Sister Golden Hair

"Sister Golden Hair"
Single by America
from the album Hearts
B-side "Midnight"
Released March 19, 1975
Format 7"
Recorded 1975
Genre Folk rock, soft rock[1]
Length 3:16
Label Warner Bros. 8086
Writer(s) Gerry Beckley
Producer(s) George Martin
America singles chronology
"Lonely People"
(1974)		 "Sister Golden Hair"
(1975)		 "Daisy Jane"
(1975)

"Sister Golden Hair" is a song written by Gerry Beckley and recorded by the band America for their fifth album Hearts (1975). It was their second single to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, remaining in the top position for just one week.[2]

Background

The lyrics were largely inspired by the works of Jackson Browne. Beckley commented, "[Jackson Browne] has a knack, an ability to put words to music, that is much more like the L.A. approach to just genuine observation as opposed to simplifying it down to its bare essentials... I find Jackson can depress me a little bit, but only through his honesty; and it was that style of his which led to a song of mine, "Sister Golden Hair," which is probably the more L.A. of my lyrics... [It] was one of the first times I used 'ain't' in a song, but I wasn't making an effort to. I was just putting myself in that frame of mind and I got those kind of lyrics out of it."[3] Although the song is a message from a man to his lover, explaining that he still loves her despite being not ready for marriage, the title was initially inspired by the mothers of all three members of the group, all of whom were blondes.

Other versions

In popular culture

America's version was featured in the 2001 episode of The Sopranos, "Another Toothpick".[4]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
scope="row"Australia (ARIA)[5] 28
Canada RPM Top Singles [6] 11
scope="row"New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 26
scope="row"US Billboard Hot 100[8] 1
US Easy Listening (Billboard)[9] 5
US Cash Box Singles Chart 2
US Record World Singles Chart 1
US Radio & Records Singles Chart 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Rank
Australia [10] 132
Canada 80
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [11] 33
U.S. Cash Box [12] 61

Preceded by
"Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 14, 1975 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille

References

  1. ↑ "Explore: Soft Rock | Top Songs | AllMusic". Web.archive.org. 2011-11-12. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
  2. ↑ "The Hot 100 : Jun 14, 1975 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  3. ↑ Corbett, John (May 29, 2004). America Revisited - Part 3, AccessBackstage.com.
  4. ↑ Fretts, Bruce (April 3, 2001). "Room to Rome". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – America – Sister Golden Hair". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.3986a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.3986a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.3986a
  7. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – America – Sister Golden Hair". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ "America – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for America. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ "America Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  10. ↑ David Kent's "Australian Chart Book 1970-1992"
  11. ↑ http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1975.htm
  12. ↑ http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1975YESP.html

External links

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