"Daddy Sang Bass" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
from the album The Holy Land | ||||
B-side | "He Turned the Water Into Wine" | |||
Released | 6 November 1968 [1] | |||
Studio | Columbia (Nashville, Tennessee) [2] | |||
Genre | Country, gospel | |||
Length | 2:19 | |||
Label | Columbia, 4-44689 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Carl Perkins | |||
Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |||
Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Daddy Sang Bass" is a song written by Carl Perkins, with lines from the chorus of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and recorded by American country music singer Johnny Cash. It was released in November 1968 as the first single from the album The Holy Land . The song was Cash's sixty-first release on the country chart, going on to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart for 6 weeks and spending a total of 19 weeks there. [3] The single reached No. 56 on the Cashbox pop singles chart in 1969. [4] "Daddy Sang Bass" was also released on the Columbia Records Hall of Fame Series as a 45, #13-33153, b/w "Folsom Prison Blues" (live version). The record was nominated in the CMA awards category of Single of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA) in 1969.
"Daddy Sang Bass" was Cash's thirty-sixth entry on the pop charts and the last before his "A Boy Named Sue" became his first and only top ten hit there. No other act has ever started off a pop career with a longer such drought, as regards the number of singles on the pop charts, that was finally broken. [5] For comparison, Bobby Helms currently has the longest drought, as regards the time length between first appearance on the Hot 100 and first top ten there, achieved on January 5, 2019, after waiting 60 years, four months and two weeks. [6]
The song appeared originally on the 1969 album The Holy Land, the 1971 Johnny Cash: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 collection, the 1999 Johnny Cash greatest hits compilation 16 Biggest Hits, and the 2002 The Essential Johnny Cash collection.
According to Johnny Cash's book, The Man in Black , the singer overcame his amphetamine addiction by finding God and then helped his friend and frequent tour-mate Carl Perkins to overcome his alcoholism. Feeling inspired, Perkins wrote the song "Daddy Sang Bass" in 1967. Cash says the line "Me and little brother will join right in there" was written about Cash's brother Jack, who died when they were both boys. In the song the line is sung by Don Reid and Lew DeWitt of The Statler Brothers who are uncredited on the record, as is Jan Howard, who sang the line "Mama sang tenor" also in the song's chorus. Howard's part is frequently incorrectly credited to June Carter, who would sing the line in concert with Cash.
Carl Perkins also recorded the song for his 1969 Greatest Hits compilation album on Columbia Records, which became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard country album chart that year.
The line "Daddy sang bass" is sampled in They Might Be Giants' song "Boat of Car" from their self-titled debut album.
Chart (1968–1969) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs ( Billboard ) [7] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [8] | 42 |
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 Singles | 56 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
Canadian RPM Top Singles | 49 |
Carl Lee Perkins was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis in 1954. Among his best known songs are Blue Suede Shoes, Honey Don't, Matchbox and Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby.
John Marty Stuart is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. He is known for his combination of rockabilly, country rock, and bluegrass music influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress.
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"I Walk the Line" is a song written and recorded in 1956 by Johnny Cash. After three attempts with moderate chart ratings, it became Cash's first #1 hit on the Billboard country chart, eventually reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 1955.
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This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in the year 2007.
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The Holy Land is a concept album, the third gospel album and 30th overall album by country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1969. He recorded the album inspired by a visit to Israel with his wife, June Carter Cash and in fact most of the album consists of on-site recordings made by Cash using a portable tape recorder during a visit describing what he sees as he visits holy sites in and around Jerusalem. The remainder of the album consists of gospel songs. The album was completed at Columbia Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, where overdubs were added to some of the on-site recordings and remaining songs were recorded. This album features the final Cash recordings made with original Tennessee Two lead guitarist Luther Perkins before Perkins' death.
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