"No Charge" is a
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
, written by
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
Harlan Howard
Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists.
C ...
. It was first recorded by country singer
Melba Montgomery
Melba Joyce Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin. She is also a solo artist, having reaching the ...
, whose 1974 version was a #1 country hit in both the US and Canada, as well as making #39 on the US pop charts. In the UK, the song is associated with
J.J. Barrie
J. J. Barrie (born Barry Authors, July 7, 1933) is a Canadian songwriter and singer. He is best known for his 1976 UK chart-topper, "No Charge".
Biography
A former Blue Mink and Ocean manager, and ex-comedian, Barrie turned to songwriting and in ...
, whose 1976 version was a #1 UK hit.
About the song
Melba Montgomery had already recorded a series of
duet
A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
s hits with country music artists
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
,
Charlie Louvin
Charles Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927 – January 26, 2011), known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry ...
, and
Gene Pitney
Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and musician.
Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 hit singles, inclu ...
during the 1960s (the most successful of those being "
We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds
"We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds" is a song made famous as a duet by country music singers George Jones and Melba Montgomery. Originally released in 1963, the song became a Top 5 hit on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart and a country ...
" with Jones). In the early 1970s, she began focusing on a solo career, but did not have notable success.
Eventually, she began recording for
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
, where her struggles continued. Then, Howard forwarded a song to Montgomery he thought would be perfect for her: "No Charge." She recorded "No Charge" in early 1974, and it was released that February. By the end of May, Montgomery enjoyed her first taste of solo success, reaching No. 1 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 ...
''s
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 from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart. The song also reached No. 39 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100.
Commenting on the record to Tom Roland in ''The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits'', Harlan Howard said, "I've never written a song that moves people so much. I've had guys tell me they almost wrecked their truck when they heard it 'cause it made them cry. I had a lot of delightful records in many different languages on that song, but I guess that's probably my favorite song as far as impact is concerned."
[Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (), p. 112]
When playing the JJ Barrie version on
Capital Radio
Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. I ...
's Top 40 programme, London DJ
Roger Scott
Roger Scott (23 October 1943 – 31 October 1989) was a British radio disc jockey. He was best known for presenting an afternoon radio show on London's Capital London from 1973 until 1988 and was also best known for presenting his late night ...
introduced the song as a "comedy record", and feigned uncontrollable laughter at the end, picking up on the lines "For advice and the knowledge / and the cost of your college".
Synopsis
A young boy hands his mother an itemized list of charges he says he's owed for performing various chores and comes to collect; the singer performs this in spoken word. The mother responds (singing) by reminding her son about all the things she's done for him, that she never asked him to pay for services rendered and that, all things considered, "the cost of real love is no charge."
Enlightened, the young boy realizes that his mother is right and changes the amount due to "paid in full" (once again, narrated) before the singer sings the moral. "No Charge" was one of the few songs that talked about motherhood during this time, which might be one of the reasons why it was so popular.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
;Melba Montgomery
;Shirley Caesar
;J.J. Barrie
Year-end charts
Cover versions
The song has been
recorded by numerous other
artists
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...
since its release by Montgomery. The most successful version was recorded by
J.J. Barrie
J. J. Barrie (born Barry Authors, July 7, 1933) is a Canadian songwriter and singer. He is best known for his 1976 UK chart-topper, "No Charge".
Biography
A former Blue Mink and Ocean manager, and ex-comedian, Barrie turned to songwriting and in ...
, who took the
Bill Amesbury
Barbra Amesbury (born 1948) is a Canadian philanthropist, singer-songwriter, composer and filmmaker, who had several Top 40 hits in Canada in the 1970s. Amesbury was the long-time partner of Canadian philanthropist Joan Chalmers until her death ...
produced song to No. 1 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in June
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, where it remained for one week.
[NME.com - accessed October 2009](_blank)
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
the song is often associated with
Tommy Hunter
Thomas James Hunter, CM, O.Ont (born March 20, 1937) is a Canadian country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman".
Career
In 1956, he began performing as a rhythm guitarist on the CBC Television show, '' Country Hoedown''. ''T ...
who performed the song on the
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
show.
Fellow country singers
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
and
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...
recorded versions of the song in the 1970s. It has also been a popular
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
song through the years, most famously performed by
Shirley Caesar
Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams (born October 13, 1938), known professionally as Shirley Caesar, is an American gospel singer whose career has spanned seven decades. She has won 11 Grammys in addition to Dove Awards and Stellar Awards; Caesar is kno ...
, who added to the moral by recalling Jesus' sacrifice for humanity.
Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
recorded a parody of the song in 1976 called "No Chance (No Charge)",
which had a reference to domestic violence. It reached Number 24 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
C. C. (Chris) Sandford recorded a comedy version in 1976 entitled: No Charge (Chuck) (UK: Power Exchange Records PX 223)
References
{{authority control
Melba Montgomery songs
1974 singles
1976 singles
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
Songs written by Harlan Howard
1974 songs
Elektra Records singles