Country Bumpkin

"Country Bumpkin"
"Country Bumpkin"
Single by Cal Smith
from the album Country Bumpkin
B-side	"It's Not the Miles You've Traveled"
Released	February 1974
Recorded	December 21, 1973
Studio	Bradley's Barn, Mount Juliet, Tennessee
Genre	Country
Length	3:39
Label	MCA Records 40191
Songwriter	Don Wayne
Producer	Walter Haynes
Cal Smith singles chronology

"Country Bumpkin" is a song written by Don Wayne,^[3] and recorded by American country music artist Cal Smith.^[4] It was released in February 1974 as the first single and title track from the album Country Bumpkin. The song was Smith's second number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of ten weeks on the country chart.^[5]

In 1974, "Country Bumpkin" received Song of the Year Awards from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association.

Content

The song has three verses:

In the first a rural gentleman walks into a bar, where one of the barroom girls refers to him as a "country bumpkin" (a common nickname for a person from a rural area^[6]) as she talks to him.
The second verse discusses the woman (now married to the man) giving birth to her (only) son a year later.
The third verse discusses her impending death 40 years later, with her husband and son present at her bedside.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1974/75)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[7]	23
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[8]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[9]	90

References

^ Grein, Paul (7 July 2020). "What's the Most Honored Country Recording of All Time? Let's Figure It Out". Billboard.
^ Staff. "Don Wayne, "Country Bumpkin" Songwriter, Dies at 78". CMT News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015.
^ CMT
^ Cooper, Peter. "Cal Smith, voice of 'Country Bumpkin,' dies at age 81". USA TODAY.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 317.
^ "Country-bumpkin Meaning | Best 1 Definitions of Country-bumpkin".
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 278. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "Cal Smith Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. December 29, 1975. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Imgur.

[1] Grein, Paul (7 July 2020). "What's the Most Honored Country Recording of All Time? Let's Figure It Out". Billboard.

[2] Staff. "Don Wayne, "Country Bumpkin" Songwriter, Dies at 78". CMT News. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015.

[3] CMT

[4] Cooper, Peter. "Cal Smith, voice of 'Country Bumpkin,' dies at age 81". USA TODAY.

[5] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 317.

[6] "Country-bumpkin Meaning | Best 1 Definitions of Country-bumpkin".

[aus-7] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 278. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[sc_Billboardcountrysongs_Cal_Smith-8] "Cal Smith Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.

[aus75-9] "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. December 29, 1975. Retrieved January 15, 2022 – via Imgur.

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v t e CMA Single of the Year
1967−1970	"There Goes My Everything" (1967) "Harper Valley PTA" (1968) "A Boy Named Sue" (1969) "Okie from Muskogee" (1970)
1971−1980	"Help Me Make It Through the Night" (1971) "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A." (1972) "Behind Closed Doors" (1973) "Country Bumpkin" (1974) "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" (1975) "Good Hearted Woman" (1976) "Lucille" (1977) "Heaven's Just a Sin Away" (1978) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (1979) "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)
1981−1990	"Elvira" (1981) "Always on My Mind" (1982) "Swingin'" (1983) "A Little Good News" (1984) "Why Not Me" (1985) "Bop" (1986) "Forever and Ever, Amen" (1987) "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" (1988) "I'm No Stranger to the Rain" (1989) "When I Call Your Name" (1990)
1991−2000	"Friends in Low Places" (1991) "Achy Breaky Heart" (1992) "Chattahoochee" (1993) "I Swear" (1994) "When You Say Nothing at All" (1995) "Check Yes or No" (1996) "Strawberry Wine" (1997) "Holes in the Floor of Heaven" (1998) "Wide Open Spaces" (1999) "I Hope You Dance" (2000)
2001−2010	"I am a Man Of Constant Sorrow" (2001) "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" (2002) "Hurt" (2003) "Live Like You Were Dying" (2004) "I May Hate Myself in the Morning" (2005) "Believe" (2006) "Before He Cheats" (2007) "I Saw God Today" (2008) "I Run to You" (2009) "Need You Now" (2010)
2011−2020	"If I Die Young" (2011) "Pontoon" (2012) "Cruise" (2013) "Automatic" (2014) "Girl Crush" (2015) "Die a Happy Man" (2016) "Blue Ain't Your Color" (2017) "Broken Halos" (2018) "God's Country" (2019) "The Bones" (2020)
2021−2030	"Starting Over" (2021) "'Til You Can't" (2022) "Fast Car" (2023) "White Horse" (2024)

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