Down in the Boondocks (song)

Last updated
"Down in the Boondocks"
Single by Billy Joe Royal
from the album Down in the Boondocks
B-side "Oh, What a Night"
ReleasedMay 24, 1965
Studio The Gearhart Building (Atlanta)
Genre Country rock [1]
Length2:32
Label Columbia 43305
Songwriter(s) Joe South
Producer(s) Joe South
Billy Joe Royal singles chronology
"Down in the Boondocks"
(1965)		"I Knew You When"
(1965)

"Down in the Boondocks" is a song written by Joe South, and first recorded by American artist Billy Joe Royal as his debut single. It was a hit in 1965, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [2] In the UK, it hit No. 38 on the Record Retailer chart. [3] In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM chart, on August 9, 1965. [4] The song is the title track of Royal's second album, Down in the Boondocks . [5]

Contents

Content

The song is sung from the perspective of a self-proclaimed "boy from down in the boondocks." He sings of a girl who lives nearby, for whom he feels love and steals away with occasionally. The people who live or are born in the boondocks are suggested to be a lower class than those in the city. The girl's father is the singer's boss, which, along with the social division, prevents him from proclaiming his love and connecting with her, despite their shared feelings (which is the basis for the line "but I don't dare knock on her door/for her daddy is my boss man"). The singer proclaims that "one fine day, I'll find a way, to move from this old shack", presumably to be able to join the higher class members of society and finally be able to date the girl openly. Essentially the same theme appeared some twenty months earlier in the lyrics of Joey Powers' "Midnight Mary". [6]

Original version

In the summer of 1965, "Down in the Boondocks" launched the top 40 career of Billy Joe Royal, who had recorded the song a year earlier. The song's writer, Joe South, was a longtime friend and professional associate of Royal: South had played guitar for Royal since the singer had begun performing in local venues at age 14, and from 1961 South had produced Royal's recordings of demos and low-budget singles. [7] Some claim Royal's recording of "Down in the Boondocks" was intended to serve as a demo to pitch the song to Gene Pitney, the song being evocative of Pitney's trademark hit sound with an especial resemblance to Pitney's 1963 hit "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa": [8] [9] [10] Bill Lowery, South's music publisher and Royal's manager, was so impressed with Royal's own recording of "Down in the Boondocks" as to pursue a major label release for it. [11] Royal himself would deny any intent to pitch the song to Pitney - (Billy Joe Royal quote:)"We would've never [been able to get] a song to him...Our plan was [for Royal] to try to sing like Gene Pitney...We were so young, we thought: 'Well they'll think it's Gene Pitney, and by the time they know it's [not, it'll already be] a hit'". [12]

"Down in the Boondocks" was recorded in a four hour session at the Gearhart Building, the converted schoolhouse in Buckhead which housed Bill Lowery's business headquarters, the school's auditorium serving as a recording studio: (Billy Joe Royal quote:)"We cut it on a three-track machine - the most primitive thing in the world. How it sounded like a record I don't know": "We put a microphone down a septic tank and ran that through the recording for the echo." [13] [14] Session musicians included Reggie Young on electric guitar, Bill Hullett on acoustic guitar, Sam Levine on horns, Clayton Ivey on piano, Bob Wray on six string bass, Greg Morrow on drums, and Freddy Weller on rhythm guitar/background vocals. The session also yielded the original torch song "I Knew You When", plus, to serve as potential B-sides, covers of the hits "Oh, What a Night" (the Dells) and "Steal Away" (Jimmy Hughes). [15]

Royal considered "I Knew You When" - reminiscent of the Righteous Brothers' recent smash hits - as more likely than "Down in the Boondocks" to be picked up by a major label [15] ("I Knew You When" would in fact be optioned by Vee Jay Records to be recorded by Wade Flemons with an August 1964 single release). However Bill Lowery saw the hit potential of "Down in the Boondocks", personally visiting Los Angeles to pitch the track to major labels: after Warner Bros. and Capitol Records passed, Columbia Records released "Down in the Boondocks" [16] - backed by "Oh, What a Night" - in the spring of 1965.

"Down in the Boondocks" "broke out" at WCPO in Cincinnati, where Royal had been living for two years when South had phoned Royal inviting him back to Atlanta to record "Down in the Boondocks": (Billy Joe Royal quote:)"It became number one overnight in Cincinnati, because I’d been doing sock hops with local disc jockeys. Then it became a hit in Savannah - where Royal had spent two years headlining the iconic local club the Bamboo Ranch - "then, it went crazy everywhere else." [17] "Down in the Boondocks" rose to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated 28 August 1965. [18] Reaching number one on the Canadian hit parade published by RPM magazine, [19] "Down in the Boondocks" also reached number 10 on the singles chart for Australia. [20] Despite Royal making a three-day promotional visit to London in September 1965, "Down in the Boondocks" failed to become a major UK Singles Chart hit, stalling at number 38. [21]

Notable remakes

"Down in the Boondocks"
Single by Freddy Weller
from the album Listen to the Young Folks
B-side "Amarillo, Texas"
ReleasedSeptember 22, 1969
Studio CBS Recording Studio (Hollywood)
Genre Country rock [1]
Length2:24
Label Columbia 4-45026
Songwriter(s) Joe South
Producer(s) Mark Lindsay
Freddy Weller singles chronology
"These Are Not My People"
(1969)		"Down in the Boondocks"
(1969)		"I Shook the Hand"
(1970)

"Down in the Boondocks" became a top 30 hit on the C&W chart in Billboard in 1969-70 via a remake by Freddy Weller who had been a sideman on the Billy Joe Royal recording. After reaching the Top 5 C&W with versions of two other Joe South compositions: "Games People Play" and "These Are Not My People", Weller was only afforded moderate chart success with his version of "Down in the Boondocks" which peaked at number 25 C&W, a concurrent version of the song by Penny DeHaven which reached number 37 C&W shadowing Weller's version throughout its chart tenure. [22] [23]

"Down in the Boondocks" has also been recorded by the Spokesmen (album Dawn of Correction, 1965), Del Reeves (Doodle-Oo-Doo-Doo, 1965), Gary Lewis & the Playboys (album She's Just My Style, 1966), the Three Degrees (single, 1969), Peggy Sue (album All American Husband, 1970), Lynn Anderson (album I'm Alright, 1970), Liz Anderson (Husband Hunting, 1970), Lawanda Lindsey & Kenny Vernon (album Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries, 1970), New Riders of the Purple Sage (album New Riders of the Purple Sage , 1971), Kenny Loggins (album Nightwatch , 1978), Ry Cooder (album Borderline, 1980), and Johnny Rodriguez (album Foolin' With Fire, 1984). [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Pitney</span> American singer-songwriter (1940–2006)

Gene Francis Alan Pitney was an American singer, songwriter and musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe South</span> American singer-songwriter (1940–2012)

Joe South was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970 for "Games People Play" and was again nominated for the award in 1972 for "Rose Garden".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Joe Royal</span> American singer (1942–2015)

Billy Joe Royal was an American country soul singer. His most successful record was "Down in the Boondocks" in 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hush (Billy Joe Royal song)</span> 1967 single by Billy Joe Royal

"Hush" is a song written by American composer and musician Joe South, for recording artist Billy Joe Royal. The song was later covered by Somebody's Image in 1967. Their version reached #14 in Australia. It was also covered by Deep Purple in 1968 and by Kula Shaker in 1997. Each artist had a Top 5 hit with their version.

"Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" is a country song about a man away from home who is worried that his paramour may unwittingly stray from their relationship. It was written by Winston L. Moore and published in 1952. The song has been recorded in many different styles by many performers, with Perry Como's version hitting number 1 in both the US and UK.

"Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of the song, produced by Bass, in 1957. Their version was re-released in 1961 and charted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell It Like It Is (song)</span> 1966 single by Aaron Neville

"Tell It Like It Is" is a song written by George Davis and Lee Diamond and originally recorded and released in 1966 by Aaron Neville. In 2010, the song was ranked No. 391 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under the Boardwalk</span> 1964 single by the Drifters

"Under the Boardwalk" is a pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by the Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on August 22, 1964. The song has since been covered by many other artists, with versions by Bette Midler, Sam & Dave, Tom Tom Club, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joe Royal, The Beach Boys, Bruce Willis, Bad Boys Blue, John Mellencamp and Lynn Anderson all charting in the United States or overseas. The song ranked number 487 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 489 in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razzy Bailey</span> American country music singer-songwriter (1939–2021)

Rasie Michael Bailey, better known as Razzy Bailey, was an American country music singer-songwriter and musician. In the early 1980s, he scored 5 No. 1's on the Billboard country music charts.

"He'll Have to Go" is an American country and pop hit recorded on October 15, 1959, by Jim Reeves. The song, released in the fall of 1959, went on to become a hit in both genres early in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">These Eyes</span> 1968 single by The Guess Who

"These Eyes" is a song by the Canadian rock band The Guess Who. The song was co-written by the group's lead guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings and originally included on the band's 1969 album Wheatfield Soul. It was first released as a single, in their native Canada, where its chart success (#7), along with the influence of CKLW-AM Windsor's radio station music director Rosalie Trombley, helped land them a U.S. distribution deal with RCA Records. It was subsequently released in the U.S. in March 1969, and became a breakthrough success for the group, as it would be their first single to reach the top ten on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, peaking at number six, and would eventually be certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies. It was also a top ten hit in South Africa. While it was actually the 18th single released by the band overall, it was the first from the line-up of Cummings, Bachman, Jim Kale, and Garry Peterson as produced by Jack Richardson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Weller</span> American singer-songwriter

Wilton Frederick "Freddy" Weller is an American rock and roll and country music and artist. He recorded for Columbia Records between 1969 and 1980. He had his highest charted single in 1969 with his debut release, "Games People Play".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Only Love Can Break a Heart</span> 1962 single by Gene Pitney

"Only Love Can Break a Heart" is a popular song from 1962, performed by the American singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. The song was written by Hal David (words) and Burt Bacharach (music) and appears on Pitney's second album Only Love Can Break a Heart.

"Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and was originally a hit in 1963 for Gene Pitney.

"Rose Garden" is a song written in 1967 by American singer-songwriter Joe South. It was first recorded by Billy Joe Royal on his 1967 studio album Billy Joe Royal Featuring "Hush". Versions by South himself and Dobie Gray appeared shortly after the original. Gray's version became a minor hit in North America in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Knew You When (Billy Joe Royal song)</span> 1965 single by Billy Joe Royal

"I Knew You When" is a song written and composed by Joe South. It became a popular hit in 1965 when recorded by American pop and country singer Billy Joe Royal. There have also been several other hit cover versions of this song, including by Donny Osmond and Linda Ronstadt.

"I've Got to Be Somebody" is a song written by Joe South and was recorded by Billy Joe Royal for his 1965 album, Down in the Boondocks. It was released as a single in December 1965 and the song reached #38 on The Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966. The song reached #15 on the Canadian chart the same month.

"Trains and Boats and Planes" is a song written by composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David. Hit versions were recorded by Bacharach in 1965, by Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas in the same year, and by Dionne Warwick in 1966.

<i>Im Alright</i> (Lynn Anderson album) 1970 studio album by Lynn Anderson

I'm Alright is a studio album by American country artist Lynn Anderson. It was released in September 1970 on Chart Records and was produced by Slim Williamson. I'm Alright was Anderson's tenth studio recording and her final studio release for the Chart label. It included two singles that became major radio hits in 1970. Both "Rocky Top" and the title track reached the Billboard country charts that year.

"Steal Away" is a 1964 R&B hit and Top 40 crossover song written and recorded by Jimmy Hughes. It was the first single recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

References

  1. 1 2 "Billy Joe Royal Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic .
  2. ↑ "Down in the Boondocks (song by Billy Joe Royal)". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  3. ↑ British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records, 17th ed 2004.
  4. ↑ "R.P.M. Play Sheet" (PDF). Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Billy Joe Royal - Down In The Boondocks". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Joey Powers - Midnight Mary Lyrics". Genius.com. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  7. ↑ Atlanta Constitution 26 December 2010 "Royal Returns to the Strand: it'll be the final show of Valdosta-born singer's official touring career: Marietta site special in his decades of stardom" by Bob Townsend p.E3
  8. ↑ Regina Leader-Post 24 January 1965 "Woody on Wax" by Bob Wood p.15
  9. ↑ The Tennessean 27 May 1984 "Ex-Pop Singer Billy Joe Royal Longs for Country Music" by Robert K. Oermann p.22
  10. ↑ The Tennessean 25 January 1986 "Royal Shoots for the Stars with 'Rocket' by Thomas Goldsmith pp.1D,4D
  11. ↑ "Ramblin' Rhodes: Georgia Music Hall of Fame's Royal had unique voice - Entertainment - the Augusta Chronicle - Augusta, GA". Archived from the original on 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  12. ↑ Jackson Sun 9 November 2006 "Tell It Like It Is: Caravan of Stars event is a reunion of sorts, according to Billy Jo Royal" by Brian Goins p.8 (Section Get Out!
  13. ↑ Greenville News 8 September 1990 "The Royal Treatment" p.1B
  14. ↑ Napa Valley Register 14 October 1990 "Troubador Billy Joe Royal Hits Four Decades" by Joe Edwards p.2A
  15. 1 2 "Audio file" (MP3). Lkyradio.com. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  16. ↑ Hamilton Journal News 20 August 1972 "Billy Joe Royal Plans Comeback" by Randy McNutt p.12
  17. ↑ Atlanta Constitution 18 July 1983 "Royal Show: Billy Joe holds court" by Russ DeVault p.24
  18. ↑ "All US Top 40 Singles For 1965 - Top40Weekly.com". Top40weekly.com. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  19. ↑ RPM vol 3 #24 (9 August 1965) p. 5
  20. ↑ "AMR Top Singles of 1965". Top100singles.net. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  21. ↑ "down in the boondocks | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  22. ↑ "Down in the Boondocks (Song by Freddy Weller)". Musicvf.com.
  23. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2012). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2012. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research, Inc. p. 98. ISBN   978-0-89820-203-8.
  24. ↑ "Cover versions of Down in the Boondocks written by Joe South". SecondHandSongs.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.