Marie Laveau (song)

"Marie Laveau" is a 1974 live recording by Bobby Bare. His thirty-fourth single to hit the country charts, it was his only number one and final top ten country hit. It was written by Shel Silverstein and Baxter Taylor. "Marie Laveau" went to number one for a single week and spent a total of eighteen weeks on the country charts.^[1]

The song is about a fictitious witch who lived in a Louisiana bayou swamp, having the same name as the famous New Orleans voodoo priestess who is approached by a scoundrel, "Handsome Jack". Jack asks Marie to conjure up $1,000,000; in exchange, Jack will then marry Marie. Marie conjures up the money, but Jack backs out on his end of the deal, resulting in Marie casting a spell on Jack in revenge.

The first released recording is by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, on their 1971 album Doctor Hook. Another version is by Girl Trouble, released on Thrillsphere (1990) and Blue Dogs (Music for Dog People, 1991) . Earlier recordings of the song exist. In 1954, Oscar "Papa" Celestin sang a different composition titled "Marie Laveau" in one of his last recordings.

Chart performance

Chart (1974)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 40.

Preceded by "He Thinks I Still Care" by Anne Murray	Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single July 20, 1974 (Bobby Bare version)	Succeeded by "You Can't Be a Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine" by Donna Fargo
Preceded by "They Don't Make 'em Like My Daddy" by Loretta Lynn	RPM Country Tracks number-one single August 3, 1974 (Bobby Bare version)	Succeeded by "As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn

Bobby Bare

Studio albums	The Game of Triangles

Notable singles	"500 Miles" "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" "A Dear John Letter" "Detroit City" "Four Strong Winds" "God Bless America Again" "Green, Green Grass of Home" "How I Got to Memphis" "Just to Satisfy You" "(Margie's At) The Lincoln Park Inn" "Marie Laveau" "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" "Song of the South" "Streets of Baltimore"

Guest singles	"No Memories Hangin' Round" (with Rosanne Cash)

Related articles	Bobby Bare, Jr.

Shel Silverstein

Books	Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back The Giving Tree Don't Bump the Glump!: and Other Fantasies The Missing Piece Runny Babbit

Poem collections	Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic Falling Up Every Thing on It

Albums	Freakin' at the Freakers Ball Inside Folk Songs Twistable Turnable Man Where the Sidewalk Ends A Light in the Attic

Songs	"25 Minutes to Go" "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" "Big Four Poster Bed" "A Boy Named Sue" "The Cover of Rolling Stone" "Marie Laveau" "The Mermaid" "One's on the Way" "Sylvia's Mother" "The Unicorn" "Wrong Ideas"

Film soundtracks	Ned Kelly (1970) Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971)

Screenplays	Things Change (1988)

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