Redneck Woman

"Redneck Woman" is the debut single of American country music artist Gretchen Wilson, released on March 15, 2004, from her debut studio album, Here for the Party (2004). Wilson co-wrote the song with John Rich. It is Wilson's only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song also reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the song found modest success in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, reaching number 50 on the Australian Singles Chart, number 45 on the Irish Singles Chart, and number 42 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Redneck Woman"
Single by Gretchen Wilson
from the album Here for the Party
B-side	"Rebel Child" "It Ain't Easy"
Released	March 15, 2004 (2004-03-15)
Studio	Sony/Tree (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country^[1]
Length	3:42
Label	Epic
Songwriter(s)	Gretchen Wilson John Rich
Producer(s)	Mark Wright Joe Scaife
Gretchen Wilson singles chronology
"Redneck Woman" (2004) "Here for the Party" (2004)
Music video
"Redneck Woman" at CMT.com

The song, which is considered Wilson's signature song,^[2] also earned a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 2005.^[3] In June 2014, Rolling Stone ranked the song number 97 on the "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time".^[4]

Chart performance

The song spent five weeks at number one on the Hot Country Songs charts.^[5] In doing so, it became the first number-one hit on that chart for a female solo act since "Blessed" by Martina McBride in March–April 2002, and the first for Epic Records Nashville since "It Must Be Love" in December 1998.^[6] On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the song reached number 22, becoming Wilson's highest-charting single on that chart.^[7]

Outside the United States, "Redneck Woman" proved to be a moderate success in three countries: Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number 50 on the chart dated July 25, 2004, but fell out of the top 50 the next week.^[8] On the Irish Singles Chart, the track made its only appearance in the top 50 at number 45 on August 26, 2004.^[9] In the United Kingdom, the single garnered support from BBC Radio 2 and debuted at number 42—its peak—on August 29, 2004, then dropped to number 68 the following week before exiting the top 100 the week after.^[1][10]

Music video

In the video, directed by David Hogan, Wilson is depicted performing in a western-style club with a live band, cage girls dancing in the background, and patrons in the crowd that are drinking beer. Scenes of Wilson driving a 1973–1987 General Motors pickup truck and a four-wheeler through the mud with two men are interspersed throughout the video. The video includes appearances from Kid Rock, Big & Rich, Tanya Tucker, and Bocephus, the latter two of whom are name-dropped in the song. In 2008, CMT voted the song number 11 on its list of the "100 Greatest Videos".

Track listings

UK CD single^[11]

1. "Redneck Woman"
2. "Rebel Child"
3. "It Ain't Easy"
4. "Redneck Woman" (video)

Australian CD single^[12]

1. "Redneck Woman" (album version)
2. "Rebel Child"
3. "It Ain't Easy"

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the Here for the Party album booklet.^[13]

Studios

• Recorded and overdubbed at Sony/Tree Studios (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Additional overdubs recorded at Blackbird Studio and 16th Avenue Sound (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Tracked at The Sound Kitchen (Franklin, Tennessee)
• Mixed at Blackbird Studio (Nashville, Tennessee)
• Mastered at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee)

Personnel

Gretchen Wilson – writing, vocals John Rich – writing, acoustic guitar, associate producer John Willis – acoustic guitar Al Anderson – gut string guitar Tom Bukovac – electric guitar Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar Russ Pahl – lap steel guitar, steel guitar, banjo Mike Brignardello – bass guitar, baritone guitar Michael Rhodes – bass guitar, baritone guitar Larry Franklin – fiddle Steve Nathan – piano Greg Morrow – drums, percussion

Eric Darken – percussion Mark Wright – production Joe Scaife – production Greg Droman – tracking Todd Gunnerson – assistant tracking, additional overdub recording Bart Pursley – recording, mixing Paul Hart – recording assistant, mixing assistant Steve Marcantonio – additional overdub recording Lowell Reynolds – mixing assistant Hank Williams – mastering Ronnie Thomas – editing

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Australia (ARIA)^[8] 50 Canada Country (Radio & Records)^[14] 1 Ireland (IRMA)^[9] 45 Scotland (OCC)^[15] 33 UK Singles (OCC)^[10] 42 US Billboard Hot 100^[7] 22 US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[5] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Position US Billboard Hot 100^[16] 97 US Country Songs (Billboard)^[17] 11

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	March 15, 2004	Country radio	Epic	^[18]
Australia	July 12, 2004	CD		^[19]
United Kingdom	August 23, 2004			^[1]

"Redbird Fever"

In late 2004, Wilson recorded a re-written version, titled "Redbird Fever" to commemorate the St. Louis Cardinals' entering the World Series (as well as her devotion to the team). "Redbird Fever" spent one week at number 60 on the US Billboard Country Singles Chart dated for the week ending November 13, 2004.^[20]

In popular culture

In the third episode of the TV series Smash, Katharine McPhee performed the song in a karaoke bar.^[21]

Parodies

American parody artist Cledus T. Judd released a parody of "Redneck Woman" titled "Paycheck Woman" on his 2004 album Bipolar and Proud.

References

1. "Reviews: Singles". Music Week. August 14, 2004. p. 23. Despite being a thoroughly average country romp, Radio Two has been showing support.
2. "Rowdy country singer Gretchen Wilson lets fans see a softer side". SJ-R.com. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
3. Rogers, Nick (August 9, 2007). "'Redneck Woman' Wilson is here for the party". SJ-R.com. Retrieved August 20, 2007.
4. "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 2014.
5. "Gretchen Wilson Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
6. "Wilson ends female drought atop country chart". Billboard. May 29, 2004. p. 72. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
7. "Gretchen Wilson Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
8. "Gretchen Wilson – Redneck Woman". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
9. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Gretchen Wilson". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
10. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
11. Redneck Woman (UK CD single liner notes). Gretchen Wilson. Epic Records. 2004. 675173 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
12. Redneck Woman (Australian CD single liner notes). Gretchen Wilson. Epic Records. 2004. 675035 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
13. Here for the Party (US CD album booklet). Gretchen Wilson. Epic Records. 2004. EK 90903.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
14. "R&R Canada: Country Top 30". Radio & Records. No. 1557. May 28, 2004. p. 44.
15. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
16. "Billboard Top 100 – 2004". billboardtop100of.com. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
17. "Best of 2004: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2004. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
18. "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1546. March 12, 2004. p. 24. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
19. "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 12th July 2004" (PDF). ARIA. July 12, 2004. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2004. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
20. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 471. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
21. . IMDb. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.