Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone

"Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone?"
Single by Charley Pride
from the album Charley Pride's 10th Album
B-side"Things Are Looking Up" (U.S.) "Wings of a Dove" (Intl.)
ReleasedFebruary 1970
StudioRCA Studio B, Nashville
GenreCountrypolitan[1]
Length2:13
LabelRCA Victor
Songwriter(s)Glenn Martin
Dave Kirby
Producer(s)Jack Clement
Charley Pride singles chronology
"(I'm So) Afraid of Losing You Again"
(1969)
"Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone?"
(1970)
"Wonder Could I Live There Anymore"
(1970)

"Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone" is a song written by Glenn Martin and Dave Kirby, and recorded by American country music artist Charley Pride. It was released in February 1970 as the first single from the album Charley Pride's 10th Album. The song was Pride's third number one in a row on the country charts. The single spent two weeks at number one and a total of 16 weeks on the country chart.[2]

Content

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The narrator is hitchhiking along Route 66 on a cold and stormy day, hoping for a ride to San Antonio or Phoenix, having decided he would "rather fight the wind and rain than what [he's] been fighting at home."

Background

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Pride's manager, Jack D. Johnson, was given a demonstration tape of this song and rewrote it, changing the chords, lyrics, and arrangement to better fit his client, Charley Pride. Pride recorded and made this rewrite his third number-one hit. Jack did not take songwriter's credit, as he was working for the success of his client. Jack wrote other songs, including "Too Hard To Say I'm Sorry", also sung by Charley Pride, cowritten with Jack Clement.

Chart performance

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Chart (1970) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 56
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[5] 70

Cover Versions

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  • In his live 1994 album from The Birchmere in Virginia titled "Night After Night", Jerry Jeff Walker tips his hat to Charley Pride with a riff on Sangria Wine " with the lines- "Is Anybody Goin to San Antone or Phoenix, Arizona? Anyplace is all right as long as I don't have to go to Waco."

References

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  1. ^ "Explore the Sub-Genres and Evolution of Country Music". WNPT. Retrieved 14 May 2024. Charley Pride's tracks during this time period are a great example of the genre [Countrypolitan]. His song, "Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone" opens with smooth up-tempo strings, the verse and chorus of the song are backed by melodic vocals. The lyrics are traditional country.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 276.
  3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 239. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  4. ^ "Charley Pride Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  5. ^ "Charley Pride Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  6. ^ Svensktoppen – 1974