"Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

song first recorded by

Ed Bruce William Edwin Bruce Jr. (December 29, 1939 – January 8, 2021) was an American country music songwriter, singer, and actor. He was known for writing the 1975 song "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and recording the 1982 cou ...

, written by him and his wife

Patsy Bruce Patsy Ann Bruce (née Smithson; March 8, 1940 – May 16, 2021) was an American country-western songwriter, music artist manager, and casting agent and businesswoman. She is best known for songs co-written with her then-husband, singer Ed Bruce, ...

. His version of the song appears on his 1976 self-titled album for

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

. In late 1975 and early 1976, Bruce's rendition of the song went to number 15 on the

Hot Country Singles 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

charts. This song was featured on

Chris LeDoux Christopher Lee LeDoux (October 2, 1948 – March 9, 2005) was an American country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and hall of fame rodeo champion. During his career, LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released), which have sold mor ...

's album released January 20, 1976, ''Songbook of the American West''. Members of the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...

chose the song as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.

Content

The narrator warns mothers not to let their children become

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

s because of the tough and rootless life of cowboy culture.

Critical reception

In 2024, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked the song at #69 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.

Chart performance

Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson version

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

covered the song on their 1978 duet album '' Waylon & Willie''. This rendition peaked at No. 1 in March 1978, spending four weeks atop the country music charts. It also reached 42 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and won the 1979

Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded from 1970 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1970 the award was known as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group * From 1971 to ...

. Also in 1979, Nelson's version was featured in the film ''

The Electric Horseman ''The Electric Horseman'' is a 1979 American western comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack. The film is about a former rodeo champion who is hired by a cereal company to become its spokesperson ...

'' with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. It is also featured in a

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

for the

Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of D-segment, large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar ...

engine.

Chart performance

Gibson/Miller Band version

In 1994, country music group

Gibson/Miller Band Gibson/Miller Band was an American country music band founded in 1990 by Dave Gibson and Bill "Blue" Miller, the latter of whom was a former guest musician in rock musician Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band. Both Gibson and Miller served as vocalis ...

recorded a cover version on its album ''Red, White and Blue Collar''. This version peaked at #49 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and was featured in the soundtrack for the movie '' The Cowboy Way''. It also appeared on the band's second and final studio album, ''Red, White and Blue Collar''.

Chart performance

References

{{authority control Songs about cowboys and cowgirls 1975 songs Waylon Jennings songs Willie Nelson songs Male vocal duets 1975 singles 1978 singles 1994 singles Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Ed Bruce songs Gibson/Miller Band songs Songs written by Ed Bruce United Artists Records singles RCA Records Nashville singles Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Song recordings produced by Doug Johnson (record producer) Song recordings produced by Larry Butler (producer) Songs written by Patsy Bruce