"Thank God I'm a Country Boy", also known as "Country Boy", is a song written by John Martin Sommers and recorded by American singer/songwriter John Denver. The song was originally included on Denver's 1974 album Back Home Again. A version recorded live on August 26, 1974, at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles was included on his 1975 album An Evening with John Denver. The live version was released as a single and went to No. 1 on both the Billboard magazineHot Country Singles and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song topped both charts for one week each, first the country chart, and the Hot 100 chart a week later. Thank God I'm a Country Boy also became the name of a variety special show hosted by Denver in 1977. "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" was one of six songs released in 1975 that topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Hot Country Singles charts. Denver's two-sided hit "I'm Sorry"/"Calypso" also received that distinction.
Background
The song was written by John Martin Sommers, a guitar/banjo/fiddle/mandolin player in Denver's backup band, on December 31, 1973 when he was driving from his home in Aspen, Colorado to Los Angeles.
Content
Sommers recalls that at the time he was feeling “peaceful, happy and content” with his lot in life, and started scribbling some notes about his blissful state along the way. They served as the inspiration for the song.
Structure
The song is in cut time that is typical of two-step. Both the verse and chorus comprise eight measures with 3/2 added between the first four measures and last three measures. Emotionally, this creates an intended slight stall. The instrumental breaks in the song incorporate a violin playing the old fiddle tune Sally Goodin, which is also referenced in the song's lyrics: "I'd play Sally Goodin all day if I could...."
A Western version was recorded by Alvin and the Chipmunks for their 1981 album Urban Chipmunk.
Canadian country music artist Brad Johner did a cover on his 2003 album Free.
Canadian Country rock group The Road Hammers recorded a version for their 2009 album The Road Hammers II.
Hampton the Hampster performs a cover of the song on Hampsterdance Hits in 2001.
Christian group Point of Grace has been performing a cover of the song in recent concerts, calling it "Thank God I'm a Country Girl."
Australian Lee Kernaghan performs a cover of the song.
Swedish eurodance/pop band Rednex recorded cover as B-side song for their 2008 single "Football Is Our Religion"
Finnish folk/country band Finntrio recorded a Finnish language translation Kyllä maalla on mukavaa of the song.
Branson, Missouri-based band The Haygoods covered the song
Dolly Parton has occasionally performed a bluegrass arrangement of the song in her concerts; she also performed the song on an episode of her mid-70s variety show Dolly!
The German cover band Village Girls covered it under the title "Thank God I'm a Country Girl."
The American version Country Bear Vacation Hoedown has used the song "Thank God I'm a Country Bear" as the show's finale.
In Stephen King's novel The Dead Zone, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" is played at a televised rally for rising politician and antagonist Greg Stillson.
Jim Nabors performed "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" when he appeared on The Muppet Show in 1976.
Ann B. Davis performed "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" as "Thank God I'm a Country Girl" on The Brady Bunch Hour.
The song was used during a scene in Son in Law when Pauly Shore's character, "Crawl", has a combine go out of control and spell his name on the farmland while singing along to the 8-track tape playing in the cab.
