"Chain Gang" | ||||
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Single by Sam Cooke | ||||
from the album Swing Low | ||||
B-side | "I Fall in Love Every Day" | |||
Released | July 26, 1960 | |||
Recorded | January 25, 1960 | |||
Studio | RCA Victor, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:34 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sam Cooke, Charles Cook Jr. [2] | |||
Producer(s) | Hugo & Luigi | |||
Sam Cooke singles chronology | ||||
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"Chain Gang" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sam Cooke, released as a single on July 26, 1960.
This was Cooke's second-biggest American hit, his first hit single for RCA Victor after leaving Keen Records earlier in 1959, and was also his first top 10 hit since " You Send Me" from 1957, and his second-biggest pop single. The song was inspired after a chance meeting with an actual chain gang of prisoners on a highway, seen while Cooke was on tour. [3]
The song became one of Cooke's most successful singles, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B Sides chart. [4] [5] Overseas, "Chain Gang" charted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Cooke's first top-ten single there. [6]
Chart (1960) | Peak position |
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U.K. Singles Chart | 9 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 2 |
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B Sides | 2 |
"Chain Gang Medley: Chain Gang/He Don't Love You/Searchin" | ||||
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Single by Jim Croce | ||||
from the album Down the Highway | ||||
B-side | "Stone Walls" | |||
Released | December 1975 [7] | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 4:37 | |||
Label | Lifesong | |||
Songwriter(s) | Sam Cooke, Charles Cook, Jr., Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, Calvin Carter, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller | |||
Producer(s) | Terry Cashman, Tommy West | |||
Jim Croce singles chronology | ||||
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Jim Croce had his last Hot 100 hit in 1976 when Lifesong Records released "Chain Gang Medley", a medley which included this song as well as " He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" and " Searchin'." The medley reached a peak of No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 after spending 9 weeks on the chart.
Chart (1975–1976) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [8] | 63 |
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 22 [9] |
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 56 [10] |
Canadian RPM Top Singles | 29 [11] |
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 20 [12] |
American rhythm and blues/soul singer Jackie Wilson together with jazz pianist Count Basie released their version as a single in 1968, from the album Manufacturers of Soul. The song peaked at No. 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 37 on the Billboard R&B chart. [13] [14]