ABBA recorded "Pick a bale of cotton" as a medley, the other tunes in the medley being "On Top of Old Smoky" and "Midnight Special". The track just titled "Medley" was recorded in 1975 and was the B-side to the 1978 vinyl single "Summer Night City". The medley also appeared as a track on the German charity album "Im Zeichen eines guten Sterns" on Polydor. The medley reappeared in the 1994 4-CD boxed set compilation Thank You for the Music and on the 2012 remastered ABBA as a bonus track. Pick a Bale of Cotton" (sometimes "Pick a Bale o' Cotton") is a traditional American folk song and work song first recorded by Texas inmates James "Iron Head" Baker (1933); "On Top of Old Smoky" (often spelled "Smokey") is a traditional folk song of the United States. As recorded by The Weavers, the song reached the pop music charts in 1951. "Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South and was first recorded in 1905. ( thanks to wikipedia)
Thanks, Marissa & Tyler! 🌾 As someone who grew up in Louisiana, we sang "Pick a Bale of Cotton" in school choir. It's what was known as an "Old Negro Spiritual" passed down since slavery days. I thought it was wild that ABBA did a rendition of it. Seemed so out of the blue.
Great video as always. ABBA never ceases to surprise people. "Abba undeleted" might be the perfect follow-up after this medley. Well done, not so many people have gone through all of ABBA's songs like you have done.
I think all 3 songs here have its charm..the most upbeat one was the third one,the one you guys liked the most, but I can appreciate the beauty of all three parts in this medley..
well, welcome to continue the little bit that remains of the catalog this medley was recorded only for charity in 1975 (I think for Germany), they are the only compositions that are not by any member of ABBA, and they are the B side of the single "Summer night city" (1978) and then a bonus track from their third album, the self-titled "ABBA" Personally I think it's okay, but no more, 5pts I feel like they had fun doing it. There are three classics, in the first I like the musical arranged in the second I like the voice and the last one , very energetic, is more well known by the North American group "Creadence Clearwater Revival" (in a much slower version) See you on the next date, ABBA or the ladies Agnetha and Frida have a nice week
You should also react to ABBA the last video. U will be surprised by the cameos of other stars who we're ABBA fans and also from the fab four themselves. It's a kinda weird video with ABBA as Puppets but it's tongue in cheek and a lot of fun.. Who's with me??
The Medley was recorded for a West German charity album. The idea was that they record 'free' tunes so all royalties go to charity. The rest of the album comprised of medleys from other artists.
Totally agree with you that "Midnight Special" was clearly the standout from this trio of American traditional songs .. They really rocked it ! .. I even enjoy their version a little more than the well known Creedence Clearwater Revival version .. The other 2 numbers, I can take or leave.
As said, it was recorded for a charity album for some German outfit. It was simply more convenient and less time consuming to do a cover than coming up with a brand new track.
This sings are mini-covers, guys... Great reaction, by the way (very animated... very happy😊)👌. I suggest again...: "From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel (Demo Medley)" It's a little long (9:07), but very interesting and shows everything they tried before arriving at the final version of "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room" Take care, Marissa & Tyler... until next time ✌️... ❤️🇨🇱🤗😘👍
You guys, pleaseeee react to Abba Undeleted. It's a long medley, but it's part of the catalogue and is an amount of demos from the vaults. It was released in 1994 by ABBA. Please make it happen. 🥹 It's not unreleased, it's just a medley of previously unreleased demos. But it is part of the official catalogue, same as this medley from this video. Sure you're gonna love it. It even has the original Just a Notion, so it'll be very interesting for you. There's the demos of Fernando, Rock Me (sang by Agnetha!!!!), Take a Chance On Me, etc. A lot of good stuff.
This is funny, because this early ABBA medley is supposed to consist of American traditionals. But you dont know them, and being European, I only know them by ABBA. Apparently its a medley with traditionals known by no-one 🙂
Where I'm from (Mississippi), all three are well-known, especially "On Top of Old Smoky" and "Midnight Special". They're especially well-known among fans of classic country music.
I remember playing this for family and friends, and the most things they were astonished at was the fact they sang cover versions. It’s a fun wee track. Some journey of ABBA’s songs you have! To think how little you knew of them to start with!
I am so looking forward to your ABBA Countdown!!! I think you should both do your own "Top 10." Then maybe 2 or 3 "Best of the Rest." And maybe for fun, the one you liked the least!!! You may also like to check out "Second Best to None." That was written by Benny & Bjorn (who make cameos at the end) as a commercial for Benny's Hotel "Rival" years ago. It is not sung by the ABBA ladies, but rather by the hotel staff. It sounds so "ABBA" and I actually like it!!!😊
You should check out 'Hovas Vittne', ABBA's tongue-in-cheek song which was recorded in Swedish to celebrate their Manager Stig Andersson's birthday. Only 300 copies were pressed and given to party guests. But the music is phenomenal and quintessential ABBA folk. They even made a video (this was 1981) where they squeezed into their 'Waterloo' outfits from 7 years earlier as a funny nod to their breakthrough global hit. It's on RU-vid.
I struggle to take "On Top of Old Smoky" seriously .. That's because here in Australia ( and I assume the US too ) it was sung by school kids throughout my childhood years with various versions of changed lyrics .. And those replacement lyrics were always silly and often rude .. ABBA did as well as possible in treating it with respect and feeling, but I just couldn't get past the mental block.😅 If anyone is interested, one version of the lyrics we sung at my school that I can actually write out here without being censored is as follows :- "On top of Old Smoky, all covered with sand I shot my poor teacher with a red rubber band I shot her with pleasure. I shot her with pride I couldn't have missed her. She was fifty feet wide" 🤣🤣🤣
Youu should also react to 'Thank you for the music' (Doris Day Mix), guys... ❤️🇨🇱🤗😘👍 (... and Ricky Rock&roller.... i like it) (... and the 15 spanish songs(versions) of ABBA)
I’m wondering now that you are ending your ABBA journey, whether you would move on to Kylie Minogue, I know you reacted to couple of songs, one being I Should Be So Lucky (though it was the extended version.) Kylie probably has too many tracks, but a review of her international singles in chronological order would be good, that would be about 80 songs. Fingers crossed. Looking forward to your tier ABBA list, wondering where the Voyage tracks end up, especially as we haven’t seen Marissa reacting to those.
You are definitely showing your age or lack thereof. These are American folk songs that almost every school kid would know. My guess is that they included it on their American tour to involved their American audience.
