-4] C. Eric Banister (1 August 2014). Johnny Cash FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Man in Black. Backbeat. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-1-61713-609-2.

[Turner2005-5] Steve Turner (2005-10-30). The Man Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend. Thomas Nelson. pp. 246–. ISBN 978-1-4185-7809-1.

[Smith1999-6] John L. Smith (1 January 1999). Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3629-7.
John L. Smith (1 January 1999). Another Song to Sing: The Recorded Repertoire of Johnny Cash. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-3629-7.

[Lewry2001-7] Peter Lewry (2001). I've Been Everywhere: A Johnny Cash Chronicle. Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1-900924-22-1.
July
"Bonanza"/"Pick A Bale O' Cotton" (Columbia 4-42512) released.

[8] The Johnny Cash Record Catalog. Greenwood Publishing Group. 1994. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-313-29506-5.

[Alexander2018_(page_74)-9] John M. Alexander (16 April 2018). The Man in Song: A Discographic Biography of Johnny Cash. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-1-61075-628-0.