Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson song)



"Rose Garden" (also known and covered as "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden") is a song written by Joe South, best known as recorded by country music singer Lynn Anderson, and first released by Billy Joe Royal in 1967. Her October 1970 release topped the U.S. Billboard country chart for five weeks, reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, and hit number one on both Cash Boxs and Record Worlds pop and country singles charts. The song was also a major pop hit internationally, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, and Norway, and reaching the top three in the UK and South Africa.

Anderson's version of "Rose Garden" remains one of the most successful country crossover recordings of all-time.

Lynn Anderson version
The Lynn Anderson single was her third release for Columbia Records in 1970, after several years of recording for Chart Records. The single proved to be the first crossover record of her career.

"Rose Garden" was originally an album cut by the song's writer, Joe South, in 1969. Several other male vocalists recorded it on albums including Freddy Weller, Billy Joe Royal, and Dobie Gray and Third Avenue Blues Band, but it was never a hit until Anderson's version. A recording by the girl group The Three Degrees, best known for their 1974 hit "When Will I See You Again", also pre-dated Lynn Anderson's hit version.

Anderson wanted to record the song but her producer (and husband) Glenn Sutton felt it was a "man's song", in part because of the line "I could promise you things like big diamond rings". According to Anderson, Sutton agreed to record the song as a potential album cut when there was time left during one of her scheduled recording sessions. After arranging a more up-tempo, light-hearted melody, Sutton and the studio musicians, which included a mandolin player, as well as a string section, were impressed with the results. Columbia Records' executive Clive Davis was equally impressed and insisted the song be released as a single in both the country and pop markets. Shortly after its breakthrough on American Top 40 radio, the song became an international hit. A cover version released by Sandie Shaw in UK failed to chart, as Anderson's version became a major success there. The song became Anderson's signature tune and one of the biggest hits of the 1970s, in any genre of music. Anderson won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1971, and Joe South earned two Grammy nominations: "Best Country Song" and "Song of the Year" in the pop field.

Anderson said, "I believe that 'Rose Garden' was released at just the right time. People were trying to recover from the Vietnam years. The message in the song—that if you just take hold of life and go ahead, you can make something out of nothing—people just took to that."

After her Columbia heyday, Lynn Anderson recorded new performances of the song several times for post-1982 albums, including a bluegrass version that was featured in her 2004 comeback album The Bluegrass Sessions. This album earned Anderson her first Grammy nomination in over 30 years.

k.d. lang and the Reclines version
Canadian country pop group k.d. lang and the Reclines covered the song for their 1987 album Angel with a Lariat. The single was Lang's first release in the United States but failed to chart.

Martina McBride version
In 2005, Martina McBride included the song on her album of covers, Timeless. This album featured classic country songs from over the years, including "Rose Garden". The song was released as a single, peaking at 18 on the country singles charts.

Sampling
Canadian synthpop band Kon Kan sampled parts of the song and its lyrics in their 1989 single "I Beg Your Pardon". The song peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 in the Netherlands, #8 in Germany, and #5 in the UK Singles Chart.