The lyrics deal with the boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis), a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers that migrated into the U.S. from Mexico in the late 19th century, and by the 1920s had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas, causing severe devastation to the industry.
"Mother of the Blues" Ma Rainey recorded a song called "Bo-Weavil Blues" in Chicago in December 1923, and Bessie Smith covered it in 1924, but the song had little in common with Lead Belly's "Boll Weevil" aside from the subject matter.
[2] But the first version to include all the hallmarks of the song is Lead Belly's, first recorded by Lomax on October 15, 1934, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Considered a novelty record, it was produced by Shelby Singleton and appeared on an album called The Boll Weevil Song and 11 Other Great Hits.
This separate chart was created to list songs that the magazine deemed were not rock and roll records.