Don't Fence Me In (song)

"Don't Fence Me In" is a popular American song written in 1934, with music by Cole Porter and lyrics by Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Origins

Originally written in 1934 for ''Adios, Argentina,'' an unproduced 20th Century Fox film musical, "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by Robert (Bob) Fletcher, a poet and engineer with the Department of Highways in Helena, Montana. Cole Porter, who had been asked to write a cowboy song for the 20th Century Fox musical, bought the poem from Fletcher for $250. Porter reworked Fletcher's poem, and when the song was first published, Porter was credited with sole authorship. Porter had wanted to give Fletcher co-authorship credit, but his publishers did not allow it. The original copyright publication notice dated October 10, 1944 and the copyright card dated and filed on October 12, 1944 in the U.S. Copyright Office solely lists words and music by Cole Porter. After the song became popular, however, Fletcher hired attorneys who negotiated his co-authorship credit in subsequent publications. Although it was one of the most popular songs of its time, Porter claimed it was his least favorite of his compositions.

Porter's revision of the song retained quite a few portions of Fletcher's lyrics, such as “Give me land, lots of land”, “... breeze ... cottonwood trees”, “turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle,” “mountains rise ... western skies”, “ cayuse”, “where the west commences,” and “... hobbles ... can’t stand fences,” but in some places modified them to give them “the smart Porter touch”. Porter replaced some lines, rearranged lyric phrases, and added two verses. (Porter's verses about Wildcat Kelly are not included in any of the hit recordings of the song but are used in the Roy Rogers film of the same title. Roy Rogers sings the first verse with the lyric "Wildcat Willy" when he performed it in 1944's ''Hollywood Canteen''. Both verses are included in the Ella Fitzgerald and Harry Connick Jr. versions of the song.).

Roy Rogers and "Don't Fence Me In"

Roy Rogers sang it in the 1944 Warner Bros. movie ''Hollywood Canteen''. Many people heard the song for the first time when Kate Smith introduced it on her radio broadcast of October 8, 1944.

In 1945, the song was sung again as the title tune of another Roy Rogers film, '' Don't Fence Me In'' (1945), in which Dale Evans plays a magazine reporter who comes to Roy Rogers' and Gabby Whittaker's (George "Gabby" Hayes) ranch to research her story about a legendary late gunslinger. When it's revealed that Whittaker is actually the supposedly dead outlaw, Rogers must clear his name. Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers perform songs, including the Cole Porter title tune.

The next year (1946), the Cole Porter biopic '' Night and Day'' used a clip from ''Hollywood Canteen'' of Rogers singing "Don't Fence Me In."

Bing Crosby version

Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra recorded it in 1944, without having seen or heard the song. Crosby entered the studio on July 25, 1944. Within 30 minutes, he and the Andrews Sisters had completed the recording, which sold more than a million copies and topped the ''Billboard'' charts for eight weeks in 1944–45. This version also went to number nine on the Harlem Hit Parade chart.

Frank Sinatra version

Frank Sinatra appeared on the Your Hit Parade program on December 23, 1944 and performed this song, which at the time was the #1 song in the country. The arrangement, written by both Lowell Martin (the first section of the arrangement) and Billy May (the second part including the shout chorus) was conducted by Axel Stordahl and the Lucky Strike Orchestra. Stordahl counted off the arrangement a little too fast and Sinatra could not keep up with the fast pace of the lyrics. As a result, he stumbled on the words "underneath the western skies." Then, after the phrase "I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences" he utters "too many words," most likely in an effort to explain his on-air slip-up. Shortly after his performance Sinatra was fired from the show supposedly due to his on-air comment about the lyrics.

Other versions

* Labrinth sang it in a 2019 Super Bowl commercial for Mini.
* John Barrowman sang it in his album "Swings Cole Porter"
* Kate Smith also had a top ten hit with it in 1945.
* Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song on her Verve Records album ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook'' (1956). It was also released on ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings More Cole Porter''.
* Michael Wyckoff, Kalya Ramu and Nathan Ford remixed it for the 2022 VR Game Bonelab, developed and published by Stress Level Zero.
* Hoyt Axton on his 1982 LP ''Pistol Packin' Mama''
* Frankie Laine did a cover of this song on his 1982 album ''The World of Frankie Laine''.
* Ana Belén (Spanish singer): In her 1983 album Veneno para el corazón sings a version called 'Déjame ir
* David Byrne recorded a version for the 1990 Cole Porter tribute album entitled ''Red Hot + Blue''. Byrne performed what he describes as his " Brazilian" version of the song during his 2004 tour for the ''Grown Backwards'' album.
* Mary McCaslin recorded the complete song including the introductory verse that is often omitted on the 1977 album "Old Friends"
* Little Willie Littlefield recorded a version for his 1990 album ''Singalong with Little Willie Littlefield''.
* Lynn Anderson recorded the song for her 1992 album ''Cowboy's Sweetheart'' in 1992.
* Chumbawamba recorded in 1992 a version of the song with lead vocals by Danbert Nobacon. A segment of the song featured on the unreleased album ''Jesus H. Christ'' that was later reworked to become ''Shhh!'' (1992), but "Don't Fence Me In" did not feature on the final album cut.
* Lari White recorded a version for her 1996 album '' Don't Fence Me In''.
* Harry Connick Jr. did a version of the song on his 2001 album ''30'' which includes Porter's opening verse about Wildcat Kelly.
* The Killers recorded the track to be used in support of the 2013 Nevada state tourism campaign, called "A World Within. A State Apart."
* Paul Kelly & Charlie Owen recorded it for their 2016 album ''Death's Dateless Night''.
* The Okee Dokee Brothers recorded a cover for their 2016 album ''Saddle Up''.
* Eddy Arnold, who included it on his release ''A Dozen Hits''
* Gene Autry
* Ray Benson from Asleep At The Wheel
* Steve Goodman performed the song, included on his album ''The Easter Tapes'', recorded during one of his annual visits with New York radio personality Vin Scelsa. Goodman changed the lyrics in two places from "Let me straddle my old ''saddle'' underneath the Western skies" to "Let me straddle my old ''cattle'' underneath the Western skies." He remarks when the song is done, "Straddling cattle? Good, they're only words."
* Willie Nelson recorded a version of the song with Leon Russell.
* The Australian male voice choir The Spooky Men's Chorale has recorded the song on their DVD album ''Deep''.
* The Mitch Miller Chorus sang it in the album "Sing Along With Mitch Miller & The Gang".
* Clint Eastwood sang it in the album "Rawhide's Clint Eastwood Sings Cowboy Favorites".
* James Brown recorded a version for his 1974 album ''Reality''.

In popular culture

* 1950: A parody of the song was sung in the 1950 musical film '' Nancy Goes to Rio'' by Carmen Miranda. The parodic song, titled "Yipsee-I-O", was written by Ray Gilbert.
* 1952: The song is an instrumental theme in the film ''Return of the Texan

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