Joe South wrote & recorded "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" in 1969, but couldn't crack the charts. Neither could Billy Joe Royal or Dobie Gray. However, it took Lynn Anderson's cover, released in 1970, to make it a huge hit. Anderson hit #1 on the Billboard Country chart, and peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, meaning it was heard on American Top 40.
In memory of Anderson, who passed away Thursday at 67.
2 comments:
I've always liked this song - although I've often heard Martina McBride's version on the radio.
For the heck of it, I checked out the versions recorded by Billy Joe Royal and Joe South. Royal seemed to be trying to emulate either Davy Jones or Peter Noone with the vocals, while the arrangement sounded vaguely like "Down In The Boondocks".
Joe South on the other hand did a very good version of his own song. His definitely should have charted better.
RIP Ms. Anderson.
Royal's version must've come around the same time he recorded "Down in the Boondocks", because his vocals on that song were, again, an attempt at emulating Noone or Jones.
Lynn Anderson, however, fell off the radar around the mid-point of the 70's, as her hits stayed in rotation, but there weren't too many new songs.
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