"This Ain't My First Rodeo" is a song co-written and recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...
artist
Vern Gosdin
Vernon Gosdin (August 5, 1934 – April 28, 2009) was an American country music singer. He had 19 top-10 solo hits on the country music charts from 1977 through 1990. Three of these hits went to Number One: "I Can Tell By the Way You Dance (You ...
. It was released in July 1990 as the lead single from his compilation album ''
10 Years of Greatest Hits''. Gosdin wrote the song with
Hank Cochran
Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, E ...
and
Max D. Barnes.
Background
Gosdin credited the genesis of the song to a workman who used the idiomatic expression which became the song's title:
:"I was wanting an addition put on my house, an extra room over my garage. I met with the carpenters one morning, then left my house and drove to Nashville for the day. When I got home, they had almost finished the addition. I complimented them on their work, and one guy said, 'This ain't our first rodeo.' I went into the house and jotted that down, then wrote the song later with Hank
ochranand Max
. Barnes"
[Whiteside, Jonny. (1997). ''Ramblin' Rose: the Life and Career of Rose Maddox,'' p. 40.]
Content
The lyrics explain a tale of experience, including these repeated lines:
::This ain't the first time this old cowboy's been throwed
::This ain't the first I've seen this dog and pony show
::Honey, This ain't my first rodeo
Chart performance
The song was number 10 in ''
Radio and Records
''Radio & Records'' (''R&R'') was a trade publication providing news and airplay information for the radio and music industries. It started as an independent trade from 1973 to 2006 until VNU Media took over in 2006 and became a relaunched sister ...
'' during the week of November 26, 1990.
[Stambler, Eric '' et al.'' (200). ] It reached number 14 on
Hot Country Songs.
Notes
References
* Stambler, Irwin and Grelun Landon. (2000). ''Country music: the Encyclopedia.'' New York: St. Martin's Griffin. ;
OCLC 223221169* Whiteside, Jonny. (1997). ''Ramblin' Rose: the Life and Career of Rose Maddox.'' Nashville, Tennessee: Country Music Foundation Press.
OCLC 166509294
1990 singles
Vern Gosdin songs
Songs written by Hank Cochran
Songs written by Max D. Barnes
Songs written by Vern Gosdin
Song recordings produced by Bob Montgomery (songwriter)
Columbia Records singles
1990 songs
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