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500 Miles Away from Home (album)

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500 Miles Away from Home
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 1963 (1963-12)
RecordedAugust 1963 – October 1963
StudioRCA Victor Nashville studios
Genre
LabelRCA Victor
ProducerChet Atkins
Bobby Bare chronology
"Detroit City" and Other Hits by Bobby Bare
(1963)
500 Miles Away from Home
(1963)
The Travelin' Bare
(1964)
Singles from 500 Miles Away from Home
  1. "500 Miles Away from Home"
    Released: September 1963

500 Miles Away from Home is the debut studio album by American country artist Bobby Bare. It was released in December 1963 by RCA Victor and contained 12 tracks. RCA Victor had previously released a compilation album of Bare's songs.The album's title track was released as a single in 1963. The single reached the top ten on the American country, pop, and adult contemporary music charts. The album itself reached the top ten of the American country albums chart. It received positive reception from AllMusic in later years.

Background, recording and content

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Bobby Bare launched his career as a pop and rock singer with the 1958 top ten American single, "The All American Boy". Bare became increasingly dissatisfied with his musical choices and decided to relaunch himself as a country artist in the sixties. He signed with RCA Victor and had a crossover country pop single with "Detroit City" (1963). It was followed by a remake of the folk tune, "500 Miles Away from Home", which reached similar crossover commercial success.[2] His debut studio album was named for "500 Miles Away from Home". The project was recorded at RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. The sessions were held between August and October 1963. They were produced by Chet Atkins.[3]

The project contained a total of 12 songs.[1] Along with the title track, a series of cover recordings were included on the album. Among them was A. P. Carter's "Homestead on the Farm" and the traditional folk song, "Worried Man Blues".[3] Other covers included George Hamilton IV's "Abilene". Hamilton's original version topped the American country chart earlier in 1963. The album also featured a cover of Billy Grammer's 1958 top five country single, "Gotta Travel On".[4] Original material was also featured, including two songs composed by Bare himself: "Let Me Tell You About Mary" and "Jeannie's Last Kiss".[3]

Release, reception and singles

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide[5]

500 Miles Away from Home was originally released in December 1963 by RCA Victor. It was the debut studio album of Bare's career and his second with the label. RCA originally distributed the project as a vinyl LP, with six songs on each side of the record.[3] In its original release, the album spent nine weeks on the American Billboard Top Country Albums chart. It peaked at number nine on the chart the week of February 28, 1964 and became his second top ten album on the chart.[6] It also became Bare's second album to chart the Billboard 200, peaking at the number 133 position on February 8, 1964.[7]

500 Miles Away from Home was met with positive reception in later years from AllMusic. The publication rated the project 4.5 out of 5 possible stars. They also named the project's title track as an "album track pick".[1] The only single included on the album was the title track, which was originally released by RCA Victor in September 1963.[8] It became Bare's second top ten single on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at number five.[9] Crossing over onto the Billboard Hot 100, it became his second top ten single on that chart as well, peaking at number ten.[10] On the Billboard adult contemporary chart, the song reached the number four position.[11]

Track listings

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Vinyl version

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Side one[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."500 Miles Away from Home"
2:35
2."Homestead on the Farm"A. P. Carter2:27
3."Let Me Tell You About Mary"Bare1:58
4."Abilene"2:10
5."Gotta Travel On"
2:11
6."Lynchin' Party"Harlan Howard2:40
Side two[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Worried Man Blues"Carter3:22
2."I Wonder Where You Are Tonight"Peter Bond2:32
3."Noah's Ark"2:55
4."Sailor Man"Howard2:24
5."What Kind of Bird Is That"Hank Cochran2:42
6."Jeannie's Last Kiss"
  • Bare
  • Williams
3:00

Digital version

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Music download and streaming
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."500 Miles Away from Home"
  • Bare
  • West
  • Williams
2:42
2."Homestead on the Farm"Carter2:30
3."Let Me Tell You About Mary"Bare2:00
4."Abilene"
  • Brown
  • Gibson
  • Loudermilk
2:13
5."Gotta Travel On"
  • Clayton
  • Ehrlich
  • Lazer
  • The Weavers
2:12
6."Lynchin' Party"Howard2:42
7."Worried Man Blues"Carter3:22
8."I Wonder Where You Are Tonight"Bond2:33
9."Noah's Ark"
  • Burnette
  • De Vorzon
2:57
10."Sailor Man"Howard2:24
11."What Kind of Bird Is That"Cochran2:46
12."Jeannie's Last Kiss"
  • Bare
  • Williams
3:02

Chart performance

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Chart (1963–1964) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[12] 133
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[13] 9

Release history

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Region Date Format Label Ref.
North America December 1963 Vinyl RCA Victor [3]
United Kingdom [14]
North America 2010s
  • Music download
  • streaming
Sony Music Entertainment

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "500 Miles Away from Home: Bobby Bare: Songs, reviews, credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bobby Bare Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Bare, Bobby (December 1963). "500 Miles Away from Home (LP Liner Notes and Information)". RCA Victor. LSP-2835.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research.
  5. ^ The Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1979. p. 23.
  6. ^ "Bobby Bare chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Bobby Bare chart history (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  8. ^ Bare, Bobby (September 1963). ""500 Miles Away from Home"/"It All Depends on Linda" (7" vinyl single)". RCA Victor. 47-8238.
  9. ^ "Bobby Bare chart history (Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Bobby Bare chart history (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Bobby Bare chart history (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Bobby Bare Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  13. ^ "Bobby Bare Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  14. ^ Bare, Bobby (December 1963). "500 Miles Away from Home (LP Liner Notes and Information)". RCA Victor. RD-7616.