Louisiana Saturday Night

Last updated
"Louisiana Saturday Night"
Single by Mel McDaniel
from the album I'm Countryfied
B-side "My Ship's Comin' In" [1]
ReleasedMarch 1981
RecordedMay 1980
Genre Country, bluegrass, cajun
Length2:23
Label Capitol Nashville
Songwriter(s) Bob McDill
Producer(s) Larry Rogers
Mel McDaniel singles chronology
"Countryfied"
(1980)
"Louisiana Saturday Night"
(1981)
"Right in the Palm of Your Hand"
(1981)

"Louisiana Saturday Night" is a song written by Bob McDill and recorded by American country music artist Mel McDaniel. It was released in March 1981 as the third single from McDaniel's 1980 album, I'm Countryfied . The song was originally sung by Don Williams on his 1977 album "Country Boy". [2] The song is often mistakenly attributed to popular country music bands Alabama and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. [3] Adding to the confusion, Tom T. Hall wrote an earlier, unrelated song by the same name. Hall's "Louisiana Saturday Night" was recorded by Mamou, Louisiana's Jimmy C. Newman in 1967. [4] [5]

Contents

Use in radio

This selection is used as the theme song for "The Outdoorsman Show" on WWL 870 AM and 105.3 FM in New Orleans, which is hosted by radio personality Don Dubuc.

Use in sports

“Louisiana Saturday Night” can be heard before every home Louisiana State University football and McNeese Cowboys football game, played in Tiger Stadium, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Cowboy Stadium, in Lake Charles, Louisiana respectively. The song is adored by fans not only for its easy-to-dance-to beat and obvious namesake reference, but also because of a longstanding tradition that the Tigers fare better both at home, and on Saturday evenings. The Tigers’ regular season home football games all take place on Saturdays, and preferably at night (though scheduling may be affected by television time slots and weather, such as hurricanes). A poem written for the stadium featured during the pre-game activities officially references “Saturday Night in Death Valley,” Death Valley being a nickname for the stadium. The song is usually followed directly by another popular country tune with a similar reference, “Callin’ Baton Rouge” by singer Garth Brooks.

Other references

This was the opening theme of the "Music Machine", a country music oldies show, which aired on New York City's WHN on Saturday nights from 8 P.M. to Midnight.

Slurred lyrics of the song were quoted by John Luke Robertson on the reality show "Duck Dynasty" as he was recovering from anesthesia after a dental procedure.

The song was used in the sixth and final season the television drama "The Americans" for a line dancing sequence involving the main character Philip Jennings.

Chart performance

Chart (1981)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles7
Canadian RPM Country Tracks21

Related Research Articles

The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions: rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a unique musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The music of the northern portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge and reaching Shreveport has similarities to that of the rest of the US South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger Stadium (Louisiana)</span> Football stadium at Louisiana State University

Tiger Stadium is an outdoor stadium located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on the campus of Louisiana State University. It is the home stadium of the LSU Tigers football team. Prior to 1924, LSU played its home games at State Field, which was located on the old LSU campus in Downtown Baton Rouge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel McDaniel</span> American country music singer-songwriter (1942–2011)

Melvin Huston McDaniel was an American country music artist. Many of his top hits were released in the 1980s, including "Louisiana Saturday Night", "Big Ole Brew", "Stand Up", "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On", "I Call It Love", "Stand on It", and a remake of Chuck Berry's "Let It Roll ".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike the Tiger</span> Mascot of Louisiana State University, both live and costumed

Mike the Tiger is the mascot of Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and serves as the graphic image of LSU sports. Mike is the name of both the live and costumed mascots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers</span> Athletic program of Louisiana State University

The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LSU Tigers football</span> Collegiate football team representing Louisiana State University

The LSU Tigers football program, also known as the Fighting Tigers, represents Louisiana State University in college football. The Tigers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 LSU Tigers football team</span> American college football season

The 2006 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the college football season of 2006–2007. The team was coached by Les Miles. It played its home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The team won a bid to play in the Bowl Championship Series Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, playing No. 11 Notre Dame on January 3, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band</span> Marching band of Louisiana State University

The Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band is the marching band of Louisiana State University (LSU). The band has 370 members and performs at all LSU football home games, all bowl games, and away games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama–LSU football rivalry</span> American college football rivalry

The Alabama–LSU football rivalry, also known as the "First Saturday in November" and the "Saban Bowl", is an American college football rivalry between the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University. Both schools are charter members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and both universities' sports teams have competed in the SEC's West Division since the conference was split into two divisions in 1992.

"Callin' Baton Rouge" is a country music song written by Dennis Linde. The song has been recorded by multiple artists since its composition. It was notably recorded by American country singer and songwriter Garth Brooks whose version was a chart-topping single in the 1990s.

The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state's unique role in contributing to American indigenous and popular music in the 20th century.

Joe J. Chevalier, known as Jay Chevalier, was an American singer and songwriter from Louisiana who achieved success in several musical genres since the late 1950s. A pioneer of rockabilly music, he is best known within Louisiana for his songs based on politics, sports, and his love for his home state. The first "Official State Troubadour," he is an inductee to the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Boudreaux</span> Musical artist

John Landry “Buddy” Boudreaux was a big band and jazz musician in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He played saxophone and clarinet. Since 1934, he directed and played in a number of bands that have toured the southern United States and drawn nationally known performers to Baton Rouge. The State-Times newspaper called him “the city’s sound of big band.” His bands backed such artists as Andy Williams, Bernadette Peters, Doc Severinsen, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Burt Bacharach, Johnny Mathis, The Four Tops, Bob Hope, George Burns and Joan Rivers. He opened shows for Tony Bennett, Tony Orlando, Louise Mandrell, The Beach Boys and Bill Cosby. He was co-author—with his barber, Michael T. Abadie—of “My Baton Rouge,” which in 1998 was declared the city's official song.

The Red River State Fair Classic was an American college football game played annually in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Independence Stadium—formerly called State Fair Stadium—during the State Fair of Louisiana. It traced its historical lineage from a series of 167 games played over the 106 football seasons between 1911 and 2016. By having first paired historically black colleges and universities in 1915, the contest held the distinction of being the oldest documented annual black college football classic, edging out the Turkey Day Classic by nine years and the similar Texas State Fair Classic by ten years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State University traditions</span>

Louisiana State University is the flagship university of the state of Louisiana, United States. This article describes the traditions of the university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 LSU Tigers football team</span> American college football season

The 2015 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University as a member of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by 11th-year head coach Les Miles, the Tigers finished the season with an overall record of 9–3 and mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for third place in the SEC's Western Division. LSU was invited to the Texas Tech, where the Tigers defeated Texas Tech. The team played home games Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Bayou Country Superfest is a country music festival that has recently been held Memorial Day weekend at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 2019 festival returned to Baton Rouge for the 10th Anniversary event on May 25 and 26. Since debuting on May 29, 2010, Bayou Country Superfest has brought together some of the biggest stars in music for a local celebration that began on the campus of Louisiana State University. The festival has included artists such as Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Brooks & Dunn, Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Reba McEntire, George Strait, Jason Aldean, and Blake Shelton.

The 1972 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. Led by 11th-year head coach Charles McClendon, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 9–2–1, with a mark of 4–1–1 in conference play, and finished third in the SEC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 LSU Tigers football team</span> American college football season

The 2023 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University (LSU) in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers were led by Brian Kelly in his second year as LSU's head coach. Quarterback Jayden Daniels won the Heisman Trophy and several other awards for the season after scoring 50 total touchdowns, leading the NCAA with nearly 5,000 total yards, and setting the FBS single-season passer rating record.

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN   978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. Thom Jurek. "Country Boy". ALLMUSIC.COM.
  3. Sean O'Neal (Apr 1, 2011). "R.I.P. Mel McDaniel". A.V. Club.
  4. Jimmy C. Newman Discography. CMT Artists.
  5. The Jimmy Newman Way. Allmusic.com.