(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time

"(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time"
Single by Ronnie Milsap
from the album A Legend in My Time
Released 1974
Genre Country
Length 2:55
Label RCA
Writer(s) Don Gibson
Producer(s) Tom Collins, Jack D. Johnson
Ronnie Milsap singles chronology
"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends"
(1974)
"(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time"
(1974)
"Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry"
(1975)

"(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" is a song written and recorded by Don Gibson in 1960. It appeared as the B-side of his hit "Far Far Away", from the album Sweet Dreams. Gibson re-recorded the song on the 1972 album Country Green.

Frequently covered, the song is usually titled without the parenthetical lead. Versions have been recorded by Connie Francis, Johnny Cash (on the album American V: A Hundred Highways), Timi Yuro, and Frank Ifield, among others.

Roy Orbison covered the track for his 1961 album Lonely and Blue. Orbison recorded a second later version which was featured on his 1967 tribute album to Gibson, Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson.

The song was recorded in 1974 by Ronnie Milsap and released as the lead single from his album A Legend in My Time. This would be Ronnie Milsap's sixth country hit and his third number one. The single would stay at number one for a single week and spend a total of ten weeks within the top 40.[1] Milsap's recording altered the song from its original 3/4 time signature to a 4/4 time signature.[2]

Chart performance

Chart (1974-1975) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

References

  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 232.
  2. Rich, Kienzle (2004). Ultimate Ronnie Milsap (CD booklet). Ronnie Milsap. RCA Records. 82876.
Preceded by
"Kentucky Gambler"
by Merle Haggard
Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single

January 25, 1975
Succeeded by
"City Lights"
by Mickey Gilley
RPM Country Tracks
number-one single

February 15, 1975
Succeeded by
"Then Who Am I"
by Charley Pride