"Common Man" is a song written by

Sammy Johns Sammy Reginald Johns (February 7, 1946 – January 4, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter known for his 1975 hit song "Chevy Van (song), Chevy Van", which was originally released in 1973. The song was RIAA certification, certified Music ...

and originally recorded by him in 1981 via

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

. Johns's version charted at number 50 on

Hot Country Songs 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. ...

in 1981. It had "Easy to Be with You" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, and was produced by

James Stroud James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant ...

and Tom Long. It was later 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 ...

artist

John Conlee John Wayne Conlee (born August 11, 1946) is an American country music singer. Between 1978 and 2004, Conlee charted a total of 32 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, and recorded 11 studio albums. His singles include seven ...

. It was released in February 1983 as the fourth single from his album '' Busted''. The song was Conlee's third number one on the country chart, and his first number one since ' Backside of Thirty" in 1979. The single stayed at number one for one week.Whitburn, p. 102

Chart performance

Sammy Johns

John Conlee

Year-end charts

References

1981 singles 1983 singles 1981 songs John Conlee songs Sammy Johns songs Elektra Records singles MCA Records singles Songs written by Sammy Johns Song recordings produced by James Stroud {{1981-country-song-stub