Cottonfields / Cotton Fields - BW and AJ version

[c-man]

Agreed. I also prefer Al's version any day of the week.

While we're at the subject of Cottonfields, why isn't Al credited on the label for writing additional lyrics for it? I mean, Mike is credited for Student Demonstration Time and also for adding a verse to Under the Boardwalk.

Probably b/c Al didn't deem it necessary to file his name for cowriter status, whereas Mike did in those two examples.  Years later, though, Al did with "Don't Fight The Sea". 

But why wouldn't he? That would've given him royalties, right? A world wide hit that is still being played live today must have generated some money over the years, surely?

Well, he probably didn't think he could, until years later, when Mike did it. 

Mike wrote entirely new lyrics for A Young Man Is Gone but doesn't seem to be credtied with co-writer status along with Bobby Troup, not according to the credits in the 2-fer anyway.

Maybe Al thought that not giving himself any writing credit for Cotton Fields gave him the right to not give any co-credit whatsoever For Looking At Tomorrow.......

Don't you mean "At My Window"?  Or am I missing something...

[bgas]

Agreed. I also prefer Al's version any day of the week.

While we're at the subject of Cottonfields, why isn't Al credited on the label for writing additional lyrics for it? I mean, Mike is credited for Student Demonstration Time and also for adding a verse to Under the Boardwalk.

Probably b/c Al didn't deem it necessary to file his name for cowriter status, whereas Mike did in those two examples.  Years later, though, Al did with "Don't Fight The Sea". 

But why wouldn't he? That would've given him royalties, right? A world wide hit that is still being played live today must have generated some money over the years, surely?

Well, he probably didn't think he could, until years later, when Mike did it. 

Mike wrote entirely new lyrics for A Young Man Is Gone but doesn't seem to be credtied with co-writer status along with Bobby Troup, not according to the credits in the 2-fer anyway.

Maybe Al thought that not giving himself any writing credit for Cotton Fields gave him the right to not give any co-credit whatsoever For Looking At Tomorrow.......

Don't you mean "At My Window"?  Or am I missing something...

Yeah, you must have missed this:

one more very evident example for "using" someone else´s song:

 - Lookin´ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song): The Wanderer (by the Kingston Trio)

[busy doin nothin]

Great thread!  A few thoughts:

1.  Al's version is one of my top 20 BB tracks ever.  Phenomenal track.

2.  I love that Dennis played drums on the Al version.  He did a great job.

3.  I'm not convinced it is Brian at about 2:00.  I think he is in the mix just before that, but the the vocal fill that sounds like Brian is actually Carl to my ears.

4.  I really think the dit-dit-doo at about 2:18 is Brian, though.

5.  I think Brian definitely is on the track and his voice adds a lot.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Is that really Dennis playing the great drums on that track?

I hate when I think something's Dennis only to find out it isn't 

[c-man]

Is that really Dennis playing the great drums on that track?

I hate when I think something's Dennis only to find out it isn't 

Well, as far as we can tell...like I said, there's no drummer listed on the AFM contract...I suppose it could be Frank Capp, but there's definitely percussion on there (tambourine, if I recall right), and besides, the drums just SOUND like Denny.  Maybe one day the session tape can be analyzed. 

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Yes, they do sound very Denny!

I seem to remember there being a fairly detailed description of the track in the "Rarities" liner notes, and I seem to recall being disappointed that it wasn't Dennis on drums.

I hope I'm wrong 

Stebbins?

[Bicyclerider]

Count me in on the Brian camp for this one - I think the 20/20 version blows away Al's later remake.  Al's is busy and a little sloppy, although it has more superficial "energy" as he picked the pace up on the song.  But Brian's is beautiful, benefits from having more "space" in the music, and reminds me more of early Americana music than the "rocked up" Al version - and I feel that is exactly what Brian was going for (he was recording Old Folks At Home/Old Man River at this time as well).  I don't see Brian's version as a single though - so I guess Al was right to redo it as it was a hit in Europe.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

I'm in the Brian camp too, as far as the arrangement goes! I just think the mix is a bit tentative and flat. The drums are doing all kinds of cool things, but they're just sitting there in the background..... along with most of the rest of it.

Still: a beautiful arrangement.

Al's version though, just ....... kicks in an awesome way!

[Fall Breaks]

Great thread!  A few thoughts:

1.  Al's version is one of my top 20 BB tracks ever.  Phenomenal track.

2.  I love that Dennis played drums on the Al version.  He did a great job.

3.  I'm not convinced it is Brian at about 2:00.  I think he is in the mix just before that, but the the vocal fill that sounds like Brian is actually Carl to my ears.

4.  I really think the dit-dit-doo at about 2:18 is Brian, though.

5.  I think Brian definitely is on the track and his voice adds a lot.

I think 2:00 and 2:18 are the same guy. Same place in mix, and although 2:18 sounds more idiosyncratic Brian I'd say 2:00 is him as well.

[monkeytree5]

Great thread!  A few thoughts:

1.  Al's version is one of my top 20 BB tracks ever.  Phenomenal track.

2.  I love that Dennis played drums on the Al version.  He did a great job.

3.  I'm not convinced it is Brian at about 2:00.  I think he is in the mix just before that, but the the vocal fill that sounds like Brian is actually Carl to my ears.

4.  I really think the dit-dit-doo at about 2:18 is Brian, though.

5.  I think Brian definitely is on the track and his voice adds a lot.

I think 2:00 and 2:18 are the same guy. Same place in mix, and although 2:18 sounds more idiosyncratic Brian I'd say 2:00 is him as well.

I say at 2:00, that's Al doing the falsetto(think how he sounds on Be Here in the Morning).  At 2:18, (dit-dit-doo) definitely brian.

[c-man]

Yes, they do sound very Denny!

I seem to remember there being a fairly detailed description of the track in the "Rarities" liner notes, and I seem to recall being disappointed that it wasn't Dennis on drums.

I hope I'm wrong 

Stebbins?

Hmm, well unless you're talking about the Japanese liner notes for the CD reissue...I checked the original 1981 Australian "Rarities" LP, the more common 1983 U.S. "Rarities" LP, the "Friends"/"20/20" twofer CD, and the 1993 box set, all of which either contain the single version of "Cottonfields" or mention it, and none of them provide the description you refer to.  But, I don't read Japanese, so who knows...

[harveyw]

>
one more very evident example for "using" someone else´s song:

 - Lookin´ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song): The Wanderer (by the Kingston Trio)


Never heard this before, but by jiminy, he's right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1poFkCG2NE

[Beach Head]

> one more very evident example for "using" someone else´s song:
> - Lookin´ At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song): The Wanderer (by the Kingston Trio)

Never heard this before, but by jiminy, he's right

The question arises ... why didn't Al credit the writer of the Trio's "The Wanderer"?

From the information provided with the YouTube video of "The Wanderer":

The song is a reworking by Irving Burgie of the American folk tune "900 Miles." Burgie is best known as "The Father of Modern Calypso," having written 34 songs recorded by Harry Belafonte, including eight of the eleven on Belafonte's landmark "Calypso" album of 1956, the first album ever to sell a certified million copies. "Day-O [The Banana Boat Song]" and "Jamaica Farewell" are probably the most enduring of Burgie's songs; he also wrote several other songs for the Kingston Trio besides "The Wanderer."

So, did Al adapt "The Wanderer" or the original folk tune, "900 Miles"?

Here's Bert Jansch doing a traditional folk version of "900 Miles":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VhmT6vOZRc

And here's the best known version of "900 Miles," as recorded by Billy Merman in 1949:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZizbzzIPE

Of course, if Al adapted "900 Miles" to "Lookin' At Tomorrow," he has as much right to put his name down as the songwriter as Burgie did for "The Wanderer."

[busy doin nothin]

Great thread!  A few thoughts:

1.  Al's version is one of my top 20 BB tracks ever.  Phenomenal track.

2.  I love that Dennis played drums on the Al version.  He did a great job.

3.  I'm not convinced it is Brian at about 2:00.  I think he is in the mix just before that, but the the vocal fill that sounds like Brian is actually Carl to my ears.

4.  I really think the dit-dit-doo at about 2:18 is Brian, though.

5.  I think Brian definitely is on the track and his voice adds a lot.

I think 2:00 and 2:18 are the same guy. Same place in mix, and although 2:18 sounds more idiosyncratic Brian I'd say 2:00 is him as well.

I say at 2:00, that's Al doing the falsetto(think how he sounds on Be Here in the Morning).  At 2:18, (dit-dit-doo) definitely brian.

I can believe it's Al at 2:00.  I think you may be right.  I just feel sure it is not Brian, even though it does sound a lot like him.

[Smilin Ed H]

Jeez, maybe someone should sue Al...   

[bgas]

Jeez, maybe someone should sue Al...   

I believe BRI did just that, tho they claimed it was for other causes...