Green, Green Grass of Home
"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.[2] 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.
| "Green, Green Grass of Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Porter Wagoner | ||||
| from the album On the Road: The Porter Wagoner Show | ||||
| B-side | "Dooley" | |||
| Released | July 1965 | |||
| Recorded | June 7, 1965 | |||
| Studio | RCA Victor Studio, 800 17th Ave. South, Nashville, TN | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:24 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Curly Putman[1] | |||
| Porter Wagoner singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Green, Green Grass of Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Tom Jones | ||||
| from the album Green, Green Grass of Home | ||||
| B-side | "Promise Her Anything" | |||
| Released | November 1966 | |||
| Genre | Country pop | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Decca Records F22511[1] | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Curly Putman[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Peter Sullivan[1] | |||
| Tom Jones singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.[3] 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 December 1, staying there for a total of seven weeks.[4] The song has sold over 1.25 million copies in the UK as of September 2017.[5] Jones' version also reached No. 11 pop, No. 12 easy listening on the Billboard US charts.[6]
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.[7]
Jones sang the song on the 2009-2010 edition of Jool's Annual Hootenanny on January 1, 2010.
Charts
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 1 |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] | 2 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] | 1 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10] | 14 |
| Canada Adult Contemporary Singles (RPM) | 10 |
| Canada RPM Top 100 | 5 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[11] | 1 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] | 2 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[13] | 1 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[14] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[15] | 11 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[16] | 12 |
| West Germany (Official German Charts)[17] | 6 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[18] | Silver | 200,000 |
| Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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 Jevremović as Zelena Zelena Trava Doma Mog ...Diskos – EDK-3068 Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, EP, Mono
- 1967: A Swedish version by Stig Anderson as "En sång en gång för länge sen", of which both Björn Ulvaeus' Hootenanny Singers and Jan Malmsjö each had a 1967 Svensktoppen hit with, for six and 33 weeks respectively.[19]
- 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: Jürgen Herbst recorded a German cover version Der Weg zurück nach Haus' (CBS 2529)
- 1967: Agnaldo Timóteo, 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 où 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 Novák Czech singer as Vím, že jen sním
- 1969: Joan Baez on the album David's Album
- 1969: Gé 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 grønne græs" on the album Norlan
- 1993: Dennis Brown on the album The General
- 1993: Riblja Čorba 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
- ^ a b c d Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 106. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ Porter Wagoner's "Green, Green Grass of Home" Chart Position Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^ Tom Jones, "The Green Green Grass Of Home" Video Retrieved July 3, 2012.
- ^ . Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
- ^ Copsey, Rob (June 5, 2020). "Tom Jones's Official Top 20 most-streamed songs". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
- ^ "Green, Green Grass of Home (song by Tom Jones) • Music VF, US & UK hits charts". Musicvf.com. December 24, 1966. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
- ^ Un invité (February 9, 2009). "Tom Jones - La Blogothèque". Blogotheque.net. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Tom Jones". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home". VG-lista. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ^ "Tom Jones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Tom Jones Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2018.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Jones – Green, Green Grass of Home". GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved March 3, 2020. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Tom Jones"
- ^ "British single certifications – Tom Jones – Green Green Grass of Home". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- ^ "Svensktoppen : 1967-01-07". Sr.se. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
External links
- "Tom Jones: Green, Green Grass of Home (1966 single)" at Discogs (list of releases)
- BBC Interview with Tom Jones re. song "Green Green Grass of Home".