Recorded by Lead Belly in 1940, "Cotton Fields" was introduced into the canon of folk music via its inclusion on the 1954 album release Odetta & Larry which comprised performances by Odetta at the Tin Angel nightclub in San Francisco with instrumental and vocal accompaniment by Lawrence Mohr: this version was entitled "Old Cotton Fields at Home".
Intro: B Gb7 E B
B
When I was a little bitty baby
E B
My mama would rock me in the cradle
Gb7
In them old cotton fields back home
B
It was down in Louisiana
E B
Just about a mile from Texarkana
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
E
Now, when them cotton bolls get rotten
B
You can't pick very much cotton
Gb7
In them old cotton fields back home
B
It was down in Louisiana
E B
Just about a mile from Texarkana
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
B
When I was a little bitty baby
E B
My mama would rock me in the cradle
Gb7
In them old cotton fields back home
B
It was down in Louisiana
E B
Just about a mile from Texarkana
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
E
Now, when them cotton bolls get rotten
B
You can't pick very much cotton
Gb7
In them old cotton fields back home
B
It was down in Louisiana
E B
Just about a mile from Texarkana
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
B
When I was a little bitty baby
E B
My mama would rock me in the cradle
Gb7
In them old cotton fields back home
B
It was down in Louisiana
E B
Just about a mile from Texarkana
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
Gb7 B
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
It may sound a little funny
But you didn't make very much money
In them old cotton fields back home
I was home in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for
In the old cotton fields back home
I was home in Arkansas
People ask me what you come here for
In the old cotton fields back home
