Please Come to Boston

"Please Come to Boston" is a song that was recorded and written by American singer-songwriter Dave Loggins. It was released in April 1974 as the first single from his album Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) and was produced by Jerry Crutchfield. It spent two weeks at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974;[3] it spent one week atop the Billboard Easy Listening chart.[4] It was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Male Pop Vocal performance.[4]

"Please Come to Boston"
Single by Dave Loggins
from the album Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop)
B-side"Let Me Go Now"
ReleasedMay 6, 1974
GenreSoft rock[1][2]
Length4:07
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Dave Loggins
Producer(s)Jerry Crutchfield
Dave Loggins singles chronology
"Think'n of You"
(1973)		 "Please Come to Boston"
(1974)		 "Someday"
(1974)

Analysis and history

The three verses of the song are each a plea from the narrator to a woman whom he hopes will join him in, respectively, Boston, Denver, and Los Angeles, with each verse concluding: "She said 'No – boy would you come home to me'"; the woman's sentiment is elaborated on in the chorus which concludes with the line: "I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee." Tennessee is the home state of Dave Loggins, who has said of "Please Come to Boston" – "The story is almost true, except there wasn't anyone waiting so I made her up. In effect, making the longing for [a companion] stronger. It was a recap to my first trip to each of those cities...[and] how I saw each one. The fact of having no one to come home to made the chorus easy to write. Some forty years later, I still vividly remember that night [of composition], and it was as if someone else was writing the song."[5]

Chart performance
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] 47
Canadian RPM Top Singles 4
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 1

Covers

The song has been covered numerous times, most notably by country music singer David Allan Coe and folk singer Joan Baez, who actually began her career in the Boston-Cambridge area and included the song on her 1976 live album From Every Stage: like other female singers performing "Please Come to Boston", Baez sings from the perspective of the woman refusing the invitations. Other notable artists to have covered the song include Harry Chapin, B. W. Stevenson, Tammy Wynette, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell, Babyface, Brandy, Tori Amos, Andrew WK, Kenny Chesney, Wade Bowen, Jackopierce, Reba McEntire, Jimmy Buffett, Lee Hazlewood, Chase Bryant, Confederate Railroad and Rita Wilson.

See also
  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1974 (U.S.)

References
  1. James Christopher Monger. "Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) – Dave Loggins | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  2. Kuge, Mara (February 7, 2019). "14 Secretly Cruel Soft Rock Love Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
  4. Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of No. 1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications)
  5. "Please Come to Boston – Stories Behind the Songs". DaveLogginsMusic.com. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 180. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.


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