Detroit City (song)
"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer (as "I Wanna Go Home"),[1] country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones. Bare's version was released in 1963. The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" (from the opening line to the refrain) — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.
| "Detroit City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bobby Bare | ||||
| from the album "Detroit City" and Other Hits by Bobby Bare | ||||
| B-side | "Heart of Ice" | |||
| Released | May 1963 (U.S.) | |||
| Recorded | April 18, 1963 Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:47 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Danny Dill and Mel Tillis | |||
| Producer(s) | Chet Atkins | |||
| Bobby Bare singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Detroit City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Tom Jones | ||||
| from the album Green, Green Grass of Home | ||||
| B-side | "If I Had You" | |||
| Released | February 1967 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Danny Dill and Mel Tillis | |||
| Producer(s) | Peter Sullivan | |||
| Tom Jones singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| "Detroit City" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Arthur Alexander | |
| A-side | "You Don't Care" |
| Released | April 1965 |
| Genre | Soul |
| Length | 2:40 |
| Label | Dot Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Danny Dill and Mel Tillis |
| Producer(s) | Noel Ball Norman Petty Bill Haney (uncredited) |
| "I Wanna Go Home" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Billy Grammer | ||||
| B-side | "The Bottom of the Glass" | |||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Danny Dill and Mel Tillis | |||
| Billy Grammer singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
About the song
Prior to Bare's success with "Detroit City," country singer Billy Grammer released his version of the Danny Dill-Mel Tillis penned song.[2] His version was known as "I Wanna Go Home" and peaked at #18 on the Billboard country charts in 1963.[3]
The song is the working man's complaint, and "with its melody reminiscent of the 'Sloop John B,' describes the alienation felt by many rural southerners in the mid North," wrote country music historian Bill Malone. "Here, [Bare's] earnest and plaintive interpretation lends great believability to this mournful song."[4] Bob Dylan describes the song as "...not so much the song of a dreamer, but the song of someone who is caught up in a fantasy of the way things used to be. But the listener knows that it just doesn't exist."[5] Bare's version begins in the key of E, until after the repeat of the refrain, he makes a transition to the key of B for the second verse and refrain. He makes a transition back to the key of E as the song fades out. Bare's version also features a spoken recitation following half of the second verse, before singing the refrain before the song's fade.
The song's peak in popularity during the summer of 1963 came during a time when Tillis was still experiencing most of his success as a songwriter. He had previously written hits for Webb Pierce, Brenda Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others, but this was one of his earliest major hits as a songwriter outside of those artists.
The song won Bobby Bare a Grammy for the Best Country & Western Recording in 1963.[6]
Chart performance
Grammer's "I Wanna Go Home" reached #18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1963. That summer, Bare's re-titled version peaked at #6 on the Billboard country chart (it spent total of 18 weeks on this chart) and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.[7]
Billy Grammer
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 18 |
Bobby Bare
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 93 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 7 |
| German Singles Chart | 40 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[8] | 1 |
| Sweden (Tio i Topp)[9] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[10] | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 16 |
Tom Jones
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.K. Singles Chart | 8 |
| Austrian Top 40 | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[11] | 27 |
| German Singles Chart | 35 |
| Canadian Singles Chart[12] | 16 |
Dean Martin
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under-Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles | 36 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles [13] | 93 |
Other Covers
- Jan & Dean covered the song for their 1963 album Surf City And Other Swingin' Cities.
- Arthur Alexander released the song as a single in 1965 backed with "You Don't Care," but it did not perform well and proved to be his last single for Dot Records.[14] Nonetheless, historian Nat Hentoff described Alexander's rendition as "deeply compelling," stating that it "[eclipsed] the original version by Bobby Bare."[15] Alexander biographer described it as "a stirring rendition."[14] Music USA: A Rough Guide also praised Alexander's version.[16] No Depression magazine states that Alexander's version "mourns a rural-to-urban migration that black Americans could relate to every bit as much as poor Southern whites."[17]
- Jerry Lee Lewis released a version on his 1965 album Country Songs for City Folks.[18]
- The Jordanaires released a cover on their 1966 album The Big Country Hits.
- Charley Pride released his cover of the song as the b-side of his 1966 hit "Just Between You and Me".[19] Both songs were later included on the 1967 album Pride of Country Music.[20]
- In 1967, the song was also covered by Tom Jones, who had a UK Top 10 hit with it.[21] The Jones version features Bare's spoken Recitation as well. Jones also included the song on his 1967 album Green, Green Grass of Home.
- Solomon Burke covered the song in 1967 as well. His version reached #10 in the Canadian RPM Soul charts, January 27, 1968.[22]
- Dolly Parton covered the song on her 1980 album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs.[23]
- The song has also been covered by soul singer Joe Tex.
- The song was covered by Yugoslav beat band Tomi Sovilj i Njegove Siluete on their 1967 EP Stoj, Džoni (Stop, Johnny).
References
- "Discography". The Grammer Guitar. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
- "BMI repertoire search". BMI. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- Billy Grammer's "I Wanna Go Home" Chart Position Retrieved June 17, 2012.
- Malone, Bill, "Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection" ((booklet included with Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection 4-disc set). Smithsonian Institution, 1990).
- Dylan, Bob (2022). The Philosophy of Modern Song. New York. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4516-4870-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - "Bobby Bare's Grammy history". Grammy Award. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- "Bobby Bare's Billboard chart history". billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- Hallberg, Eric (1993). Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. p. 243. ISBN 9163021404.
- Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (1998). Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74. Premium Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 919727125X.
- Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 39.
- Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 446.
- "RPM Top 100 Singles - April 29, 1967" (PDF).
- "RPM Top 100 Singles - November 7, 1970" (PDF).
- Younger, Richard (2000). Get a shot of rhythm and blues: the Arthur Alexander story. University of Alabama Press. pp. 104–105. ISBN 9780817310233.
- Hentoff, Nat (2009). American Music Is. Da Capo Press. p. 211. ISBN 9780786728541.
- Unterberger, Richie; et al. (1999). Music USA: A Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 114. ISBN 9781858284217.
- No Depression Issues 13-16. 1998. p. 106. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- Jerry Lee Lewis, Country Songs for City Folks Retrieved June 17, 2012.
- "Country Charley Pride -- "Just Between You and Me" (1967, Single)". Discogs. 1966. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- "The Pride of Country Music: Charley Pride: Songs, Reviews, Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- "Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- "RPM Top 30 Soul - January 27, 1968" (PDF).
- "www.allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.