Rub It In

"Rub It In"
Single by Billy "Crash" Craddock
from the album Rub It In
B-side It's Hard to Love a Hungry, Worried Man
Released 1974
Format 45 Record
Recorded 1974
Genre Country
Length 2:30
Label ABC
Writer(s) Layng Martine Jr.
Producer(s) Ron Chancey
Billy "Crash" Craddock singles chronology
"Sweet Magnolia Blossom"
(1973)
"Rub It In"
(1974)
"Ruby Baby"
(1974)

"Rub It In" is a song written and originally recorded by Layng Martine, Jr., and credited as Layng Martine. His version, released on the Barnaby Records label, was produced by Ray Stevens and was a chart single in 1971.

Billy "Crash" Craddock covered the song in 1974, on the album Rub It In, taking it to Number One on the country music charts and Top 20 on the pop charts. He told Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits that many stations refused to play it at first because they thought it was risque. "I said, 'We're talking about suntan lotion, and if you still think it's risque, then don't play it,'" Craddock said. "Evidently, they all went back and listened to it, and it was the biggest record we ever had."[1] Craddock also made live recordings of the song on 1977's Live! and 2009's Live -N- Kickin'.

Craddock eventually recorded a sequel to the song, “You Rubbed It In All Wrong,” which borrows heavily from the original song's melody but instead replaces the lotion with sand, as the man's lover is discovered to be cheating on him. The sequel was also a top-5 hit on both the country charts.

A third version, in 1999 by country singer Matt King also charted on the country charts, from his album Hard Country. The song's melody was adapted by Glade to advertise their plug-in air fresheners ("plug it in, plug it in").

Chart performance

Layng Martine

Chart (1971) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 65[2]
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 36

Billy "Crash" Craddock

Chart (1974) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 16[3]
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 15
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Top Singles 18
Preceded by
"You Can't Be a Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine"
by Donna Fargo
Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single

August 3-August 10, 1974
Succeeded by
"As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone"
by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
Preceded by
"As Soon as I Hang Up the Phone"
by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
RPM Country Tracks
number-one single

August 17, 1974
Succeeded by
"You Can't Be a Beacon If Your Light Don't Shine"
by Donna Fargo

Matt King

Chart (1999) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[4] 54

Other cover versions

References

  1. Roland, Tom, "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits" (Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2), pp. 118-119.
  2. "Chart listing for "Rub It In"". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  3. "Chart listing for "Rub It In"". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  4. "Matt King – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Matt King.
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