"I Don't Call Him Daddy" is a song written by American songwriter Reed Nielsen. It was initially recorded by

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

on his 1987 album '' I Prefer the Moonlight'', and was released in October 1993 by

Doug Supernaw Douglas Anderson Supernaw (September 26, 1960November 13, 2020) was an American country music artist. After several years performing as a local musician throughout the state of Texas, he signed with BNA Records in 1993. Supernaw released four s ...

as the third single from his debut album '' Red and Rio Grande''. Supernaw's version was his only number-one single on the ''

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charts, peaking there in December 1993.

Content

"I Don't Call Him Daddy" takes the point of view of a divorced father whose ex-wife now has a live-in boyfriend. In the first verse, the divorced father phones his son, and the son in the chorus mentions that he could only call his biological father "daddy" and nobody else.

Music video

A music video was released in late 1993, and was directed and produced by Sherman Halsey. Supernaw's son, Phillip, who grew up to become a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player, appears in the video.

Recording history

The first version of the song was recorded by

on his 1987 album ''I Prefer the Moonlight''. Released in 1988 in support of the "Greatest Hits" album, it peaked at #86 on the ''

'' country singles charts that year.

covered it in 1993 on his debut album '' Red and Rio Grande'', and issued it late that year as his third single. It was his second Top 40 country hit, and his only Number One.

Critical reception

In his book ''Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary'', author Richard Carlin describes Supernaw's version of the song as "raising the ire of stepfathers everywhere" because the son does not accept his stepfather. Michael McCall, reviewing ''Red and Rio Grande'' for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, called it an "anthem for divorced fathers."

Chart positions

Kenny Rogers

Doug Supernaw

References

External links

Lyrics
at CMT.com {{authority control 1988 singles 1993 singles 1987 songs Kenny Rogers songs Doug Supernaw songs RCA Records singles BNA Records singles Music videos directed by Sherman Halsey Song recordings produced by Richard Landis Songs written by Reed Nielsen Songs about fathers Songs about divorce Songs about telephone calls