Lord, Mr. Ford

"Lord, Mr. Ford"
Single by Jerry Reed
from the album Lord, Mr. Ford
B-side	"Two-Timin'"
Released	May 14, 1973
Recorded	January 9, 1973; Nashville, Tennessee
Genre	Country
Length	3:17
Label	RCA Records
Songwriter(s)	Dick Feller
Producer(s)	Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed singles chronology

"Lord, Mr. Ford" is a song written by Dick Feller and recorded by Jerry Reed. It was released in May 1973 as the only single from the album of the same name, Lord, Mr. Ford. The single was Jerry Reed's second of three No. 1's on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. "Lord, Mr. Ford" spent one week at the top and a total of 13 weeks inside the chart's top 40.[1]

Song background

"Lord, Mr. Ford" is a satire on the social, cultural and economic influence that the automobile has had on the American public. The lyrics bemoan the fact that a seemingly simple invention to assist mankind has instead brought nothing but grief, become increasingly more complex and added to the increasing fast-paced demands of society. The refrain asks the question aloud to the late Henry Ford: "Lord, Mr. Ford, I just wish that you could see/ What your simple horseless carriage has become."

In an Allmusic review for the album bearing "Lord, Mr. Ford," Pemberton Roach terms the song "a semi-political song," with Reed's version an "appropriately crotchety considering the song's 'simple working man' theme.[2]

Referring to a substitution in the lyrics concerning the average American owning 1½ cars, ("Now the average American father and mother/Own one whole car and half another/And I bet that half a car is a trick to drive, don't you"), Roach alludes to the original lyrics using the word "bitch," instead of the word "trick" as in the final recorded version. Noted Roach: "(I)t's amusing to hear notorious bad boy Reed forced to substitute the word "trick" for the original version's 'bitch'."."[2]

Chart performance

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3]	97
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks	25
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	68
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[4]	32

References

Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 283.
Pemberton Roach. "Lord, Mr. Ford - Jerry Reed | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 249. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 197.

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[1] Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 283.

[Allmusic-2] Pemberton Roach. "Lord, Mr. Ford - Jerry Reed | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-08.

[aus-3] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 249. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[4] Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 197.