Jump to content

Boll Weevil (song): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Link Bo Weevil to its WP page.
 
(36 intermediate revisions by 28 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Blues song, notably recorded by Lead Belly and Brook Benton}}
"'''Boll Weevil'''" is a traditional [[blues]] song, also known by similar titles such as "'''Boweavil'''" or "'''Boll Weevil Blues'''". Although many songs about the [[boll weevil]] were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, this one has become well known, thanks to [[Lead Belly]]'s rendition of it as recorded by folklorist [[Alan Lomax]] in 1934. A 1961 adaptation by [[Brook Benton]] became a pop hit, reaching number two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].
{{About|the blues song that was a pop hit for Brook Benton|rock and roll song by Fats Domino|Bo Weevil|other uses|Boll weevil (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}

"'''Boll Weevil'''" is a traditional [[blues]] song, also known by similar titles such as "'''Boweavil'''" or "'''Boll Weevil Blues'''". Many songs about the [[boll weevil]] were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s through the 1940s. However, a rendition by [[Lead Belly]] recorded in 1934 by folklorist [[Alan Lomax]] led to it becoming well-known. A 1961 adaptation by [[Brook Benton]] became a pop hit, reaching number two on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. Fats Domino's "[[Bo Weevil]]" is a different song.


==Lyrics==
==Lyrics==
The lyrics deal with the [[boll weevil]] ''(Anthonomus grandis)'', a [[beetle]], which feeds on cotton buds and flowers, that migrated into the U.S. from [[Mexico]] in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, causing severe devastation to the industry.
The lyrics deal with the [[boll weevil]] ''(Anthonomus grandis)'', a [[beetle]] which feeds on cotton buds and flowers that migrated into the U.S. from [[Mexico]] in the late 19th century, and by the 1920s had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas, causing severe devastation to the industry.


==Origins==
==Origins==
{{Infobox song
The song is known to be "at least a century old."<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=r706762|pure_url=yes}}|title=''Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere: Field Recordings, Vol. 16 (1934-1940)''|author= |publisher=[[Allmusic]] |accessdate=January 9, 2012}}</ref>{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = Mississippi Boweevil Blues
| name = Mississippi Boweevil Blues
| Artist = [[Charlie Patton]]
| cover =
| Cover =
| alt =
| Caption =
| type = single
| Album =
| artist = [[Charley Patton]]
| B-side = "[[Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues]]"
| B-side = [[Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues]]
| Released = 1929
| released = {{Start date|1929}}
| Recorded = June 14, 1929<br/>Richmond, Indiana
| recorded = June 14, 1929, Richmond, Indiana
| studio =
| Format = [[Gramophone record|78"]]
| Genre = [[Delta blues]]
| genre = [[Delta blues]]
| Length = 3:09
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=09}}
| Label = [[Paramount Records|Paramount]]
| label = [[Paramount Records|Paramount]]
| Writer = Charlie Patton
| writer = Charlie Patton
| Producer = H.C. Spier
| producer = H.C. Spier
| prev_title = Prayer of Death (Parts 1 & 2)
| Certification =
| Chronology =
| prev_year = 1929
| next_title = Down the Dirt Road Blues
| Last single = "Prayer of Death (Parts 1 & 2)<br> (1929)"
| next_year = 1929
| Next single = "Down the Dirt Road Blues"''<br />(1929)
| This single = "'''Mississippi Boweevil Blues'''"''<br />(1929)
| Misc =
}}
}}
Perhaps as early as 1908,<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r706762|pure_url=yes}}|title=Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere: Field Recordings, Vol. 16 (1934-1940)|last=Leggett|first=Steve |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=January 9, 2012}}</ref> blues pioneer [[Charley Patton]] wrote a song called "Mississippi Boweevil Blues" and recorded it in July 1929 (as "The Masked Marvel") for [[Paramount Records]]. Some of the lyrics are similar to "Boll Weevil," describing the first time and "the next time" the narrator saw the boll weevil and making reference to the weevil's family and home. "Mother of the Blues" [[Ma Rainey]] recorded a song called "Bo-Weavil Blues" in Chicago in December 1923, and [[Bessie Smith]] covered it in 1924, but the song had little in common with Lead Belly's "Boll Weevil" aside from the subject matter.


In both [[Jaybird Coleman]]'s "Boll Weevil," from the late 1920s, and [[Blind Willie McTell]]'s, from the 1930s, there is an element of a dialogue between the boll weevil and a farmer. W.A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor's "Boll Weevil" recorded February 24, 1928 contains these same elements.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rickert|first=David |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=28497 |title=Various Artists &#124; People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913–1938 |publisher=Allaboutjazz.com |date=February 20, 2008 |accessdate=January 9, 2012}}</ref> But the first version to include all the hallmarks of the song is Lead Belly's, first recorded by Lomax on October 15, 1934, in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]], Louisiana. Lead Belly re-recorded the song a number of times between 1934 and his death in 1949, with slightly different lyrics.
Perhaps as early as 1908,<ref name="allmusic" /> blues pioneer [[Charley Patton]] wrote a song called "''Mississippi Boweevil Blues''" and recorded it in July 1929 (as "The Masked Marvel") for Paramount Records. Some of the lyrics are similar to "Boll Weevil," describing the first time and "the next time" the narrator saw the boll weevil and making reference to the weevil's family and home. "Mother of the Blues" [[Ma Rainey]] recorded a song called "Bo-Weavil Blues" in Chicago in December 1923, and [[Bessie Smith]] covered it in 1924, but the song had little in common with Lead Belly's "Boll Weevil" aside from the subject matter.

A version recorded by the Old Time Country musician Gid Tanner in 1924 (see Country Music Records A Discography, 1921 -1942, Tony Russell, Oxford University Press, 2004) is extremely similar to Lead Belly's both in the tune and the dialog lyrics. It can be accessed at this link:
https://www.myspace.com/gidtanner/music/songs?filter=featured#!

At least two other early Country versions of Boll Weevil or Boll Weevil Blues (Tanner's title) are listed in Russell.

In both [[Jaybird Coleman]]'s "Boll Weevil," from the late 1920s, and [[Blind Willie McTell]]'s, from the 1930s, we find the element of a dialogue between the boll weevil and a farmer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.purplebeech.com/blues/2009/01/show-40-boll-weevil-blues.html |title=Uncensored History of the Blues: Show 40 - Boll Weevil Blues |publisher=Purplebeech.com |date=2009-01-24 |accessdate=2012-01-09}}</ref> W.A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor's "Boll Weevil" recorded February 24, 1928 contains these same elements.<ref>{{cite web|author=All About Jazz |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=28497 |title=Various Artists &#124; People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913-1938 |publisher=Allaboutjazz.com |date=2008-02-20 |accessdate=2012-01-09}}</ref>

But the first version to include all the hallmarks of the song is Lead Belly's, first recorded by Lomax on October 15, 1934 in [[Shreveport, Louisiana|Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]. Lead Belly re-recorded the song a number of times between 1934 and his death in 1949, with slightly different lyrics.

Fats Domino's "[[Bo Weevil]]" song portrays a performance of the Bo Weevil song at celebration on a farm.


==Other versions==
==Other versions==
{{cleanup section|reason=other versions may not meet [[WP:SONGCOVER]].|date=June 2019}}
The following is a list of versions of the song by other artists.
The following is a list of versions of the song by other artists.
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}

{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
*[[Carl Sandburg]] - March 4, 1926 (as "The Boll Weevil", Victor 20135)
*[[Carl Sandburg]] - March 4, 1926 (as "The Boll Weevil", Victor 20135)
*[[W.A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor]] - February 24, 1928 (as "Boll Weevil", available on ''People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913-1938'')
*[[W.A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor]] - February 24, 1928 (as "Boll Weevil", available on ''People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913-1938'')
Line 51: Line 42:
*[[Woody Guthrie]] - 1940
*[[Woody Guthrie]] - 1940
*[[Buster Ezell]] - 1941
*[[Buster Ezell]] - 1941
*[[Sid Hemphill]] - 1942<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.culturalequity.org/field-work/mississippi-delta-survey-1941-1942/sledge-842/boll-weevil |title=Boll Weevil-Lomax Digital Archive|publisher=Lomax Digital Archive |accessdate=October 25, 2023}}</ref>
*[[Tex Ritter]] - 1945
*[[Tex Ritter]] - 1945<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fri25 |title=Ritter, Woodward Maurice [Tex]|publisher=Texas State Historical Association (tshaonline.org) |accessdate=January 9, 2012}}</ref>
*[[Burl Ives]] - 1956
*[[Burl Ives]] - 1956
*[[Norman Luboff]] Choir - 1956
*[[Norman Luboff]] Choir - 1956
Line 57: Line 49:
*[[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]] - 1958
*[[Ramblin' Jack Elliott]] - 1958
*[[Eddie Cochran]] - 1959
*[[Eddie Cochran]] - 1959
*[[Vera Hall]] - 1959/60
*[[Brook Benton]] - 1961 (as "The Boll Weevil Song")
*[[Brook Benton]] - 1961 (as "The Boll Weevil Song")
*[[Connie Francis]] - 1961 (from ''Sings Folk Song Favorites'', MGM Records E3969 US)
{{col-3}}
*[[Pink Anderson]] - 1961
*[[Pink Anderson]] - 1961
*[[Johnny Mann]] Singers - 1962
*[[Johnny Mann]] Singers - 1962
Line 67: Line 60:
*[[Jimmy Page]] - 1984
*[[Jimmy Page]] - 1984
*[[Albert Lee]] - 1993
*[[Albert Lee]] - 1993
*[[Nashville Bluegrass Band]] - 1995
*[[Nashville Bluegrass Band]] - 1995<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lpdiscography.com/?page=discography&interpret=537|title=LP Discography: Nashville Bluegrass Band - Discography|website=Lpdiscography.com|accessdate=24 January 2018}}</ref>
*[[Dave Van Ronk]] - 1996
*[[Dave Van Ronk]] - 1996
*[[The White Stripes]] - 2001 - 2007 (performed live)
*[[The White Stripes]] - 2001 - 2007 (performed live)
{{col-3}}
*[[North Mississippi Allstars]] - 2005 (as "Mississippi Boll Weevil")
*[[North Mississippi Allstars]] - 2005 (as "Mississippi Boll Weevil")
*[[Old Crow Medicine Show]] - 2008
*[[Old Crow Medicine Show]] - 2008
Line 76: Line 68:
*[[Bobby Bare]] - 2012
*[[Bobby Bare]] - 2012
*[[Punch Brothers]] - 2015
*[[Punch Brothers]] - 2015
*[[Bill Callahan (musician)]] - 2022
{{col-end}}
{{div col end}}
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.famoustexans.com/texritter.htm |title=Tex Ritter |publisher=Famoustexans.com |date= |accessdate=2012-01-09}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fri25 |title=RITTER, WOODWARD MAURICE [TEX&#93; &#124; The Handbook of Texas Online&#124; Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) |publisher=Tshaonline.org |date= |accessdate=2012-01-09}}</ref>


==Brook Benton version==
==Brook Benton version==
{{Infobox song
{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = The Boll Weevil Song
| name = The Boll Weevil Song
| cover = The_Boll_Weevil_Song_-_Brook_Benton.jpeg
| Cover =
| Cover size =
| alt =
| Border =
| type = single
| Caption =
| artist = [[Brook Benton]]
| album = The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits
| Artist = [[Brook Benton]]
| B-side = Your Eyes
| Album = The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits
| released = {{Start date|1961|May}}
| A-side =
| B-side = "Your Eyes"
| recorded = 1960
| Released = 1961
| studio =
| Format = 7" (45 rpm)
| genre = [[Novelty song]]
| Recorded =
| length = {{Duration|m=2|s=39}}
| Genre = [[Novelty song]]
| label = [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
| writer = Traditional, arranged by Brook Benton, [[Clyde Otis]]
| Length = 2:39
| Label = [[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
| producer = [[Shelby Singleton]]
| Writer = Traditional, arranged: <br>Brook Benton<br>[[Clyde Otis]]
| prev_title = [[Think Twice (Brook Benton song)|Think Twice]]
| prev_year = 1961
| Producer = [[Shelby Singleton]]
| next_title = [[Frankie and Johnny (song)|Frankie and Johnny]]
| Audio sample? =
| Certification =
| next_year = 1961
| Last single = "Think Twice"<br>(1961)
| This single = "The Boll Weevil Song"<br>(1961)
| Next single = "Hit Record"<br>(1962)
| Misc =
}}
}}


The 1961 recording by [[United States|American]] [[R&B]] singer [[Brook Benton]] was released as "The Boll Weevil Song" in an adaptation by Benton and frequent musical collaborator [[Clyde Otis]]. Considered a [[novelty song|novelty record]], it was produced by [[Shelby Singleton]] and appeared on an album called ''[[The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits]]''.
The 1961 recording by American [[R&B]] singer [[Brook Benton]] was released as "The Boll Weevil Song" in an adaptation by Benton and frequent musical collaborator [[Clyde Otis]]. Considered a [[novelty song|novelty record]], it was produced by [[Shelby Singleton]] and appeared on an album called ''[[The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits]]''.


Benton's recording was a hit [[single (music)|single]] during the summer of 1961 and became the highest-charting single of his career on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart, where the singer had eight Top 10 hits between 1959 and 1970. "The Boll Weevil Song" spent three weeks at number two on the Hot 100 chart.<ref>[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]] (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 59.</ref> On the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B chart]], where Benton had enjoyed even greater success, the song also reached number two.
Benton's recording was a hit single during the summer of 1961 and became the highest-charting single of his career on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart, where the singer had eight Top 10 hits between 1959 and 1970. "The Boll Weevil Song" spent three weeks at number two on the Hot 100 chart.<ref>[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]] (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 59.</ref> On the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B chart]], where Benton had enjoyed even greater success, the song also reached number two.


On the week ending July 17, 1961, [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' Magazine]] debuted the "Easy Listening chart" (renamed the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|Adult Contemporary chart]] in 1979). This separate chart was created to list songs that the magazine deemed were not [[rock and roll]] records. Since the number-one song on the Hot 100 chart at the time was "[[Tossin' and Turnin']]" by rock and roll singer [[Bobby Lewis]], and Benton's song was not considered rock and roll by the magazine, "The Boll Weevil Song" holds the distinction of being the first number-one song on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening chart.<ref>Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 1.</ref>
On the week ending July 17, 1961, [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' Magazine]] debuted the "Easy Listening chart" (renamed the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|Adult Contemporary chart]] in 1979). This separate chart was created to list songs that the magazine deemed were not [[rock and roll]] records. Since the number-one song on the Hot 100 chart at the time was "[[Tossin' and Turnin']]" by rock and roll singer [[Bobby Lewis]], and Benton's song was not considered rock and roll by the magazine, "The Boll Weevil Song" holds the distinction of being the first number-one song on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening chart.<ref>Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications), page 1.</ref>


In the UK, the song reached a peak position of number 30 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] and remained in the [[Top 40]] for eight weeks during the summer of 1961.<ref>[http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=2928 UK Singles Chart info] Chartstats.com. Retrieved 7 April 2009.</ref>
In [[CHUM Chart|Canada]] the song reached number 12 and was on the chart for seven weeks<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chumtribute.com/61-06-26-chart.jpg| title=CHUM Hit Parade - June 26, 1961}}</ref>

In the UK, the song reached a peak position of number 30 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] and remained in the [[Top 40]] for eight weeks during the summer of 1961.


The majority of the song's lyrics are spoken by Benton, as in when the farmer inquires, "Say, why'd you pick my farm?", to which the boll weevils reply, "We ain't gonna do ya much harm". The chorus of "we're lookin' for a home" was sung by Benton and the Mike Stewart Singers.
The majority of the song's lyrics are spoken by Benton, as in when the farmer inquires, "Say, why'd you pick my farm?", to which the boll weevils reply, "We ain't gonna do ya much harm". The chorus of "we're lookin' for a home" was sung by Benton and the Mike Stewart Singers.


==Eddie Cochran version==
==Eddie Cochran version==
"Boll Weevil Song" is an adaption of the traditional blues song written by [[Eddie Cochran]] and [[Jerry Capehart]]. It was the B-side of Cochran's [[Liberty Records]] hit single "[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Somethin' Else]]" and released in July 1959.

{{Infobox single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name =Boll Weevil Song
| Cover =
| Cover size =
| Caption =
| Artist =[[Eddie Cochran]]
| Album =[[Never to Be Forgotten]]
| A-side ="[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Somethin' Else]]"
| Released =July 1959
| Format =7" 45rpm
| Recorded =23 June 1959
| Genre =[[Rock and roll]]
| Length =
| Label = [[Liberty Records|Liberty]] F-55203
| Writer = Traditional
| Producer =[[Eddie Cochran]]
| Certification =
| Last single ="[[Teenage Heaven]]"<br>(1959)
| This single ="'''[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Somethin' Else]]'''"<br>(1959)
| Next single ="[[Hallelujah, I Love Her So]]"<br>(1959)
| Misc =
}}

"'''Boll Weevil Song'''" is an adaption of the traditional blues song written by [[Eddie Cochran]] and [[Jerry Capehart]]. It was the B-side of Cochran's [[Liberty Records]] hit single "[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Somethin' Else]]" and released in July 1959.


==See also==
==See also==
Line 152: Line 117:
{{Eddie Cochran}}
{{Eddie Cochran}}
{{Brook Benton}}
{{Brook Benton}}

{{authority control}}


[[Category:Year of song unknown]]
[[Category:Year of song unknown]]
Line 160: Line 127:
[[Category:Eddie Cochran songs]]
[[Category:Eddie Cochran songs]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Blues songs]]
[[Category:Delta blues songs]]
[[Category:Novelty songs]]
[[Category:Novelty songs]]
[[Category:Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles]]
[[Category:Liberty Records singles]]
[[Category:Liberty Records singles]]
[[Category:Songwriter unknown]]
[[Category:Mercury Records singles]]
[[Category:Paramount Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs with unknown songwriters]]
[[Category:Songs about insects]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand]]

Latest revision as of 23:50, 26 October 2024

This article is about the blues song that was a pop hit for Brook Benton. For rock and roll song by Fats Domino, see Bo Weevil. For other uses, see Boll weevil (disambiguation).

"Boll Weevil" is a traditional blues song, also known by similar titles such as "Boweavil" or "Boll Weevil Blues". Many songs about the boll weevil were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s through the 1940s. However, a rendition by Lead Belly recorded in 1934 by folklorist Alan Lomax led to it becoming well-known. A 1961 adaptation by Brook Benton became a pop hit, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Fats Domino's "Bo Weevil" is a different song.

Lyrics

[edit]

The lyrics deal with the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers that migrated into the U.S. from Mexico in the late 19th century, and by the 1920s had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas, causing severe devastation to the industry.

Origins

[edit]
"Mississippi Boweevil Blues"
Single by Charley Patton
B-side"Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues"
Released1929 (1929)
RecordedJune 14, 1929, Richmond, Indiana
GenreDelta blues
Length3:09
LabelParamount
Songwriter(s)Charlie Patton
Producer(s)H.C. Spier
Charley Patton singles chronology
"Prayer of Death (Parts 1 & 2)"
(1929) 		"Mississippi Boweevil Blues"
(1929) 		"Down the Dirt Road Blues"
(1929)

Perhaps as early as 1908,[1] blues pioneer Charley Patton wrote a song called "Mississippi Boweevil Blues" and recorded it in July 1929 (as "The Masked Marvel") for Paramount Records. Some of the lyrics are similar to "Boll Weevil," describing the first time and "the next time" the narrator saw the boll weevil and making reference to the weevil's family and home. "Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey recorded a song called "Bo-Weavil Blues" in Chicago in December 1923, and Bessie Smith covered it in 1924, but the song had little in common with Lead Belly's "Boll Weevil" aside from the subject matter.

In both Jaybird Coleman's "Boll Weevil," from the late 1920s, and Blind Willie McTell's, from the 1930s, there is an element of a dialogue between the boll weevil and a farmer. W.A. Lindsey & Alvin Condor's "Boll Weevil" recorded February 24, 1928 contains these same elements.[2] But the first version to include all the hallmarks of the song is Lead Belly's, first recorded by Lomax on October 15, 1934, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Lead Belly re-recorded the song a number of times between 1934 and his death in 1949, with slightly different lyrics.

Other versions

[edit]

The following is a list of versions of the song by other artists.

Brook Benton version

[edit]
"The Boll Weevil Song"
Single by Brook Benton
from the album The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits
B-side"Your Eyes"
ReleasedMay 1961 (1961-May)
Recorded1960
GenreNovelty song
Length2:39
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Traditional, arranged by Brook Benton, Clyde Otis
Producer(s)Shelby Singleton
Brook Benton singles chronology
"Think Twice"
(1961) 		"The Boll Weevil Song"
(1961) 		"Frankie and Johnny"
(1961)

The 1961 recording by American R&B singer Brook Benton was released as "The Boll Weevil Song" in an adaptation by Benton and frequent musical collaborator Clyde Otis. Considered a novelty record, it was produced by Shelby Singleton and appeared on an album called The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits.

Benton's recording was a hit single during the summer of 1961 and became the highest-charting single of his career on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the singer had eight Top 10 hits between 1959 and 1970. "The Boll Weevil Song" spent three weeks at number two on the Hot 100 chart.[5] On the R&B chart, where Benton had enjoyed even greater success, the song also reached number two.

On the week ending July 17, 1961, Billboard Magazine debuted the "Easy Listening chart" (renamed the Adult Contemporary chart in 1979). This separate chart was created to list songs that the magazine deemed were not rock and roll records. Since the number-one song on the Hot 100 chart at the time was "Tossin' and Turnin'" by rock and roll singer Bobby Lewis, and Benton's song was not considered rock and roll by the magazine, "The Boll Weevil Song" holds the distinction of being the first number-one song on the Billboard Easy Listening chart.[6]

In Canada the song reached number 12 and was on the chart for seven weeks[7]

In the UK, the song reached a peak position of number 30 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 40 for eight weeks during the summer of 1961.

The majority of the song's lyrics are spoken by Benton, as in when the farmer inquires, "Say, why'd you pick my farm?", to which the boll weevils reply, "We ain't gonna do ya much harm". The chorus of "we're lookin' for a home" was sung by Benton and the Mike Stewart Singers.

Eddie Cochran version

[edit]

"Boll Weevil Song" is an adaption of the traditional blues song written by Eddie Cochran and Jerry Capehart. It was the B-side of Cochran's Liberty Records hit single "Somethin' Else" and released in July 1959.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Leggett, Steve. "Boll Weevil Here, Boll Weevil Everywhere: Field Recordings, Vol. 16 (1934-1940)". AllMusic. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  2. ^ Rickert, David (February 20, 2008). "Various Artists | People Take Warning! Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs, 1913–1938". Allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "Boll Weevil-Lomax Digital Archive". Lomax Digital Archive. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "Ritter, Woodward Maurice [Tex]". Texas State Historical Association (tshaonline.org). Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 59.
  6. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 1.
  7. ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - June 26, 1961".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boll_Weevil_(song)&oldid=1253618192"