Daddy Sang Bass
"Daddy Sang Bass" | ||||
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Single by Johnny Cash | ||||
from the album The Holy Land | ||||
B-side | "He Turned the Water Into Wine" | |||
Released | October 1968 | |||
Genre | Country, gospel | |||
Length | 2:19 | |||
Label | Columbia, 4-44689 | |||
Writer(s) | Carl Perkins | |||
Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |||
Johnny Cash singles chronology | ||||
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"Daddy Sang Bass" is a 1968 single written by Carl Perkins, with lines from the chorus of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" and recorded by Johnny Cash. "Daddy Sang Bass" was Johnny Cash's sixty-first release on the country chart. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard country chart for 6 weeks and spent a total of 19 weeks on the chart.[1] The single reached No. 56 on the Cashbox pop singles chart in 1969.[2] "Daddy Sang Bass" was also released on the Columbia Records Hall of Fame Series as a 45, #13-33153, b/w "Folsom Prison Blues" (live version). The record was nominated in the CMA awards category of Single of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA) in 1969.
"Daddy Sang Bass" was Cash's thirty-sixth entry on the pop charts and the last before his "A Boy Named Sue" became his first and only top ten hit there. No other act has ever started off a pop career with a longer such drought on the charts that was finally broken. The song appeared originally on the 1969 album The Holy Land, the 1971 Johnny Cash: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 collection, the 1999 Johnny Cash greatest hits compilation 16 Biggest Hits, and the 2002 The Essential Johnny Cash collection.
According to Johnny Cash's book, The Man in Black, Carl Perkins had been an alcoholic. Cash helped Perkins, who spent a lot of time on the road with Cash. Cash was a drug addict, and overcame those addictions through spirituality. Cash eventually found God, and helped Carl Perkins. Feeling inspired, Perkins wrote the song, "Daddy Sang Bass" in 1967. Cash says the line, "Me and little brother will join right in there" was written about Cash's brother Jack, who died when they were both boys. In the song the line is sung by Don Reid and Lew DeWitt of The Statler Brothers.
Carl Perkins also recorded the song for his 1969 Greatest Hits compilation album on Columbia Records, which became a Top 40 hit on the Billboard country album chart that year.
The line "Daddy'll sing bass" is sampled in They Might Be Giants' song "Boat of Car" from their self-titled debut album.
Chart performance
Chart (1968–1969) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 42 |
U.S. Cashbox Top 100 Singles | 56 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
Canadian RPM Top Singles | 49 |
Cover versions
- Glen Campbell on the 1970 Capitol album Oh Happy Day.[3]
- Dolly Parton, Mel Tillis, and Porter Wagoner on a 1969 episode of The Porter Wagoner Show
- Kitty Wells on the 1969 album Guilty Street.[4]
- Skeeter Davis on the 1969 album Mary Frances.[5]
- The Statler Brothers (who also performed the song on The Johnny Cash Show with Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash)
- The Oak Ridge Boys
- Maury Finney as a 45 single on Boss Records, 225.
- Gospel Echoes Quartet
- Linda Gail Lewis with Carl Perkins on The Jerry Lee Lewis Show TV special, 1971
- The Rhythm Masters
- Dailey & Vincent on the 2012 album "The Gospel Site of Dailey and Vincent"
- Leon Russell on the 1998 album Legend in My Time - Hank Wilson Vol. III
- J. D. Sumner and the Stamps on the 1974 Vintage Gospel album (Skylite Records/SLP-6144)
- Sego Brothers and Naomi as a 45 single on Songs of Faith Records, 20001.
- Jean Shepard
- Connie Smith
- Carl Story on his 1969 eponymous LP, Starday Records, SLP 438
- Nat Stuckey
- Jackie Thompson as a 45 single on Columbia Records, 4-44842.
- Mel Tillis
- Bryan Chalker's New Frontier as a 45 single on the UK Chapter 1 label, SCH170.
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 75.
- ↑ Cashbox Top 100 Singles.
- ↑ Second Hand Songs: Daddy Sang Bass by Glenn Campbell.
- ↑ Second Hand Songs: Daddy Sang Bass by Kitty Wells.
- ↑ Second Hand Songs: Daddy Sang Bass by Skeeter Davis
External links
Preceded by "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single January 4-February 8, 1969 |
Succeeded by "Until My Dreams Come True" by Jack Greene |
Preceded by "Mr. Brown" by Gary Buck |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single March 3, 1969 |
Succeeded by "The Girl Most Likely" by Jeannie C. Riley |