Songs You May Not Know Were Covers, Round 7: Green, Green Grass of Home (#9)

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No Coronas were consumed during the writing of this discussion, so don’t worry about a virus. Welcome to a respite from the insanity of this sci-fi movie we’re living in at the moment. (Seriously, any moment we need Orson Welles to pop up and say, “This is just a radio drama.”) To take your mind off things, here’s another big hit song that you may not recognize as a cover. #9: Green, Green Grass of Home It’s not unusual for Tom Jones to cover a song. (Ha, see what I did there?) In the 80s he actually covered Prince’s song “Kiss” with Art of Noise. In 1966 he had a massive hit with “Green, Green Grass of Home,” which many people knew was his rendition of a Porter Wagoner country hit from earlier that year. Well, keep going. Wagoner’s version was a cover, too. The Curly Putman composition was originally recorded in 1965 by a minor country singer named Johnny Darrell (I remember him for his recording of the controversial song “The Son of Hickory Holler’s Tramp”). Country music was weird then. The way most country artists worked was like this: go to studio, record two sides, have that released as a single, and hit the road to promote the single. After that single faded from popularity the process was repeated. Eventually the artist would record half a dozen other songs, mostly covers of current or recent songs, and the label would put out an album. That’s what happened with this song: as Darrell’s recording got noticed, Wagoner covered it (reciting the verse about the man realizing he was on death row, awaiting execution, while Darrell sang that verse). As Wagoner’s song took off, other acts covered it, including Jerry Lee Lewis. According to Picky Wedia, it was Lewis’ version that Jones heard, inspiring him to record the song. And hey, didn’t I just mention Curly Putman in one of Linda’s posts about Paul McCartney? Yep. If you’ve ever heard the McCartney & Wings song “Junior’s Farm,” you may or may not be pleased to know that “Junior” was Curly Putman. The McCartneys stayed at Puman’s farm when they visited Nashville in 1974. Green, Green Grass of Home Written by Curly Putman Originally recorded by Johnny Darrell, 1965 Famously covered by Porter Wagoner, 1965 Also famously covered by Tom Jones, 1966 The sad old padre: