"I'm Easy" is an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-winning song written and performed by Keith Carradine for the 1975 movie ''

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

''. Carradine recorded a slightly faster version that became a popular music hit in 1976 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Story

The song is a ballad about a lover who is guileless and in awe of the object of his love. The film juxtaposes these lyrics by presenting the song in the context of Tom, a character played by Carradine, who is a manipulative womanizer. In the film, when Tom performs the song at the Exit/In (a real-life

music club where the scene was shot), he dedicates it to "a special someone". Several women in the audience, past, recent and future conquests, believe the song has been written for them.

Production

"I'm Easy" was initially released as an acoustic guitar ballad played by guitarist Ben Benay, with a cello accompaniment. It was re-recorded by Carradine at a slightly higher tempo with the addition of percussion, keyboards and synthesizer accompaniment on Asylum Records. The album was issued late fall 1976. The song is often mistakenly associated with Jim Croce due to the similarity of Carradine's voice, vocal style and guitar playing. Croce had died in a plane crash two years before ''Nashville'' was released.

Awards and recognition

"I'm Easy" won the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song (Motion Picture). The song peaked at #17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, number 10 on the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' Top 100, and spent one week atop the adult contemporary chart. "I'm Easy" was Carradine's only recording to reach the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

, and took the #72 slot on the year-end countdown. In 2004 it finished at #81 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top tunes in American cinema.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

;Ron Nigrini ;Keith Carradine

Year-end charts

Cover versions

The song was covered by Canadian singer Ron Nigrini and released by Attic Records (Canada) in 1975. It became a hit on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart in the fall of 1975. The song was also covered by American singer/songwriter Dane Donohue, produced by Elliot Mazer and released by Columbia Records in 1976. The song was also covered by Randy Crawford. It was also a hit for Hong Kong singer Teresa Carpio and was on her 1976 album release Songs For You.

References

Bibliography

*''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', Billboard; 9th edition, 2010, , 6th Edition

External links

* {{authority control 1975 songs 1975 singles 1976 singles ABC Records singles Keith Carradine songs Best Original Song Golden Globe–winning songs Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songs