"One Day at a Time" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Marilyn Sellars | ||||
from the album One Day at a Time | ||||
B-side | "California" | |||
Released | May 1974 [1] | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:32 | |||
Label | Mega | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marijohn Wilkin, Kris Kristofferson | |||
Producer(s) | Steven C. Anderson | |||
Marilyn Sellars singles chronology | ||||
|
"One Day at a Time" is a popular country and western-style Christian song written by Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson. It has been recorded by over 200 artists and has reached No. 1 in several territories. Scottish singer Lena Martell had a UK Singles Chart number one with her version in 1979.
The song was first recorded by American country singer Marilyn Sellars in 1974. [2] This version became a US top 40 hit and top 20 hit on the Country charts. Following this, it won the 1975 Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards for best song. [3]
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 19 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 37 |
"One Day at a Time" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Gloria | ||||
from the album When I Sing for Him | ||||
B-side | "The Old Rugged Cross" | |||
Released | August 1977 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:01 | |||
Label | Release | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marijohn Wilkin, Kris Kristofferson | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Dirizziano | |||
Gloria singles chronology | ||||
|
"One Day at a Time" was recorded by Gloria who released it as a single in August 1977. The song originally peaked at No.5 in the Irish singles charts, before being re-released a year later. From here it peaked at No.1 (over a year after it had entered the chart) and remained on the charts throughout the whole of 1979 and into 1980, eventually spending a total of 90 weeks in the Irish top 30 - the longest run by any song in Irish Chart history. [4]
Chart (1977) | Peak position |
---|---|
Ireland (IRMA) | 1 |
Scottish singer Lena Martell recorded the song for the UK market in 1977. The song failed to chart in its first release, but a re-release two years later became a big success and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in October 1979 for three weeks, [5] and No. 27 in Ireland. [6]
"One Day at a Time" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Single by Cristy Lane | ||||
from the album Ask Me to Dance | ||||
B-side | "I Knew the Mason" | |||
Released | February 1980 | |||
Recorded | November 19, 1979 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:12 | |||
Label | United Artists X1342-Y | |||
Songwriter(s) | Marijohn Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson | |||
Producer(s) | Jerry Gillespie | |||
Cristy Lane singles chronology | ||||
|
"One Day at a Time" became best known among country fans when recorded by American country gospel singer Cristy Lane. Lane had started enjoying mainstream success in the late 1970s through the release of several secular hits, including "Let Me Down Easy" and "Simple Little Words." In 1979, Lane recorded the song after it became a No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom by Lena Martell. At first, United Artists Records balked at releasing the song, despite its previous track record of success, but Lane's husband-manager, Lee Stoller, predicted the song would be successful, and UA relented. The song was released in the late winter of 1980, and by the end of the spring, the song was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. [7]
"One Day at a Time" was Lane's only No. 1 hit. For Kristofferson, the song was his sixth No. 1 as a songwriter and first in six years (his last being 1974's "Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" by Ronnie Milsap).
Chart (1980) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
Australia (Kent Music Report) [8] | 91 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 10 |
New Zealand Singles Chart | 5 |
Chart (1980) | Position |
---|---|
US Country Songs ( Billboard ) [9] | 2 |
The song went on to be recorded by many artists, including the Alexander Brothers, Judy Collins, Phil Coulter, Floyd Cramer, Carlene Davis, Florida Boys, Roger Whittaker, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Foster and Allen, Bill Gaither, Lynda Randle, Ivan Parker, The King's Heralds, Don Gibson, Arthur Greenslade, Lee Greenwood, Roy Drusky, George Hamilton IV, Lulu Roman, and Brotherhood of Man.
The Quebec country singer André Breton recorded the French version "Un jour à la fois". [10] Paulino Bernal and Ricardo Mejia were the first to record the song in Spanish titled "Un dia a la vez" from the album Misioneros De Cristo. The Welsh folk singer Trebor Edwards released a Welsh-language version "Un Dydd Ar Y Tro" in 1980 with the words translated by Margaret Edwards. It was included on his album of the same name and a single was released in 1981. [11]
"Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posthumously released version by Janis Joplin topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971, making the song the second posthumously released No. 1 single in U.S. chart history after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding. Gordon Lightfoot released a version that reached number 1 on the Canadian country charts in 1970. Jerry Lee Lewis released a version that was number 1 on the country charts in December 1971/January 1972 as the "B" side of "Would You Take Another Chance on Me". Billboard ranked Joplin's version as the No. 11 song for 1971.
"I Have a Dream" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in December 1979 as the fourth international and final single from the group's sixth studio album, Voulez-Vous. Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang lead vocals. It was a major hit, topping the charts in many countries and peaking at No. 2 in the UK over the Christmas week of 1979. The single was in fact released after the non-album single Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! and after the release of the compilation Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - which didn't include "I Have a Dream".
"Green, Green Grass of Home", written by Claude "Curly" Putman Jr., and first recorded by singer Johnny Darrell in 1965, is a country song made popular by Porter Wagoner the same year, when it reached No. 4 on the Country chart. It was also recorded by Bobby Bare and by Jerry Lee Lewis, who included it in his album Country Songs for City Folks. Tom Jones learned the song from Lewis' version and, in 1966, he had a worldwide No. 1 hit with it. It was also.recorded by Joan Baez on David's Album released in 1969.
Lena Martell is a Scottish singer, with a long career in theatre, television and musicals. She has recorded thirty albums which include the number one UK single with "One Day at a Time" in 1979.
"She Believes in Me" is a song recorded by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. It was released in April 1979 as the second single from his 1978 album The Gambler. The song was written by American singer-songwriter Steve Gibb who first released his version as a 7" single in 1978. A version by T. G. Sheppard appears on his 1978 album Daylight, released a month before Rogers' album.
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album Kristofferson. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album Help Me Make It Through the Night. In 1982, Kris did a re-recording with Brenda Lee for the compilation album The Winning Hand. It has been covered since by many other artists from Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash to Elvis Presley and Joan Baez and Bryan Ferry and Mark Eitzel.
Marijohn Wilkin was an American songwriter, famous in country music for writing a number of hits such as "One Day At a Time" and "The Long Black Veil". Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row," as chronicled in her 1978 biography Lord, Let Me Leave a Song. It was honored as “One of the 100 Most Important Books about Nashville’s Music Industry.”
Cristy Lane is an American Christian and country music singer. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a series of hits on the North American country charts with songs like "Let Me Down Easy", "I Just Can't Stay Married to You" and the number one hit "One Day at a Time". The latter recording inspired a book of the same name, which was sold on cable television and brought renewed interest to Lane's career.
"True Love Ways" is a song attributed to Norman Petty and Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly's original was recorded with the Dick Jacobs Orchestra in October 1958, four months before the singer's death. It was first released on the posthumous album The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2, in March 1960. The song was first released as a single in Britain in May 1960, reaching number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. It was released the following month in the US, but did not make the charts. In 1988, a UK re-release of the recording by MCA, the single reached no. 65 on the UK singles chart in a five-week chart run.
"Still" is a 1979 song by the soul music group the Commodores. It was released as a single on Motown Records with "Such a Woman" as the B-side. The song appears on their 1979 hit album Midnight Magic. This was their last No. 1 hit in the United States.
"Hier encore", whose original French title translates to "Just yesterday" or "Not so long ago", is a song composed by Georges Garvarentz and written by Charles Aznavour and released in September 1964.
Trebor Edwards is a Welsh tenor, best known to Welsh-speaking audiences.
Marilyn Sellars is an American country music and gospel singer who had several hits during the mid-1970s on Mega Records, most notably the original version of "One Day at a Time" in 1974.
"Sunshine" is a country folk song from 1971 by Jonathan Edwards, released as the first single from his debut album Jonathan Edwards. The single reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 15, 1972, and earned a gold record.
"Why Me" is an American country and gospel song written and recorded by American country music singer and songwriter Kris Kristofferson.
You're Lookin' at Country is the eighteenth solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. It was released on September 20, 1971, by Decca Records.
"Things" is a song which was written and recorded by Bobby Darin in 1962. Released as a single, it reached No.3 in the U.S.and Canada, No.2 in the U.K., and No.3 in the first-ever official Irish Singles Chart, published by RTÉ in October 1962. It was later covered by Ronnie Dove and became a Top 30 country hit for him.
Gloria Smyth, better known as Gloria, is an Irish singer from Navan, County Meath.
"For the Good Times" is a song written by Kris Kristofferson, first recorded by singer Bill Nash in 1968 before appearing on Kristofferson's own debut album in June 1970. After a recording by Ray Price became a #1 hit single in June of that year, the song established Kristofferson as one of country and popular music's top songwriters while giving Price his first chart-topping country and western song in 11 years.
Ask Me to Dance is a studio album by American Christian and country singer Cristy Lane. It was released in March 1980 via United Artists and LS Records and contained 11 tracks. It was the fifth studio album release of Lane's music career and her most commercially-successful, reaching the top 20 of the American country albums chart. Ask Me to Dance included Lane's signature and only number one single, "One Day at a Time". The album received positive reviews from critics following its release.