Peter Tevis Pastures of plenty: The evolution of a theme

Peter Tevis Pastures of plenty: The evolution of a theme

Peter Tevis - Pastures of plenty is a track with a genuine, historical story behind it. It was originally written in 1941 by folk legend Woody Guthrie, but its roots date even further back to around 1927 when the song began life as a banjo tune called Pretty Polly. The song is actually a murder ballad, and tells the story of a young woman lured into the forest where she is killed and buried in a shallow grave. 

Guthrie’s lyrics moved away from the darker subject matter, although the tune is still based on the ballad of "Pretty Polly", it was more evocative of the world described in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939). In 1962 American folk singer and part time actor Peter Tevis recorded a version of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty'' that was arranged by Ennio Morricone. A couple of years later, during a meeting between Morricone and film director Sergio Leone over the music for his forthcoming film, Morricone played a recording of Tevis's Pastures of Plenty. Leone loved the quirky nature of the music, but didn’t take a liking to the vocals. Subsequently, the vocals were dropped and the music became the opening title "Titoli" for A Fistful of Dollars (1964). 

Although the original RCA Tevis single does come up occasionally it does tend to demand a rather hefty asking price, no doubt because of its significance relating to A Fistful of Dollars. The original vocal version was later included on a deluxe CD soundtrack as a bonus track - which really went a long way in filling the much ‘wanted’ gap. I was recently going through my ‘dollar’ singles which encouraged me to look at the record markets again. To my surprise I discovered that the Tevis single was actually re-released on the Trunk Record label in September 2020. After a bit of searching and research, I soon found out that the single quickly sold out and was now out of print - which hardly surprised me. I did notice a few on Ebay, but the prices seem to be climbing quicker than a current energy bill! However, I did manage to get a lucky break and secured one today - courtesy of one of my old North London haunts in Islington who provided me with one for £8.00.

I’m not sure if there was some sort of licensing problem concerning the artwork for the single, as it comes in a clear plastic sleeve with a colour header. Nevertheless, I felt it was still vital and worthy enough for the collection. It was during the research that I also found out that this was a very limited edition, so I doubt that there were a great number pressed. The single also comes with the original 1962 B side, Notte Infinita.