"I'm Easy" is an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning song written and performed by

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

for the 1975 movie '' Nashville''. Carradine recorded a slightly faster version that became a popular music hit in 1976 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Story

The song is a ballad about a lover who is guileless and in awe of the object of his love. The film juxtaposes these lyrics by presenting the song in the context of Tom, a character played by Carradine, who is a manipulative womanizer. In the film, when Tom performs the song at the

Exit/In Exit/In is a music venue in Nashville, Tennessee. Exit/In is located on Elliston Place near Centennial Park and Vanderbilt University, west of downtown. It opened in 1971 under the management of Owsley Manier and Brugh Reynolds. As a small ven ...

(a real-life Nashville music club where the scene was shot), he dedicates it to "a special someone". Several women in the audience, past, recent and future conquests, believe the song has been written for them.

Production

"I'm Easy" was initially released as an acoustic guitar ballad, with a cello accompaniment. It was re-recorded by Carradine at a slightly higher tempo with the addition of percussion, keyboards and synthesizer accompaniment on Asylum Records. The album was issued late fall 1976. The song is often mistakenly associated with

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to p ...

due to the similarity of Carradine's voice, vocal style and guitar playing. Croce had died in a plane crash two years before ''Nashville'' was released.

Awards and recognition

"I'm Easy" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song (Motion Picture). The song peaked at #17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, number 10 on the '' Cash Box'' Top 100, and spent one week atop the

adult contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

. "I'm Easy" was Carradine's only recording to reach the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

, and took the #72 slot on the year-end countdown. In 2004 it finished at #81 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

;Ron Nigrini ;Keith Carradine

Year-end charts

Cover versions

The song was covered by Canadian singer Ron Nigrini and released by

Attic Records (Canada) Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label,Elliot Mazer Elliot Mazer (September 5, 1941February 7, 2021) was an American audio engineer and record producer. He was best known for his work with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Band, and Janis Joplin. In addition, he worked on film and telev ...

and released by Columbia Records in 1976. The song was also covered by Randy Crawford.

References

Bibliography

*''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', Billboard; 9th edition, 2010, , 6th Edition

External links

* {{authority control 1975 songs 1975 singles 1976 singles ABC Records singles Keith Carradine songs Best Original Song Golden Globe winning songs Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songs