| "Detroit City" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bobby Bare | ||||
| from the album Detroit City and Other Hits | ||||
| Released | May 1963 (U.S.) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | April 18, 1963 Nashville, Tennessee |
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| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:47 | |||
| Label | RCA Records 47-8183 | |||
| Writer(s) | Danny Dill and Mel Tillis | |||
| Bobby Bare singles chronology | ||||
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"Detroit City" is a song made famous by country music singer Bobby Bare. Originally 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.
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Prior to Bare's success with "Detroit City," country singer Billy Grammer released his version of the Danny Dill-Mel Tillis penned song.[1] His version was known as "I Wanna Go Home" and peaked at #18 on the Billboard country charts in 1963.
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 planative interpretation lends great believability to this mournful song."[2] 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.[3]
In 1967 the song was covered by Tom Jones, who had a UK Top 10 hit with it.[4] The Jones version features Bare's spoken Recitation as well.
The Swedish singer Gunnar Wiklund recorded the song in Swedish, calling it "Nu Reser Jag Hem" (I'm Going Home Now).
Grammer's "I Wanna Go Home" reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1963. That summer, Bare's re-titled version peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard country chart (it spent total of 18 weeks on this chart) and No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 18 |
| Chart (1963) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report | 93 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 7 |
| German Singles Chart | 40 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 16 |
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.K. Singles Chart | 8 |
| Austrian Top 40 | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 27 |
| German Singles Chart | 35 |