Sweet City Woman
| "Sweet City Woman" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Stampeders | ||||
| from the album Against the Grain | ||||
| A-side | Sweet City Woman | |||
| B-side | Gator Road | |||
| Released | May 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1971 | |||
| Genre | Rock, country rock | |||
| Length | 3:27 | |||
| Label | Bell, Philips, MWC | |||
| Writer(s) | Rich Dodson | |||
| Producer(s) | Mel Shaw | |||
| The Stampeders singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Sweet City Woman" is a 1971 song by Canadian rock band The Stampeders. The song appeared on their debut album Against the Grain (retitled Sweet City Woman in the U.S.). The song features a banjo as a primary instrument, which is also mentioned in the lyrics: "The banjo and me, we got a feel for singing."
Chart performance
The single spent four weeks as a #1 hit in Canada, and reached #8 in the U.S. charts.[1] It also climbed to #1 on the Canadian country music and Adult contemporary charts. The song was also marketed in Canada by Quality Records with instrumental and French lyric versions.
Awards
The band and song won numerous Juno Awards in 1972, including Best Single,[2] Songwriter of the Year (guitarist Rich Dodson), Record Producer of the Year (Mel Shaw), and the band was named Canada's Top Group.
| Chart (1971) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 8 |
Cover versions
The song has been covered by many musicians over the years, including:
- British band The Dave Clark Five released a version in the U.K. while the Stampeders single was still in the charts.
- American country music artist Johnny Carver covered the song in 1977. Carver's version peaked at #48 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts.
- Tompall & the Glaser Brothers took the song to #34 on the same chart in 1980.
- Canadian country music band Jo Hikk covered the song on their 2009 album Ride.
- Rapper Kyprios released "City Woman", a song which blended a rerecorded version of "Sweet City Woman" with original lyrics, in 2011.
- "Champagne music" bandleader Lawrence Welk released a version of it on his "Go Away Little Girl" album.
The song can be heard in the Canadian commercial for "Dempster's Bread Farmer".
Personnel
- Produced by Mel Shaw
- Engineered by Terry Brown
- Recorded at Toronto Sound, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Rich Dodson: Vocal, Banjo, Lead electric guitar
- Ronnie King: Bass
- Kim Berly: Drums
References
- ↑ "Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ↑ White, Adam (1988). The Billboard Book of Hits. Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-8285-7.
| Preceded by "Countryfied" by George Hamilton IV |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single August 28 - September 4, 1971 |
Succeeded by "I'm Just Me" by Charley Pride |