Billy Joe Royal’s “Down in the Boondocks” was a hit in 1965, reaching the number 9 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and topping the Canada Top Singles. The song was written by Joe South, who asked Royal to make a demonstration record of it to sell to Gene Pitney. Bill Lowery, a music producer and publisher in Atlanta, heard the form and brought it to Columbia, which signed Royal a contract. Royal’s tremulous tenor and strong delivery perfectly match the song’s bitter cry of a boy from a rural area in love with a rich girl.
“Boondocks” is a word coined for any rural area, the same as “out in the sticks”. The song’s protagonist lives in the boondocks and feels love for a girl who lives close by. However, the girl’s father is the singer’s boss, and the social divide inhibits him from declaring his love and connecting with her, despite the shared feelings. The singer dreams of the day when he can move out of his old shack and join the higher class in society to date the girl freely.
The song’s lyrics are easy to recognize, especially for working folks, and it has become a staple of oldies radio since then. It has a soothing guitar sound and distinct, pure lyrics with meaning. One of the song’s fans, Mary Brittain, calls it one of her all-time favorites and reminisces about the days when music had an intention and could be easily understood. David Bezer praises Royal’s smooth, crisp voice and excellent moves despite the flickering recording, and cbtinc1 remembers requesting the song over the airwaves when she was a teenager and the memories it brings back.
You can find this great song easily on YouTube if you want to experience it. Share it with your friends because “Down in the Boondocks” is a classic everyone should hear.
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