"Sweet City Woman" is a 1971 song by Canadian rock band

The Stampeders The Stampeders (sometimes shortened to Stampeders) are a Canadian rock trio consisting of lead guitarist and vocalist Rich Dodson, bassist Ronnie King and drummer Kim Berly. History Formed in Calgary, Alberta, in 1964 as the Rebounds. they ...

, appearing on their debut album ''Against the Grain'' (retitled ''Sweet City Woman'' in the US). It features a

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

as a primary instrument, which is also mentioned in the lyrics: "The banjo and me, we got a feel for singing."

Chart performance

The single spent four weeks as a number 1 hit in Canada, and reached number 8 in the US. It also climbed to number 1 on the Canadian

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, ...

and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

charts. The song was also marketed in Canada by Quality Records with instrumental and French lyric versions.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Awards

The band and song won numerous

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

in 1972, including Best Single, Songwriter of the Year (guitarist Rich Dodson), Record Producer of the Year (Mel Shaw), and the band was named Canada's Top Group.

Cover versions

The song has been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

by many

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s over the years, most notably: *American country music artist Johnny Carver, in 1977. Carver's version peaked at number 48 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 Singles & Tracks 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. *

Tompall & the Glaser Brothers Tompall & the Glaser Brothers were an American country music group composed of three brothers: Chuck (February 27, 1936 – June 10, 2019), Jim (December 16, 1937 – April 6, 2019), and Tompall (September 3, 1933 – August 13, 2013) Glaser. The ...

, whose release went to number 34 on the same chart in 1980.

Use in media

The song can be heard during a flashback scene in the ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

'' episode "

Inflatable An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflata ...

," the Adam Sandler film ''

Little Nicky ''Little Nicky'' is a 2000 American fantasy comedy film directed by Steven Brill, written by Brill, Adam Sandler, and Tim Herlihy, and starring Sandler in the title role, Patricia Arquette, Harvey Keitel, Rhys Ifans, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., an ...

,'' the Condor episode “Out of His Exile,” and in the Canadian commercial for " Dempster's Bread Farmer".

Personnel

* Produced by Mel Shaw * Engineered by Terry Brown * Recorded at Toronto Sound,

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 ...

. * Rich Dodson – vocal, banjo, lead electric guitar * Ronnie King – bass * Kim Berly – drums

References

{{reflist

External links

Origin Stories: Rich Dodson on The Stampeders’ “Sweet City Woman”
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JulietteJagger.com
1971 singles 1977 singles 2008 singles Franglais songs Jo Hikk songs Johnny Carver songs The Stampeders songs Tompall & the Glaser Brothers songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles 1971 songs Bell Records singles Philips Records singles Songs about New Orleans