"Shoeshine Man" is a song written 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

Tom T. Hall Thomas Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), known professionally as Tom T. Hall and informally nicknamed "the Storyteller," was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more ...

. It was released in March 1970 as the fourth and final single from the album, ''Homecoming''. The song peaked at number 8 on the U.S. country singles chart and at number 10 on the Canadian country singles chart. The

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

number tells the story of a shoe-shining harmonica player in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, who professes to be "number one in the land."

Chart performance

References

1970 singles Tom T. Hall songs Songs written by Tom T. Hall Song recordings produced by Jerry Kennedy Mercury Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub