The "Theme from ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (Good Ol' Boys)" is a song written and 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

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

. It was released in August 1980 as the second single from the album '' Music Man''. Recognizable to fans as the theme to the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

comedy adventure television series ''

The Dukes of Hazzard ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, 147 ...

'', the song became a #1 hit 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 advertis ...

Hot Country Singles 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart in 1980.

History

As the narrator for the movie '' Moonrunners'' (1975), Jennings was tapped to serve in the same capacity for ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' which premiered on CBS in 1979 and was based on ''Moonrunners''. Jennings wrote the theme song for the show and recorded two versions: the television theme version and a slightly different version made commercially available on both single and album which received radio airplay. The television show version features Larry McNeely's

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 in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

work which the commercially available version does not. Additionally, the television version's third verse contains the lyric, "Fightin' the system like two modern-day Robin Hoods", which is accompanied by a "Yee-haw!" said by characters, Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat), though it is in fact Schneider's vocal used twice. The commercially available version receiving radio airplay contains a musical bridge which follows the first verse and chorus. Also, following the commercial version's second chorus, Jennings makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to his faceless appearance in the credits by singing, "I'm a good ol' boy, you know my mama loves me, but she don't understand, they keep-a showin' my hands and not my face on TV" (a statement referring to the opening shot in the television theme version where Jennings is only shown below the neck playing guitar). Most of Jennings' greatest hits albums and various compilation releases containing the "Theme from ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (Good Ol' Boys)" feature the commercially available version.

Commercial performance

In November 1980, "Theme from ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' (Good Ol' Boys)" became Jennings' twelfth #1 country hit overall (tenth as a solo recording act). The song spent seventeen weeks on the ''Billboard'' country singles charts and became his biggest hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #21. It also appeared on several other music charts. The original 1980 single was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for sales over a million. Subsequent to the 2005 movie, the song was certified platinum in 2007 for a million

ringtone A ringtone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming telephone call. Originally referring to the sound of electromechanical striking of bells or gongs, the term refers to any sound by any device alerting of an incoming call. On p ...

sales. Note: the certification sales qualification levels had been changed in 1989.

Charts

Other versions

The song was covered by the Swedish

Lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

-group Loosegoats on their demo ''For Sale by Owner'' but has never been featured on any of their full-length albums. Rapper Lil Wyte sampled the song on his song "Comin' Yo Direction" off his album '' Doubt Me Now''. The song was frequently covered live by Ween during their brief country phase.

Other artists

Waylon Jennings' son Shooter Jennings is known for singing "Good ol' Boys" at the Dukefests, which honor the series, and his late father. Along with

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and Ben L. Jones (Cooter on the series), Waylon Jennings sang the song in an extended version.

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

covered the song while driving The General Lee for their album '' The Chipmunks Go Hollywood'' (1982). In 2006, John Schneider (

Bo Duke Beauregard "Bo" Duke (born circa 1958) is a fictional character in the American television series ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', he is the second main protagonist in the series, which ran from 1979 to 1985. He was played by John Schneider. Fictional ...

), Tom Wopat ( Luke Duke), and Catherine Bach ( Daisy Duke) made a music video, as seen on the 7th Season DVD of the series. Schneider also covered the song. In ''The Dukes of Hazzard'' film adaptation (2005), a recording of Waylon Jennings was used in one scene, also, as heard on the soundtrack, by

(Uncle Jesse in the film). In the film '' The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning'' (2007), country singer John Anderson sings the theme. Rock band Cage9, performed a cover version of the song was heard in the trailers from the same two films. Nike used the song in an advertising campaign featuring NFL star Randy Moss and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

star Jason Williams, who were teammates in the same high school in rural Belle, West Virginia. The song was featured in ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' season 15's "Last Call" where it was sung by

Jensen Ackles Jensen Ross Ackles (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and musician. He gained recognition for his portrayal of Dean Winchester in The WB/The CW, CW dark fantasy drama series ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural'' (2005–2020 ...

and Christian Kane as their characters Dean Winchester and Lee Webb. Josh Turner released a version of the song on his Country State Of Mind cd Mexican country group The Forasteros covers the theme song live. John Schneider has released 2 album versions and sung the song with Ray Stevens and several others through the years.

References

External links

* {{Waylon Jennings 1980 singles Waylon Jennings songs Comedy television theme songs The Dukes of Hazzard Songs written by Waylon Jennings RCA Records singles 1980 songs