“A Week in a Country Jail”
Tom T. Hall
Written by Tom T. Hall
Billboard
#1 (2 weeks)
January 31 – February 7, 1970
One of the coolest things about country music is watching songwriters become successful artists in their own right.
Tom T. Hall was already one of the genre’s most important voices when he landed his own recording contract, penning key country classics like “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and “(Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn.” And his career as a hit songwriter would stretch into the nineties, including a No. 1 hit for Alan Jackson (“Little Bitty.”)
During the seventies, we received the bonus of having Hall’s idiosyncratic songteller skills all over the radio. “A Week in a Country Jail” is such a perfectly ordinary display of his unique talents. It’s more a series of vignettes than an actual story, with Hall centering the experiences of his hard-working speedy driver as he waits for the country judge to come to work and send him on his merry way.
We get no resolution, other than learning that he won’t actually have to marry the woman who Stockholm Syndrome started convincing him was his soulmate. He just meets a few people and moves on, looking back with a bit of embarrassment and a lot more fondness about getting caught in the crosshairs of a country cop trying to meet his monthly quota.
If Houston reminded us of how low the bar could be on Music Row back in 1970 yesterday, Tom. T Hall reminds us today about how many greats snuck in the back when they left the screen door open somewhere on 16th Avenue.
“A Week in a Country Jail” gets an A.
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I love Tom T. Hall so much. I had a little bit of background on him, but I have to shout out Peter Saros for his Tom T. Feature shortly after he passed away. I just love his slice of life songs that might not have a big lesson or cohesive plot line, but tell a story with little details that bring it to life. I could wax poetic about him all day, but I love this song and think it is so cool he had his own chart success as a singer, and not just a songwriter.
This is one of the many reasons the man was called “The Storyteller”…and for the life of me, I don’t know how many people would have had the genius (or the gall) to literally include on the food menu Hot Baloney, Eggs, and Gravy. Utterly unique Mr. Hall was (IMHO).
There really has not been another Tom T Hall. Even after he “retired” he continued to write songs, often with wife Dixie, aimed at the bluegrass market. Bluegrass artists continue to record both his newer and older songs and throughout 2024 there were many TTH songs on the bluegrass charts. Most of Hall’s albums are (or recently have been) available on CD. There will be a bunch more TTH songs that will hit #1 in the 1970s and some of them are even better songs than this one
He just had a way of telling a story in 2 1/2 to 3 minutes and he can just paint the picture.
It was nice to revisit this song and I love the details mentioned about the Baloney, Eggs, and Gravy to give it a unique twist plus the dobro fills were very good.
Looking forward to seeing more of Tom T. Hall in this feature.
Thank you, CJ.
Upon every listen to this song, my mind’s eye goes to the straw rolling around the sheriff’s mouth as he drawls,”Where’s the guy who thinks this is Indianapolis? I’d like to talk to him about the law.”
I love the narrator negotiating with the jailer on behalf of his seven cellmates and the amazing realization when finally speaking to the sheriff,”That part about me being who I was did not impress him.”
The humbling experience in a little county jail hammers home that the narrator is is in an unfamiliar world that lives by its own code, operating at its own pace.
Despite likely never fully grasping what the hell just happened to him, he gets to empty his pockets and simply drive away across the stateline.
The whole experience just becomes a story…and a song.
The Del Reeves Reeves inspired a”doo doo doos” are brilliant.
Is it possible to listen to this song and not be charmed by the experience?
Tom T. is so underrated. He is in my top 10 favorite singer/songwriters. This is such a great record. So simple but yet so good!
Bonus Beats:
Here’s the version of “A Week in a Country Jail” that Jimmy Dean, yes, the breakfast sausage guy, released later in 1970 on his album “Jimmy – The Dean of Country Music” (that’s some title there): https://youtu.be/CWVIi5HJJn0