| "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos | ||||
| from the album I've Got a Tiger by the Tail | ||||
| Released | December 28, 1964 (U.S.) | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | December 1, 1964 Hollywood, California |
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| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:13 | |||
| Label | Capitol 5336A | |||
| Writer(s) | Harlan Howard and Buck Owens | |||
| Producer | Ken Nelson | |||
| Buck Owens and the Buckaroos singles chronology | ||||
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"I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" is a song made famous by country music band Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Released in December 1964, the song became one of Owens' signature songs and showcases of the Bakersfield sound in the genre.
Owens — in the liner notes to The Buck Owens Collection: 1959-1990 — recalled that he and songwriter Harlan Howard had gotten together to write songs, but things were going slowly. Then, Owens saw an Esso gas station sign with the company's slogan at the time, "Put a tiger in your tank" ... and got an idea.[1]
Released in December 1964 (just weeks after he had recorded it), "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" became Owens' and the Buckaroos sixth No. 1 hit on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in February 1965. Although its five weeks atop the chart made it far from Owens' biggest hit from a chart standpoint — several of his other No. 1 songs spent anywhere from six to 16 weeks at No. 1[2] — "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" is often considered Owens' biggest hit.
The song also became Owens' and the Buckaroos highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at No. 25.[3]
| Chart (1965) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 12 |
| Preceded by "You're the Only World I Know" by Sonny James |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single February 20-March 20, 1965 |
Succeeded by "King of the Road" by Roger Miller |