"Cotton-Eyed Joe"

Before 1861

History[edit]

19th century[edit]

The origins of this song are unclear, although it pre-dates the 1861–1865 American Civil War.[1] American folklorist Dorothy Scarborough (1878–1935) noted in her 1925 book On the Trail of Negro Folk-songs that several people remembered hearing the song before the war. Scarborough's account of the song came from her sister, Mrs. George Scarborough, who learned the song from "the Negroes on a plantation in Texas, and other parts from a man in Louisiana". The man in Louisiana knew the song from his earliest childhood and heard slaves singing it on plantations.[2] Both the dance and the song had many variants.[3]


A number of possible meanings of the term "cotton-eyed" have been proposed. The phrase may refer to: being drunk on moonshine, or having been blinded by drinking wood alcohol, turning the eyes milky white; a black person with very light blue eyes; miners covered in dirt with the exception of their white eyes; someone whose eyes were milky white from bacterial infections of trachoma or syphilis, cataracts or glaucoma; or the contrast of dark skin tone around white eyeballs in black people.[4]


American publishing house Harper and Brothers published the first printed version of the song in 1882.[5] It was heard by author Louise Clarke Pyrnelle (born 1850) on the Alabama plantation of her father when she was a child.[6] That 1882 version was republished as follows in 1910:[7]

Modern covers[edit]

In August 1994, the Swedish Eurodance group Rednex covered the song as "Cotton Eye Joe" for their album Sex & Violins, combining their style with traditional American instruments, such as banjos[16] and fiddles. In 2002, "Cotton Eye Joe" was remixed in a dance version and was released from Rednex's greatest hits album, The Best of the West.


There is a Crazy Frog cover of the song, based on the Rednex version on the Best Of Crazy Hits compilation album.


The Country and Irish singer Lee Matthews released his version of the song with new added lyrics. The single on his own independent label topped the Irish Country Singles Download Chart in January 2015.


Virtual band Gummibär also covered the song in their album La La Love to Dance.

1927 : (earliest known recording)

Fiddlin' John Carson

1928: 's Skillet Lickers, Columbia 15283D, 4/10/1928[17][18][19][20]

Gid Tanner

1928: , Victor 21469-A, recorded 2/6/28, Memphis, TN.

Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers

1941: on the album, The Wayfaring Stranger

Burl Ives

1942: and his San Antonians, with J. R. Chatwell on fiddle

Adolph Hofner

1947: and the Texas Playboys[21]

Bob Wills

1956: on the album, The Josh White Stories Vol. 1

Josh White

1959: on the album, Old Timey Songs for Children

New Lost City Ramblers

1959: on the album, Nina Simone at Town Hall

Nina Simone

1960:

Walter Brennan

1962: on the album, Cotton Eyed Joe

Karen Dalton

1967: Al Dean and the All Stars on the 45 record, KIKN Records

1968: on the album, The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier

Terry Callier

1974: on the album Country Masters

Isaac Payton Sweat

1976: on the album, San Quentin's First Lady

Leona Williams

1980: with Willie Nelson on the soundtrack album for the movie Honeysuckle Rose

Johnny Gimble

1985: on their self-titled album, Asleep at the Wheel

Asleep at the Wheel

1985: on their self-titled album, The Moody Brothers, Grammy-nominated

The Moody Brothers

1992: with Ricky Skaggs on the album, Another Country, Grammy-nominated

The Chieftains

1992: Michelle Shocked released a reworked version of the song, titled "Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe)," on the album Arkansas Traveler

1993 , on the album The Red Clay Ramblers Live.

The Red Clay Ramblers

1994: , released under the song title, Bullshit

Black Lace

1994: on the album, Sex & Violins

Rednex

1997: on the album, The Color of Music: Cotton Eyed Joe

Isaac Payton Sweat

2002: with Ricky Skaggs on the compilation The Wide World Over

The Chieftains

2003: on the album, The Ultimate Vanessa-Mae

Vanessa-Mae

2004: on the album, Sabrina's Holiday

The Ebony Hillbillies

2010: on the album, "El Turista"

Josh Rouse

2010:

Hot Club of Cowtown

2014: , Country and Irish singer, produced a version that topped the Irish Country Singles chart.

Lee Matthews

2016: on the album, Covers, Ch. 1 [22]

The Sweeplings

2017: , Andy Hull, and Robert McDowell, for the film Swiss Army Man

Daniel Radcliffe

2022 released a recording/reworking of the song with new lyrics titled "Cotton Eye Joe (the Murder Ballad)."[23]

Pawns or Kings

2022: . at the Folk Den.

Roger McGuinn

2023: and Chaka Khan

Rufus Wainwright

List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1990s

"Cotton-Eyed Joe" in The Mudcat Cafe's Digital Tradition Folk Music Database

Grateful Dead Family Discography of recordings of "Cotton Eye Joe"

Samples from the Skillet Lickers and RedNex versions

at Roud Folk Song Index

Cotton-Eyed Joe