In the 11th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful 

, we highlight โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ performed by Vicki Lawrence.
It only takes ONE hit to solidify a musical legacy ! On 1 Hit WONDERful
, we highlight songs that were the SOLE hit by a given musician. To be fair, it is possible that the artists appearing on this list earned a minor hit or two, BUT for the most part, itโs that ONE hit that earned them recognition. So, in the 11th edition of 1 Hit WONDERful
, we dive into
โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ, the one hit wonder by
Vicki Lawrence.
โWell, he got mad, and he saw red / And Andy said, โBoy, donโt you lose your head / โCause to tell the truth, Iโve been with her myself.โโ Wow
! It gets much worse on
โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ, the opening track from
The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia, the 1973 debut album by
Vicki Lawrence. Lawrence is best known for her acting and comedy, particularly on
The Carol Burnett Show and
Mamaโs Family. That said, Lawrence reached the Billboard Hot 100 thrice. โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ was her sole top-40 hit. How well did that top-40 hit perform? It reached no. 1! Woo-hoo!
โThatโs the night that the lights went out in Georgia,
Thatโs the night that they hung an innocent man, uh-huh
Well, donโt trust your soul to no backwoods, southern lawyer
Cause the judge in the townโs got bloodstains on his hands.โ
A murder ballad, โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ was written by
Grammy winner
Bobby Russell (1940 โ 1992), who was her husband for a brief time. Originally, the song, which Russell was reluctant about himself, was offered to
Cher. Her husband at the time,
Sonny Bono, turned down the song because he believed it would upset her southern fans. Lawrence would record this dark country tune with producer
Snuff Garrett and make it a hit. So, why exactly did the lights go out in Georgia? Well, an innocent man โ the man who is cheated on, coincidently โ was hung, while the guilty party, his sister (whom Vicki portrays in the song), walks free. Ainโt that some shit? Itโs a case of the wrong place at the wrong time and a suspect trial, etc.
โWell, they hung my brother before I could say
The tracks he saw while on his way
To Andyโs house and back that night were mine
And his cheating wife had never left town
And that oneโs body thatโll never be found
See, little sister donโt miss when she aims her gun.โ
โThe Night the Lights Went out in Georgiaโ is the perfect example that it takes only one great song to carve out a place in music history. Vicki Lawrence outdid herself on this one.
Vicki Lawrence โข
The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia โข
GME LLC โข
1973
Vicki Lawrence, The Night the Lights Went out in Georgia: 1 Hit WONDERful 

No. 11 (2023) [
: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; GME LLC; Julia Larsen, Kurchakto, RDNE Stock project, Victor Terrell from Pexels; Andrew Martin from Pixabay]