Sweet City Woman Explained

Sweet City Woman
Cover:	Stamp City Woman.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	The Stampeders
Album:	Against the Grain
B-Side:	Gator Road
Released:	May 1971
Recorded:	1971
Genre:	Rock, country rock
Length:	3:27
Label:	Bell, Philips, MWC
Producer:	Mel Shaw
Prev Title:	Gator Road
Prev Year:	1971
Next Title:	Devil You
Next Year:	1971

"Sweet City Woman" is a 1971 song by Canadian rock band The Stampeders, appearing on their debut album Against the Grain (retitled Sweet City Woman in the US). It features a banjo as a primary instrument, which is also mentioned in the lyrics: "The banjo and me, we got a feel for singing."

Chart performance

The single spent four weeks as a number 1 hit in Canada, and reached number 8 in the US.^[1] It also climbed to number 1 on the Canadian country music and adult contemporary charts. The song was also marketed in Canada by Quality Records with instrumental and French lyric versions.

Weekly charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
Australia KMR^[2]	32
Canadian RPM Top Singles^[3]	1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary^[4]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
US Billboard Hot 100	8
US Billboard Easy Listening^[5]	5
US Cash Box Top 100	7

Year-end charts

Chart (1971)	Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles^[6]	2
US Billboard Hot 100^[7]	58
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)^[8]

Awards

The band and song won numerous Juno Awards in 1972, including Best Single,^[9] Songwriter of the Year (guitarist Rich Dodson), Record Producer of the Year (Mel Shaw), and the band was named Canada's Top Group.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many musicians over the years, most notably:

• American country music artist Johnny Carver, in 1977. Carver's version peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
• Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, whose release went to number 34 on the same chart in 1980.

Other less known covers include one by Danish singer and actress Daimi Gentle titled "Jeg kommer" (I'm coming), released in 1973.

Use in media

The song can be heard during a flashback scene in the Better Call Saul episode "Inflatable," during the ending of the Doom Patrol episode "Bird Patrol," the Adam Sandler film Little Nicky, the Condor episode “Out of His Exile,” in the Canadian commercial for "Dempster's Bread Farmer" and in an episode of the Canadian comedy series Robson Arms

Personnel

• Produced by Mel Shaw
• Engineered by Terry Brown
• Recorded at Toronto Sound, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• Rich Dodson – vocal, banjo, lead electric guitar
• Ronnie King – bass
• Kim Berly – drums

External links

• Origin Stories: Rich Dodson on The Stampeders’ “Sweet City Woman” from JulietteJagger.com.

Notes and References

1. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=the stampeders|chart=all}} Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders ]. Billboard.com . 2012-01-20.
2. Web site: Australian Chart Book . Austchartbook.com.au . 2016-10-05.
3. Web site: RPM 100 Singles. August 14, 1971. Library and Archives Canada. Canada.ca.
4. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1971-08-14 . 2018-02-19.
5. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

   . Joel Whitburn . 1993 . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research . 226.

6. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 2016-10-05.
7. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1971/Top 100 Songs of 1971 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-05.
8. Book: Billboard . 15 . 1971-12-25 . 2016-10-05.
9. Book: White, Adam. The Billboard Book of Hits. 1988. Billboard Books. 0-8230-8285-7.