Rhinestone Cowboy
| "Rhinestone Cowboy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Glen Campbell | ||||
| from the album Rhinestone Cowboy | ||||
| B-side | "Lovelight" | |||
| Released | May 26, 1975 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | February–March 1975 | |||
| Genre | Country, pop | |||
| Length | 3:15 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Larry Weiss | |||
| Producer(s) | Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter | |||
| Glen Campbell singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and most famously recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. The song enjoyed huge popularity with both country and pop audiences when it was released in 1975.
Background and writing
Weiss wrote and recorded "Rhinestone Cowboy" in 1974, and it appeared on his 20th Century Records album Black and Blue Suite. It did not, however, have much of a commercial impact as a single. In late 1974, Campbell heard the song on the radio, and during a tour of Australia, decided to learn the song. Soon after his return to the United States, Campbell went to Al Coury's office at Capitol Records, where he was approached about "a great new song" — "Rhinestone Cowboy".[1]
Several music writers noted that Campbell identified with the subject matter of "Rhinestone Cowboy" — survival and making it, particularly when the chips are down — very strongly. As Steven Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic put it, the song is about a veteran artist "who's aware that he's more than paid his dues during his career ... but is still surviving, and someday, he'll shine just like a rhinestone cowboy."[2]
Chart performance
Released in May 1975, "Rhinestone Cowboy" immediately caught on with both country and pop audiences. The song spent that summer climbing both the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts before peaking at number one by season's end - three nonconsecutive weeks on the country chart, two weeks on the Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the number-two for 1975.
During the week of September 13 — the week the song returned to number one on the Billboard country chart, after having been nudged out for a week by "Feelins'" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn — "Rhinestone Cowboy" topped both the country and Hot 100 charts simultaneously. This was the first time a song had accomplished the feat since November 1961, when "Big Bad John" by Jimmy Dean did so.
"Rhinestone Cowboy" was one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Country Singles charts. The other songs were "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender, "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B. J. Thomas, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" and "I'm Sorry"/"Calypso," both by John Denver, and "Convoy" by C. W. McCall.
The song was also the sole Glen Campbell track in a promotional-only compilation album issued by Capitol records titled The Greatest Music Ever Sold (Capitol SPRO-8511/8512), that was distributed to record stores during the 1976 holiday season as part of Capitol's "Greatest Music Ever Sold" campaign, which promoted 15 "Best Of" albums released by the record label.
Charts
Weekly charts
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] | 5 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] | 4 |
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM) | 1 |
| Canada Top Singles (RPM) | 1 |
| Canadian Adult Contemporary Tracks (RPM) | 7 |
| Germany (Official German Charts)[5] | 31 |
| Ireland (IRMA) | 1 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6] | 3 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] | 2 |
| South African Singles Chart | 2 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[8] | 17 |
| UK Singles Chart | 4 |
| US Billboard Hot Country Singles[9] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100[10] | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[11] | 1 |
| Yugoslavian Singles Chart | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
| US Cashbox Top 100 | 2 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 4 |
| UK Singles Chart | 21 |
| Belgian VRT Top 30 | 43 |
| Australian Kent Music Report | 50 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 81 |
Re-recorded version
Glen Campbell recorded a new version of the song in 2013 on his final studio album titled, See You There.
Awards
"Rhinestone Cowboy" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America.[12]
The song became one of Glen Campbell's signature songs and won numerous awards from the Country Music Association, Academy of Country Music, and American Music Awards. It also obtained nominations for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song as well as for Record of the Year, but did not win.
Use in films
Films
- "Rhinestone Cowboy" served as the basis for the film Rhinestone (1984), starring Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton
The song also made the soundtracks of:
- High School High
- Daddy Day Care
- Along with several other Glen Campbell tracks, "Rhinestone Cowboy" plays in War on Everyone (2016)
Notable cover versions
"Rhinestone Cowboy" has been covered by artists including Thom Yorke and Radiohead, Soul Asylum, Belle and Sebastian, Lloyd Green, Charley Pride, Loretta Lynn and White Town.
Belgian singer Claire recorded the song in 1975 as "Vreemde Vogels" ("Strange Birds") and had a substantial hit with her version in Flanders.
Slim Whitman covered the song in 1976 on his Red River Valley album.
Johnny Carson performed a comedic cover version to open the March 4, 1976 broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The episode was released on DVD in 2016 along with other episodes from that particular week, with Carson referencing his preparations for the performance and Doc Severinsen and the NBC Orchestra performing instrumental versions of the song each night. After his performance, Carson announced that songwriter Larry Weiss was in the audience, a fact he claimed to be unaware of when he sang it a few minutes earlier.[13]
South African singer Ray Dylan covered it on his album "Goeie Ou Country - Vol.3".[14]
Succession
| Preceded by "Please Mr. Please" by Olivia Newton-John |
Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single by Glen Campbell August 2, 1975 (one week) |
Succeeded by "At Seventeen" by Janis Ian |
| Preceded by "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" by Freddy Fender |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single August 23, 1975- August 30, 1975 (two weeks) |
Succeeded by "Feelins'" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn |
| Preceded by "Feelins'" by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single September 13, 1975 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Daydreams About Night Things" by Ronnie Milsap |
| Preceded by "The Seeker" by Dolly Parton |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single August 30, 1975 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Please Mr. Please" by Olivia Newton-John |
| Preceded by "Get Down Tonight" by KC and the Sunshine Band |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 6, 1975 - September 13, 1975 (two weeks) |
Succeeded by "Fame" by David Bowie |
| Preceded by "There Won't Be Anymore" by Charlie Rich |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single of the year 1975 |
Succeeded by "Convoy" by C. W. McCall |
References
- ↑ Gilbert, Bob and Gary Theroux, "The Top Ten: 1956-Present," Pop Record Research, Fireside Books, Simon & Schuster, New York. 1982 (ISBN 0-671-43215-X)
- ↑ Song Review by Ed Hogan. "Rhinestone Cowboy - Glen Campbell | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
- ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Glen Campbell – Rhinestone Cowboy" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
- ↑ "Musicline.de – Glen Campbell Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Glen Campbell search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
- ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Glen Campbell – Rhinestone Cowboy". Top 40 Singles.
- ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Glen Campbell – Rhinestone Cowboy". Singles Top 100.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 66.
- ↑ "Glen Campbell – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Glen Campbell.
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 44.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2007-06-14.
- ↑ The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, March 4, 1976; released on DVD as part of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: The Vault Series (Time-Life, 2016)
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.