Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" | ||||
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Single by Waylon Jennings | ||||
from the album Only the Greatest | ||||
B-side | "Right Before My Eyes"[1] | |||
Released | July 13, 1968 | |||
Recorded | April 16, 1968 RCA Victor studios, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:23 | |||
Label | RCA Victor #9561 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jimmy Bryant | |||
Producer(s) | Chet Atkins | |||
Waylon Jennings singles chronology | ||||
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"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" is a song written by Jimmy Bryant. Originally recorded by American country music singer Jim Alley.,[2] it was made famous by American country music singer and musician Waylon Jennings.
Waylon Jennings version
Jennings recorded the song on April 16, 1968, at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, with Chet Atkins producing, with Wayne Moss playing the guitar solo.[3] It was released in July 1968 as the second single from Jennings' album Only the Greatest.[4]
Billboard, in a review of the album, said that it and "Walk On Out of My Mind" were "typical of the robust, compelling vocal style."[5] Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard, in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, wrote that Jennings began to "really assert his rough-hewn sensibility" on the song.[6]
The song was featured in season seven episode five of Mad Men.
Chart positions
The song spent eighteen weeks on the Hot Country Singles charts, peaking at #2 and holding that peak for five weeks.[1] In Canada, it reached Number One on the RPM Country Tracks charts for the week ending September 30, 1968.[7]
Chart (1968) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] | 2 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
Linda Ronstadt version
Linda Ronstadt included a gender-reversed version of the song (sung as "The Only Mama That'll Walk the Line") on her 1969 album Hand Sown ... Home Grown; The song became a staple of Ronstadt's set lists at her concerts during the late 1960s and early '70s. She performed it on The Johnny Cash Show in June 1969, nearly a year before Jennings performed it on the same show.
Hank Williams Jr. version
Hank Williams Jr. included a version of the song on his album Family Tradition, which was released in 1979.
The Kentucky Headhunters version
"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" | ||||
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Single by The Kentucky Headhunters | ||||
from the album Electric Barnyard | ||||
B-side | "Walk Softly on This Heart of Mine"[9] | |||
Released | 1991 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:10 | |||
Label | Mercury #866134 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jimmy Bryant | |||
Producer(s) | The Kentucky Headhunters | |||
The Kentucky Headhunters singles chronology | ||||
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In 1991, The Kentucky Headhunters recorded a cover version for the album Electric Barnyard. Also released as a single that year, this version spent seven weeks on the same chart and peaked at #60.
Chart positions
Chart (1991) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10] | 60 |
References
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2005). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2005. Record Research, Inc. p. 23. ISBN 0-89820-165-9.
- ^ Nashville Rebel (liner notes). Waylon Jennings. New York, New York: Sony BMG Music Entertainment/Legacy Recordings. 2006. pp. 132–139. 82876 89640 2.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Jurek, Thom. "Only the Greatest". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Album reviews". Billboard: 73. 20 July 1968.
- ^ Bracket, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. p. 428. ISBN 0743201698. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
only daddy that'll walk the line.
- ^ "RPM Country Tracks for September 30, 1968". RPM. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
- ^ "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ Whitburn, p. 223
- ^ "The Kentucky Headhunters Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.