Peaceful (song)

"Peaceful" is a song written by Kenny Rankin, and recorded by several artists. It is best known as hit singles for Georgie Fame (1969) and Helen Reddy (1973).

"Peaceful"
Single by Helen Reddy
from the album I Am Woman
B-side"What Would They Say"
ReleasedJanuary 1973[1]
Recorded1972
Length2:50
LabelCapitol Records
Songwriter(s)Kenny Rankin
Producer(s)Tom Catalano
Helen Reddy singles chronology
"I Am Woman"
(1972)		 "Peaceful"
(1973)		 "Delta Dawn"
(1973)

Introduced by Rankin on his 1967 debut album Mind Dusters on Mercury Records, "Peaceful" was recorded by Bobbie Gentry for her 1968 album Local Gentry on Capitol Records. A 1969 single recording by Georgie Fame, produced by Mike Smith and arranged/conducted by Keith Mansfield for CBS, reached number 16 in UK that summer.[2] Fame's version of "Peaceful" had a concurrent single release in the US by Epic Records, prompting Mercury to issue Rankin's original track as a single, but neither single charted.[3] "Peaceful" was also recorded in 1969 by The Friends of Distinction for their Grazin' album on RCA.

Rankin re-recorded the song in 1972, in a new arrangement for his album Like a Seed, his Atlantic Records debut and first chart appearance. That same year Helen Reddy recorded "Peaceful" for her 1972 I Am Woman album. Issued as the follow-up to the number 1 hit "I Am Woman" in February 1973, Reddy's version of "Peaceful" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 that May. "Peaceful" also became Reddy's second consecutive number 2 Easy Listening hit: the follow-up "Delta Dawn" would be Reddy's first Easy Listening #1 (the first of six consecutive and eight overall). In Canada, "Peaceful" spent two weeks at number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[4]

In September 1996 Rhino issued a retrospective Kenny Rankin album with "Peaceful" as the title cut, the full title being Peaceful: The Best of Kenny Rankin.[5]

Chart performance

Georgie Fame version

Chart (1969) Peak
position
UK 16

Helen Reddy version

References
  1. "Discography". Billboard. Vol. 86 no. 31. 3 August 1974. p. 52. ISSN 0006-2510.
  2. https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/peaceful/
  3. "The Official Charts Company".
  4. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
  5. "AMG".
  6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
  7. Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, April 21, 1973
  8. Bac-lac.gc.ca
  9. Musicoutfitters.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.