(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
John Denver - "Thank God I'm a Country Boy"
Hit Number 1: June 7, 1975
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
John Denver was living his best life in 1975. He was a music juggernaut, and traveled all over the country bringing his famous outdoorsy music everywhere he went. But he was also living in Aspen, Colorado, and as we should all know by now, Denver loved Colorado. Him and his bandmates all lived in Aspen, and were all very content on where they were in their lives. One of Denver's bandmates, John Martin Sommers, was so happy that he decided to write some notes about how happy he was while traveling to Los Angeles from Aspen. These notes would tell about his way of life, and how he was so thankful for everything he had and all the great relationships he had made. Those notes would turn into a song, and that song would become "Thank God I'm a Country Boy."
"Country Boy" is not a very complex song, and the message is pretty easy to understand: a guy is thankful for the kind of country lifestyle that he lives, and is blessed to have a fine wife and a fiddle and when the sun's coming up he's got cakes on the griddle. It's a song about a guy enjoying his life, I guess you could say. There isn't much information about Sommers, but one can assume that he thought of himself as a country boy. It's interesting to hear "Country Boy" and know that this isn't really some song that Denver wrote about himself, and that it's actually about some songwriter that never got much attention, and how much this obscure songwriter was really enjoying his life. And of course, as outdoorsy as Denver was, he wasn't a "country boy." He was just a guy who loved the outdoors, especially the mountains. But I digress.
That positive message is reflected in the music, too. "Country Boy" is easily the most upbeat thing Denver ever released, and it's obvious that he's having the time of his life recording the song too. But here's another thing that makes "Country Boy" so much different than Denver's other material: it was recorded live. The recording of the song that made it to #1 was a recorded performance by Denver during a concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. You can hear the crowd cheering, Denver's echo in his voice and a general feel of the song not being perfected. "Country Boy" was, however, a song that Denver already released, but not in single form. It was included on the album Back Home Again, but the song "Annie's Song" stole the show away from everything else on the album. Instead, the live version at the Universal Amphitheatre is the one that would be selected for single release, and we all know what happened after that. The song would eventually be added to the album An Evening with John Denver, an album comprised of live recordings from Denver's performance at the Universal Amphitheatre.
Usually I'm much more partial to upbeat songs like this compared to slower, ballad-type songs, but "Country Boy" is only an okay song as far as Denver's catalogue goes. I do love the energy he throws in and the fiddle game is definitely strong, but I can't put a finger on it, it just doesn't have the same kind of Denver charm that his previous two #1 hits had. It seems more like an excuse for Denver to break away from his usual mellow songs and just vamp for a few minutes. That's what "Country Boy" could be perfect for, a chance to unwind and have some fun. It doesn't have to be anything special, and there really isn't anything special about this song anyway. In fact, it's kind of stupid if I'm going to be honest. But I guess everyone has to have that one song to turn to that'll help liven up the crowd, and "Country Boy" is what Denver used as his "go to" fun song. Judging by the reaction the crowd seems to be having, I'd say it worked. Hell, the song is sometimes played at sporting events too, and the Orioles have been playing it during the seventh inning stretch since 1976; a beloved tradition by the team and their fans. I could really see this song being a guilty pleasure for a lot of people.
GRADE: 5/10
IN POP CULTURE:
In the 1993 comedy movie Son in Law, Pauly Shore's character wrote his own name in a corn field by driving a tractor with a corn harvester attached. (At least that's what I think is going on here) Anyway, he was listening to "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" while he was doing that. Here's that clip:
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