He often referred to himself as "King of the 12-string guitar" and indeed he may have been that good. The legendary Lead Belly (Huddie Ledbetter) recorded "Cotton Fields" (Ledbetter) in 1940.

The Highwaymen (Dave Fisher, Bob Burnett, Steve Trott, Steve Butts and Chan Daniels) 1961 cover reached Billboard's top thirteen position.

Al Jardine is lead on The Beach Boys "Cottonfields" from the 1969 "20/20" album. According to Wikipedia it wasn't a North American success although it did chart, but reached the top of the charts or close to it in the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Rhodesia and Spain.