"I Don't Call Him Daddy" is a song written by American songwriter Reed Nielsen. It was initially recorded by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

on his 1987 album ''

I Prefer the Moonlight ''I Prefer the Moonlight'' is the twentieth studio album by American country music singer Kenny Rogers. It reached #18 on the charts. Though the album only reached #163 in the Billboard 200.It contained three top five singles: the title cut and t ...

'', and was released in October 1993 by

Doug Supernaw Douglas Anderson Supernaw (September 26, 1960November 13, 2020) was an American country music artist. After several years performing as a local musician throughout the state of Texas, he signed with BNA Records in 1993. Supernaw released four st ...

as the third single from his debut album '' Red and Rio Grande''. Supernaw's version was his only number-one single on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts, peaking there in December 1993.

Content

"I Don't Call Him Daddy" takes the point of view of a divorced father whose ex-wife now has a live-in boyfriend. In the first verse, the divorced father phones his son, and the son in the chorus mentions that he could only call his biological father "daddy" and nobody else.

Music video

A music video was released in late 1993, and was directed and produced by Sherman Halsey. Supernaw's son,

Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, who grew up to become a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player, appears in the video.

Recording history

The first version of the song was recorded by

on his 1987 album ''I Prefer the Moonlight''. Released in 1988 in support of the "Greatest Hits" album, it peaked at #86 on the ''

'' country singles charts that year.

covered it in 1993 on his debut album '' Red and Rio Grande'', and issued it late that year as his third single. It was his second Top 40 country hit, and his only Number One.

Critical reception

In his book ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', author

Richard Carlin Richard Carlin is the author of several books on folk, country, and traditional music. Writing Carlin worked for Folkways Records as an independent producer from 1975 to 1980, before becoming an editor for Music at Pearson Prentice Hall. In 20 ...

describes Supernaw's version of the song as "raising the ire of stepfathers everywhere" because the son does not accept his stepfather. Michael McCall, reviewing ''Red and Rio Grande'' for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, called it an "anthem for divorced fathers."

Chart positions

Kenny Rogers

Doug Supernaw

References

External links

Lyrics
at CMT.com {{authority control 1988 singles 1993 singles 1987 songs Kenny Rogers songs Doug Supernaw songs RCA Records singles BNA Records singles Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Song recordings produced by Richard Landis Songs written by Reed Nielsen Songs about fathers Songs about divorce Songs about telephone calls