Back Where I Come From

1990 single by Mac McAnally

"Back Where I Come From"

Single by Mac McAnally

from the album Simple Life

B-side

"Company Time"^[1]

Released

January 1990

Recorded

1990

Genre

Country

Length

3:32

Label

Warner Bros.

Songwriter(s)

Mac McAnally

Producer(s)

Jim Ed Norman, Mac McAnally

Mac McAnally singles chronology

"Minimum Love"
(1983)

"Back Where I Come From"
(1990)

"Down the Road"
(1990)

"Back Where I Come From" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Mac McAnally. It was released in January 1990 as the first single from his album Simple Life. The song reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.^[1] Its B-side, "Company Time", was later a single for Linda Davis in 1994. "Back Where I Come From" was also recorded by Kenny Chesney in 1996.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo in which the narrator expresses nostalgia towards his hometown in Mississippi.^[2] Regarding its content, McAnally told American Songwriter, "When I wrote 'Back Where I Come From' I thought that it was a hit, but also that it said something that I personally wanted to be the first to say."^[3] The song, the first cut on Simple Life, has a play length of 3 minutes and 32 seconds; a 1-minute and 20 second reprise, performed by McAnally on piano with backing from the Nashville String Machine, is the album's sixth track.^[4]

Cover versions

"Back Where I Come From" was covered by Kenny Chesney on his 1996 album Me and You, produced by Barry Beckett. Chesney also included a live version of the song on his 2000 Greatest Hits album. Of Chesney's recordings, McAnally said that "As a publisher I knew I was devaluing the copyright by singing it myself instead of passing it onto better and bigger singers, but I did it anyway. One of many of my classically bad business choices, but thankfully Kenny Chesney was kind enough to bail me out and cut it again."^[3] Although it was not released as a single, Chesney's rendition has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Personnel (Mac McAnally)

From Simple Life liner notes.^[4]

Eddie Bayers - drums
Vince Gill - background vocals
Mac McAnally - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards
"The Mississippi Choir" (Tammy Wynette, J. Fred Knobloch, Tricia Walker, Johnny Crocker, Mark Gray) - background vocals
Steve Nathan - keyboards
Mark O'Connor - fiddle
Tom Roady - percussion
Leland Sklar - bass guitar

Chart performance (Mac McAnally)

Chart (1990)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)^[5]	18
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[6]	14

Certifications (Kenny Chesney)


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[7]	Gold	500,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
^ "Mac McAnally finding his place on the charts". The Hour. April 10, 1990. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
^ ^a ^b Moore, Rick (January 2, 2012). "Mac McAnally". American Songwriter. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
^ ^a ^b Simple Life (CD booklet). Mac McAnally. Warner Bros. Records. 1990. 26136-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 1245." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. May 26, 1990. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
^ "Mac McAnally Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
^ "American single certifications – Kenny Chesney – Back Where I Come From". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 13, 2022.