"Stop and Smell the Roses" is the title of a 1974 song (see
1974 in music
List of notable events in music that took place in the year 1974.
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Specific locations
* 1974 in British music
* 1974 in Norwegian music
Specific genres
* 1974 in country music
* 1974 in heavy metal music
* 1974 in jazz
Events
Janua ...
) by the American singer-songwriter
Mac Davis
Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist, and during his early career he wrote for Elvis Presley, ...
. The song was written by Davis and the noted bandleader and trumpeter
Doc Severinsen
Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''.
Early life
Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) a ...
.
Released as a single from his album of the same name (not to be confused with
the album released in 1981 by
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
), the song "Stop and Smell the Roses" became Davis' second Top 10 hit on the
U.S. pop chart, where it peaked at No. 9 in the fall of 1974. The song remained in 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 " con ...
for ten weeks. On the
U.S. adult contemporary chart, "Stop and Smell the Roses" became the singer's second No. 1 hit, following "
Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me
"Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me" is a hit song by country and pop singer-songwriter Mac Davis. From his breakthrough album of the same name, the song reached No.1 on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts in September 1972, spendi ...
".
[Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits'' (Billboard Publications)] On the
U.S. country music chart, where Davis has enjoyed considerable success, the song reached No. 40.
Also that year,
Henson Cargill
Henson Cargill (February 5, 1941 – March 24, 2007) was an American country music singer best known for the socially controversial 1968 Country No. 1 hit "Skip a Rope". His music career began in Oklahoma in clubs around Oklahoma City and Tulsa ...
took a rendition to No. 29 on the same chart.
Severinsen was best known as the bandleader on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
late-night talk show ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
''. Davis was an occasional guest on the show, and during this time the two became acquainted. Following an appearance on the show, Severinsen approached Davis with the idea of recording a song that included the phrase "stop and smell the roses", since he had recently heard the phrase from a physician.
Soon after, Davis vacationed in Hawaii and wrote the song, crediting Severinsen as a co-writer for giving him the idea. Severinsen was quoted as saying that Davis "could have gone ahead and written the song and not done that."
On an episode of ''
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast'', Davis remembered calling Severinsen and saying, "I think we wrote a hit!"
The lyrics to the song advise that while it is often necessary to forsake family obligations and pleasurable activities to succeed professionally, everyone should make sure that they take some time to "stop and smell the roses along the way".
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
See also
*
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)
Adult Contemporary is a chart published by ''Billboard'' ranking the top-performing songs in the United States in the adult contemporary music (AC) market. In 1974, 35 songs topped the chart, then published under the title Easy Listening, based ...
References
External links
*
1974 singles
Mac Davis songs
Henson Cargill songs
Songs written by Mac Davis
1974 songs
Song recordings produced by Gary Klein (producer)
Columbia Records singles
{{1970s-single-stub