"Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" is a song written by

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

and

Glenn Sutton Royce Glenn Sutton (September 28, 1937 – April 17, 2007) was an American country music songwriter, record producer, and one of the architects of the ''countrypolitan'' sound. Biography Sutton wrote or co-wrote many of Tammy Wynette's early h ...

, and recorded by American

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, ...

artist

Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...

. It was released in November 1971 as the first single from the album ''

The Midnight Oil ''The Midnight Oil'' is the second solo studio album by American country music singer Barbara Mandrell, released in 1973. Mandrell had not released a solo studio album since 1971. It was her most successful album while under her Columbia label. Th ...

''. It was one of Mandrell's early single releases in her career and among her first to reach the top ten on the American country songs chart.

Background and recording

In 1969, Barbara Mandrell signed with Columbia Records and recorded a series of singles that reached top 40 charting positions on the American country singles chart. Her earliest recordings cut with producer

combined country and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

together. Among her first Columbia songs was "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home". The song's concept was based on a wife who was "lusting" after her truck-driving husband according to writer Kurt Wolff. The song was composed by Billy Sherrill along with

. Sherrill also served as the song's producer. It was recorded at the Columbia Recording Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The session took place on September 29, 1971. On the same recording session, Mandrell also cut "Ain't It Good".

Release and chart performance

"Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" was released as a single on Columbia Records on November 29, 1971. It was backed on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

by the song "He'll Never Take the Place of You". The track was issued by the label as a seven inch vinyl single. The single spent 13 weeks on America's ''

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 ...

country songs Country song may refer to: *National anthem, known as a "country song" in some languages * "Country Song" (Jake Bugg song), a 2011 song by British singer songwriter Jake Bugg * "Country Song" (Pink Floyd song), an untitled song by Pink Floyd from th ...

chart, peaking at number ten by December. It was Mandrell's second top ten hit single and first solo top ten hit in her career. In Canada, "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" was her among first singles to enter the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Singles chart, climbing to number 34 in 1971. The song was released on Mandrell's second studio LP titled ''

''. The album was released in 1973.

Track listing

7" vinyl single * "Tonight My Baby's Coming Home" – 2:05 * "He'll Never Take the Place of You" – 3:13

Charts

References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1971 singles 1971 songs Columbia Records singles Barbara Mandrell songs Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Songs written by Billy Sherrill Songs written by Glenn Sutton