"Somebody's Knockin" is a song recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer
Terri Gibbs
Teresa Fay Gibbs (born June 15, 1954) is an American country music artist. Between 1980 and 2017, she recorded eleven studio albums, including four for MCA Records and one for Warner Bros. Records. She also charted 13 singles on the ''Billboard' ...
. It was released in October 1980 as her debut single and title track from her album ''Somebody's Knockin''. It was co-written by
Jerry Gillespie
Jerry Wayne Gillespie (born Decatur, Alabama) is an American country songwriter. He co-wrote " Do You Love as Good as You Look", a #1 song in 1981 for The Bellamy Brothers, and wrote " Heaven's Just a Sin Away", a #1 country hit in 1977 for The ...
and Ed Penney. Penney was a record company executive who liked Gibbs's voice when he first heard her audition tape, but felt she needed stronger material. Penney was a former Boston disc jockey who had promoted records and written a number of songs before moving to Nashville. He was the producer of "Somebody's Knockin'" and became Terri Gibbs's manager.
Critical reception
An uncredited review in ''
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 advertis ...
'' praised Gibbs' "unusual vocal sound" and the "Louisiana-flavored production".
The song's success led to Gibbs winning the 1981
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...
Top Female Vocalist award, and the first Horizon (now New Artist) Award from the
Country Music Association
The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...
.
It was also nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best Country Song
The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, unless the artist is also the songwriter.
There have ...
.
Chart performance
See also
*
List of 1980s one-hit wonders in the United States
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
Lyrics of this song*
{{Authority control
Terri Gibbs songs
1980 debut singles
MCA Nashville Records singles
Songs written by Jerry Gillespie
1980 songs