The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp

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"The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp" is a song written by Dallas Frazier and first recorded by country musician, Johnny Darrell in 1968. [1]

The song tells the story of a woman with 14 children who is abandoned by her worthless alcoholic husband and turns to prostitution to support her large family. [2]

Recordings

It was a hit for O. C. Smith, who recorded it at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals in 1968. [3] [4] His single spent 15 weeks in the UK singles chart between June and August 1968, including three weeks at No 2. [5] In the US, the single spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 40, while peaking at No. 32 during its 9 weeks on the Billboard Hot R&B chart. [6] On the New Zealand Listener charts it reached No. 16. [7]

Previous releases were by Sanford Clark, and by Johnny Darrell who made it in the Billboard Country Charts to No. 37. Merle Haggard released a version of this song on his 1968 album Sing Me Back Home . In 1977, the song became much better known in the US because it was included on Kenny Rogers' second solo album Kenny Rogers , which topped the U.S. Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs chart.

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary: Johnny Darrell" . The Independent Newspaper. November 15, 1997. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  2. ↑ Jennings, Dana (May 27, 2008). Sing Me Back Home: Love, Death, and Country Music . Faber & Faber. ISBN   9780865479609 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Colin Larkin (1998), The encyclopedia of popular music, vol. 7, ISBN   9780333741344
  4. ↑ "The Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp". June 6, 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ↑ "Search | Official Charts". www.officialcharts.com.
  6. ↑ "O.C. Smith". Chart History. Billboard . Retrieved November 18, 2025.
  7. ↑ https://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=699#n_view_location Search Listener
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