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Green, Green Grass of Home
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Wikipedia article
"'Green, Green Grass of Home'", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., and first recorded by singer Johnny Darrell in 1965, is a country song made popular by Porter Wagoner the same year, when it reached No. 4 on the Country chart.[http://musicvf.com/song.php?id=79196 Porter Wagoner's "Green, Green Grass of Home" Chart Position] Retrieved July 3, 2012. It was also recorded by Bobby Bare and by Jerry Lee Lewis, who included it in his album 'Country Songs for City Folks' (later re-issued as 'All Country'). Tom Jones learned the song from Lewis' version and, in 1966, he had a worldwide No. 1 hit with it.
Lyrics
A man returns to his childhood home for what seems to be his first visit there since leaving in his youth. When he steps down from the train, his parents are there to greet him, and his beloved, Mary, comes running to join them. They meet him with "arms reaching, smiling sweetly". With Mary, the man strolls at ease among the monuments of his childhood, including "the old oak tree that I used to play on", feeling that "it's good to touch the green, green grass of home".
Abruptly, the man switches from song to speech, as he awakens and sees "four grey walls" surrounding him and remembers that he is in prison. As he resumes singing, we learn that the man is waking on the day of his scheduled execution.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/tom-jones/pages/green-green-grass-of-home.shtml Tom Jones, "The Green Green Grass Of Home" Video] Retrieved July 3, 2012. He sees a guard and "a sad old padre" who will walk with him to his execution at daybreak, and then he will return home "in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home".
The Joan Baez version ends: "Yes, we'll all be together in the shade of the old oak tree / When we meet beneath the green, green grass of home."
Tom Jones version
Welsh singer Tom Jones, who was appearing on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' in 1965, visited Colony Records while staying in New York City. On asking if they had any new works by Jerry Lee Lewis, he was given the new country album.
Impressed with the song, Jones recorded and released the song in the UK in 1966 and it reached No. 1 on 1 December, staying there for a total of seven weeks. The song has sold over 1.25 million copies in the UK as of September 2017. Jones' version also reached No. 11 pop, No. 12 easy listening on the 'Billboard' US charts.
In September 2006, Jones performed the song as a duet with Jerry Lee Lewis during the taping of the latter's 'Last Man Standing' TV special in New York City, and credited Lewis with providing the inspiration for his own recording.
In February 2009, Jones performed the song live with Vincent Moon on a special 'Take-Away Show', along with "If He Should Ever Leave You" and "We Got Love", in front of a camera in a hotel room in New York.
Jones sang the song on the 2009-2010 edition of 'Jool's Annual Hootenanny' on 1 January 2010.
Chart performance
Other versions
Since then it has been recorded by many other solo vocalists and groups including:
*1965: Del Reeves on his second album, 'Doodle-Oo-Doo-Doo'
*1966: Bobby Bare on his album, 'The Streets of Baltimore'
*1966: Bonnie Guitar on her album 'Miss Bonnie Guitar'
*1966: Charley Pride on the album 'Country'
*1967: Gene Parsons with the band Nashville West (album released in 1978)
*1967: The Statler Brothers on their album 'Sing The Big Hits'
*1967: Roger Miller on his album 'Walkin' in the Sunshine'
*1967: A Serbo-Croatian language version by Miki Jevremovi as Zelena Zelena Trava Doma Mog ...Diskos EDK-3068 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, EP, Mono
*1967: A Swedish version by Stig Anderson as "En sng en gng fr lnge sen", of which both Bjrn Ulvaeus' Hootenanny Singers and Jan Malmsj each had a 1967 Svensktoppen hit with, for six and 33 weeks respectively.
*1967: Dalida, under the name of Les grilles de ma maison, disc (Super 45 t : 71167)
*1967: Dean Martin on the album 'Welcome to My World'
*1967: Jrgen Herbst recorded a German cover version 'Der Weg zurck nach Haus' ' (CBS 2529)
*1967: Agnaldo Timteo, Brazilian singer, recorded the song on the album Obrigado Querida (Odeon MOFB 3488), under the name of Os Verdes Campos Da Minha Terra, lyrics in Portuguese by Geraldo Figueiredo
*1967: Nana Mouskouri under the name of "Le toit de ma maison" on the album Le Jour o la colombe
*1968: Johnny Cash on the album 'Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison'
*1968: Frankie Laine on the album 'To Each His Own'
*1968: Hank Snow on the album 'Hits, Hits, and More Hits'
*1968: Porter Wagoner on the album 'Green Green Grass of Home'
*1968: Johnny Paycheck on the album 'Country Soul'
*1968: Merle Haggard on the album 'Mama Tried'
*1968: George Jones on the album 'The George Jones Story', and again on his 1972 release, 'Take Me'.
*1968: Trini Lopez on 'Welcome to Trini Country'
*1968: Pozo-Seco Singers on 'Shades of Time'
*1968: Pavel Novk Czech singer as 'Vm, e jen snm'
*1969: Joan Baez on the album 'David's Album'
*1969: G Korsten South African singer recorded an Afrikaans version "Groene Velde Van My Land" on the album 'Sing Seeman Sing'
*1969: The Grateful Dead performed it live a number of times
*1971: The Deutschmeisters on their self-titled album
*1971: Stompin' Tom Connors (a parody version as "The Green, Green Grass of Home, No. 2") on the album 'Stompin' Tom Connors, 'LIVE' at the Horseshoe'
*1972: The Fatback Band on the album 'Let's Do It Again'
*1975: Elvis Presley on the album 'Today'
*1976: Gram Parsons and The Flying Burrito Brothers on the album 'Sleepless Nights'
*1977: Kenny Rogers on the album 'Kenny Rogers'
*1980: John Otway released as a single
*1986: Nick Cave quotes from the song in the opening line of "Sad Waters" on the album 'Your Funeral, My Trial'
*1986: Ted Hawkins on the album 'On the Boardwalk (The Venice Beach Tapes)'
*1989: A Danish version by Allan Olsen as "Det grnne grs" on the album 'Norlan'
*1993: Dennis Brown on the album 'The General'
*1993: Riblja orba as "Zelena trava doma mog" on the album 'Zbogom Srbijo'
*2006: Katherine Jenkins on the album 'Serenade'
*2008: Mike Farris on the album 'Shout! Live'
*2010: Curly Putman on the album 'Write 'em Sad - Sing 'em Lonesome'
*2014: Uke-Hunt on the album 'Uke-Hunt'
*2021: Bob Dylan on the album 'Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (1980-1985)'
References
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