Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)

"Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)" is a country song written by Joe Maphis, Rose Lee Maphis, and Max Fidler. It was originally recorded in December 1952 by the bluegrass duo Flatt & Scruggs, and later released by Joe & Rose Lee Maphis in 1953 as a single.

"Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (and Loud, Loud Music)"
Single by Joe & Rose Lee Maphis
ReleasedApril 1953
Recorded1953
GenreCountry
Length2:59
LabelOkeh Records
Songwriter(s)
  • Joe Maphis
  • Rose Lee Maphis
  • Max Fidler

Joe Maphis said he started the song after moving from barn dance shows in Virginia and Chicago to playing in a honky-tonk in Bakersfield, California, in a band that included Buck Owens on back-up vocals.[1] It is also said that Joe Maphis wrote the song one Saturday night (presumably in 1952) while driving home to Los Angeles from Bakersfield after seeing Buck Owens perform at the Blackboard Cafe.

Covers

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The song has also been covered by Margie Collie, Glen Glenn, Tom T. Hall, Porter Wagoner, Tennessee Ernie Ford & Molly Bee, Weldon Rogers & Willie Rogers, Big Tom, Wade Hayes and David Adam Byrnes.

References

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  1. ^ Dorothy Horstman, Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy, Vanderbilt University Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0915608195