"Tin Man"
Single by America
from the album Holiday
B-side"In the Country"
ReleasedAugust 1974[1]
Recorded1974
Genre
Length3:25
LabelWarner Bros. 7839
Songwriter(s)Dewey Bunnell
Producer(s)George Martin
America singles chronology
"Green Monkey"
(1974)		 "Tin Man"
(1974)		 "Lonely People"
(1974)
Official audio
"Tin Man" on YouTube

"Tin Man" is a 1974 song by the pop rock band America. It was written by band member Dewey Bunnell and produced by George Martin, who also plays the piano part on the recorded version. The song was included on the band's album Holiday, also from 1974.

Background

The song's title and some of its lyrics refer to the Tin Woodman from The Wizard of Oz.[4] Songwriter Bunnell was quoted describing the parallel: "My favorite movie, I guess. I always loved it as a kid. Very obscure lyrics. Great grammar - 'Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man.' It's sort of a poetic license."[4]

Dan Peek - who describes "Tin Man" as "quintessential Dewey, easy stream of consciousness with a major seventh acoustic bed" - states that Bunnell "actually begged us not to record the song. Knowing Dewey it was probably reverse psychology; if it was, Gerry [Beckley] and I fell for it, insisting it was perfect for the album."[5]

Released as the first single from Holiday, "Tin Man" became the band's fourth top-ten hit in the US, spending three weeks at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1974.[6] The song reached number one on the Billboard easy listening chart in October of that year.[4] In the UK, the song was relegated to the B-side of another album track, "Mad Dog", released in July, but neither side charted.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1974) Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles[7] 7
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [8] 5
US Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 4
US Cash Box Top 100 [10] 6
US Record World [10] 6
US Radio & Records 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1974) Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles[11] 84
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[12] 51

Cover versions

A Finnish rendering of "Tin Man" entitled "Toisin käy" was recorded by Finnish band Cascade in 1974. Funk band Chocolate Milk also covered the song on their 1975 debut Action Speaks Louder Than Words.

Brazilian singer Ivo Meirelles recorded a Portuguese rendering of "Tin Man" entitled "Swing Man" for his 2004 album Samba Soul. The group Incognito also recorded the song on their album Bees + Things + Flowers (2006) which features singer Carleen Anderson.

Evan Olson released a cover of the song in his 1999 album One Room.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Great Rock Discography". p. 16.
  2. ↑ "From America to the Kotel". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
  3. ↑ DeGagne, Mike. "Holiday – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 147.
  5. ↑ Peak, Dan (2004). An American Band: the America Story. Xulon Press. ISBN 1-594679-29-0.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 26.
  7. ↑ "RPM Pop Music Playlist". RPM Weekly.
  8. ↑ "RPM Top Singles". RPM Weekly. 16 November 1974.
  9. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  10. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2015). The Comparison Book Billboard/Cash Box/Record World 1954-1982. Sheridan Books. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-89820-213-7.
  11. ↑ "The Top 200 Singles of '74". RPM Weekly. 28 December 1974.
  12. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
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