On this day in 1937 Cole Porter was involved in a horrific accident. While riding his horse in Locust Valley, New York, the animal fell and rolled over onto him, crushing his legs. He would spend the rest of his life in constant pain.
He originally wrote Don’t Fence Me In in 1934 for Adios, Argentina, an unproduced film musical for 20th Century Fox. It was based on text by Robert Fletcher. He was a poet and engineer with the Montana Department of Highways. Porter, who had been asked to write a “cowboy” song for the 20th Century Fox musical, bought the poem from Fletcher for $250. He 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 would 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.
Let’s listen to a few cowboys – first, Gene Autry
Next, Roy Rogers
Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters recorded it in 1944, without having previously 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.
Kate Smith had a top ten hit with it in 1945
David Byrne had a critically acclaimed version of the song on the 1990 Cole Porter tribute album Red Hot +Blue
