Drivin' My Life Away
| "Drivin' My Life Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Eddie Rabbit Drivin My Life Away.jpg | ||||
| Single by Eddie Rabbitt | ||||
| from the album Horizon | ||||
| B-side | "Pretty Lady" | |||
| Released | June 1980 | |||
| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:16 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Writer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | David Malloy | |||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||
| Eddie Rabbitt singles chronology | ||||
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"Drivin' My Life Away" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Eddie Rabbitt. It was released in June 1980 as the first single from his album Horizon. It reached number one on the Hot Country Singles in 1980, and peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written by Rabbitt, Even Stevens and David Malloy.
The song, a look into the life of the roadies and the long periods of time they spend away from home, was featured on the soundtrack of the 1980 movie Roadie starring Meat Loaf and Art Carney.
Contents
Chart success
Although many of Rabbitt's successful songs were country-pop material, "Drivin' My Life Away" began his peak popularity as a crossover artist. The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and set the stage for his biggest career hit: "I Love a Rainy Night," which reached the top on the country, Hot 100 and adult contemporary charts in early 1981. Two more crossover hits - "Step by Step" and "You and I" (the latter a duet with Crystal Gayle) - followed in 1981 and 1982.
On Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, it was his seventh out of 17 career chart toppers, spanning from 1976 through 1990.
"Drivin' My Life Away" was certified gold for sales of 1 million units by the Recording Industry Association of America [1]
The song was featured in the 2016 film Everybody Wants Some!! at a scene which takes place at a Texas country bar.
Chart performance
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 1 |
| Australian Kent Music Report | 100 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 2 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 45 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40[2] | 27 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 22 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks [3] | 3 |
Rhett Akins cover
| "Drivin' My Life Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Rhett Akins | ||||
| from the album Black Dog soundtrack | ||||
| B-side | "A Man with 18 Wheels" | |||
| Released | April 1998 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 3:06 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Writer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Frank Liddell, Greg Droman[4] | |||
| Rhett Akins singles chronology | ||||
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In 1998, country music artist Rhett Akins recorded a cover version of this song for the soundtrack to the 1998 movie Black Dog. This cover, released with Lee Ann Womack's "A Man with 18 Wheels" on the B-side, peaked at number 56 on the country music charts.[5]
Akins told Billboard that he was "apprehensive" about recording the song because of the familiarity of Rabbitt's original version. He also said that he wanted to record the song "the way I want to do it", but also that he wanted it to fit with the tone of the movie. As he did not know what the movie was going to be about, he consulted its director, Kevin Hooks, who flew to Nashville and told him the movie's plot and tone. Akins felt that the movie "was going to be high energy", so he made his rendition "a pretty rockin' track, real edgy".[6]
Critical reception
Deborah Evans Price of Billboard panned Akins' cover, saying that "Akins delivery doesn't have the zip and punch of Rabbitt's energetic version, and the production sounds like a watered-down version of the original."[4]
Chart performance (Rhett Akins version)
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[7] | 61 |
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] | 56 |
References
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- ↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 3564." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. May 25, 1998. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
- ↑ "Rhett Akins – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Rhett Akins.
Sources
- Bronson, Fred, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.
- Roland, Tom, The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits, Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 (ISBN 0-82-307553-2)
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007.
| Preceded by | Billboard Hot Country Singles number-one single August 23, 1980 |
Succeeded by "Cowboys and Clowns" by Ronnie Milsap |
- Pages with broken file links
- Singlechart usages for Canadacountry
- Singlechart called without artist
- Singlechart called without song
- Singlechart usages for Billboardcountrysongs
- 1980 singles
- 1998 singles
- Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles
- Eddie Rabbitt songs
- Rhett Akins songs
- Songs written by Eddie Rabbitt
- Songs written by David Malloy
- Song recordings produced by David Malloy
- Elektra Records singles
- Decca Records singles
- Songs written by Even Stevens (songwriter)
- Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell
- Song recordings produced by Greg Droman
- 1980 songs
