Amanda (Don Williams song)

"Amanda" is a 1973 song written by Bob McDill and recorded by both Don Williams (1973) and Waylon Jennings (1974). "Amanda" was Waylon Jennings's eighth solo number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for three weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.[1]

"Amanda"
Single by Don Williams
from the album Don Williams Volume One
A-side"Come Early Morning"
ReleasedMay 1973
Recordedca. March 1973
GenreCountry
Length3:08
LabelJMI 24
Songwriter(s)Bob McDill
Producer(s)Allen Reynolds
Don Williams singles chronology
"The Shelter of Your Eyes"
(1973)
"Amanda"
(1973)
"Atta Way to Go"
(1973)
"Amanda"
Single by Waylon Jennings
from the album Greatest Hits
B-side"Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean"
ReleasedApril 1979
Recorded
  • July 15, 1974 (original)
  • 1979 (new overdubs for single release)
GenreCountry
Length2:56
LabelRCA 11596
Songwriter(s)Bob McDill
Producer(s)Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings singles chronology
"Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand"
(1978)
"Amanda"
(1979)
"Come with Me"
(1979)

As recorded by Jennings, "Amanda" had been a track on his 1974 album The Ramblin' Man, but was not released as a single at that time; two other tracks, "I'm a Ramblin' Man" and "Rainy Day Woman," were. More than 4½ years later, new overdubs were added to the original track and placed on his first greatest hits album. In April 1979 the song was issued as a single, and it soon became one of the biggest country hits of 1979. "Amanda" is a love song of a man approaching middle age and reflecting how his life is and how his wife could have done better without him.

Other versions

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"Amanda" was first recorded and released as a single by country singer Don Williams in the summer of 1973 as the flip side of his No. 12 hit "Come Early Morning." Williams' version reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.[2]

The master for both "Come Early Morning" and "Amanda," along with Williams' other recordings for JMI Records, were sold to ABC-Dot Records in 1974.

Chris Stapleton covered this song on the 2017 tribute album to Don Williams "Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams".[3]

Billy Joe Royal released a version of the song.[4]

Charts

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Don Williams

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 33
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 65

Waylon Jennings

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Chart (1979) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 54
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[9] 40
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Top Singles 67
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 7

Year-end charts

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Chart (1979) Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 3

References

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  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. ^ Whitburn, p. 463
  3. ^ "Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton to Appear on Don Williams Tribute Album". Rolling Stone. 6 February 2017.
  4. ^ Billy Joe Royal, "Amanda" Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "Don Williams Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 338. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. ^ "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. ^ "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  9. ^ "Waylon Jennings Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  10. ^ "Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1979". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
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