"I Am a Simple Man" is a song written by Walt Aldridge, and recorded by American country music artist Ricky Van Shelton. It was released in April 1991 as the first single from his album Backroads. The song was Ricky Van Shelton's 9th number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart.
| "I Am a Simple Man" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Ricky Van Shelton | ||||
| from the album Backroads | ||||
| B-side | "Backroads" | |||
| Released | April 8, 1991[1] | |||
| Recorded | December 20, 1990[1] | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:26 | |||
| Label | Columbia Nashville | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Walt Aldridge | |||
| Producer(s) | Steve Buckingham | |||
| Ricky Van Shelton singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Content
editThe narrator's spouse/girlfriend confronts him after a long, tiring day at work, wanting to start an argument by telling him he's hard to understand.
The narrator doesn't want a fight, and responds by telling her he's not hard to understand at all – so long as he has "a job and a piece of land/three squares [three meals] in my frying pan" he's very easy to please.
Chart performance
edit"I Am a Simple Man" reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and on The Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart.
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[2] | 1 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3] | 1 |
Year-end charts
edit| Chart (1991) | Position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[4] | 25 |
| US Country Songs (Billboard)[5] | 19 |
References
edit- ^ a b Greatest Hits Plus (CD). Ricky Van Shelton. Columbia Records. 1992. 52753.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 1592." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. August 10, 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "Ricky Van Shelton Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Country Tracks of 1991". RPM. December 21, 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ "Best of 1991: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 1991. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
