"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer (as "I Wanna Go Home"), ^[1] country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones. Bare's version was released in 1963. The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" (from the opening line to the refrain) — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.

About the song

Prior to Bare's success with "Detroit City," country singer Billy Grammer released his version of the Danny Dill- Mel Tillis penned song. ^[2] His version was known as "I Wanna Go Home" and peaked at #18 on the Billboard country charts in 1963. ^[3]

The song is the working man's complaint, and "with its melody reminiscent of the ' Sloop John B,' describes the alienation felt by many rural southerners in the mid North," wrote country music historian Bill Malone. "Here, [Bare's] earnest and plaintive interpretation lends great believability to this mournful song." ^[4] Bob Dylan describes the song as "...not so much the song of a dreamer, but the song of someone who is caught up in a fantasy of the way things used to be. But the listener knows that it just doesn't exist." ^[5] Bare's version begins in the key of E, until after the repeat of the refrain, he makes a transition to the key of B for the second verse and refrain. He makes a transition back to the key of E as the song fades out. Bare's version also features a spoken recitation following half of the second verse, before singing the refrain before the song's fade.

The song's peak in popularity during the summer of 1963 came during a time when Tillis was still experiencing most of his success as a songwriter. He had previously written hits for Webb Pierce, Brenda Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and others, but this was one of his earliest major hits as a songwriter outside of those artists.

The song won Bobby Bare a Grammy for the Best Country & Western Recording in 1963. ^[6]

Chart performance

Grammer's "I Wanna Go Home" reached #18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1963. That summer, Bare's re-titled version peaked at #6 on the Billboard country chart (it spent total of 18 weeks on this chart) and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. ^[7]

Billy Grammer

Bobby Bare

Tom Jones

Dean Martin

Other Covers

• Jan & Dean covered the song for their 1963 album Surf City And Other Swingin' Cities.
• Arthur Alexander released the song as a single in 1965 backed with " You Don't Care," but it did not perform well and proved to be his last single for Dot Records. ^[14] Nonetheless, historian Nat Hentoff described Alexander's rendition as "deeply compelling," stating that it "[eclipsed] the original version by Bobby Bare." ^[15] Alexander biographer described it as "a stirring rendition." ^[14] Music USA: A Rough Guide also praised Alexander's version. ^[16] No Depression magazine states that Alexander's version "mourns a rural-to-urban migration that black Americans could relate to every bit as much as poor Southern whites." ^[17]
• Jerry Lee Lewis released a version on his 1965 album Country Songs for City Folks. ^[18]
• The Jordanaires released a cover on their 1966 album The Big Country Hits.
• Charley Pride released his cover of the song as the b-side of his 1966 hit " Just Between You and Me". ^[19] Both songs were later included on the 1967 album Pride of Country Music. ^[20]
• In 1967, the song was also covered by Tom Jones, who had a UK Top 10 hit with it. ^[21] The Jones version features Bare's spoken Recitation as well. Jones also included the song on his 1967 album Green, Green Grass of Home.
• Solomon Burke covered the song in 1967 as well. His version reached #10 in the Canadian RPM Soul charts, January 27, 1968. ^[22]
• Dolly Parton covered the song on her 1980 album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs. ^[23]
• The song has also been covered by soul singer Joe Tex.
• The song was covered by Yugoslav beat band Tomi Sovilj i Njegove Siluete on their 1967 EP Stoj, Džoni (Stop, Johnny).

References