| "Tulsa Time" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byDon Williams | ||||
| from the album Expressions | ||||
| B-side | "When I'm with You" | |||
| Released | October 1978 | |||
| Genre | Country,country rock | |||
| Length | 3:10 | |||
| Label | ABC | |||
| Songwriter | Danny Flowers | |||
| Producers | Don Williams Garth Fundis | |||
| Don Williams singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Tulsa Time" is a song written byDanny Flowers, and recorded by Americancountry music artistDon Williams. It was released in October 1978 as the first single from the albumExpressions. It was Williams' eighth number one on the country chart, spending a single week at number one and eleven weeks in the top 40.[1] It was also recorded byEric Clapton for his 1978 albumBackless and a live version by Clapton from his albumJust One Night became a #30Billboard hit in 1980.
In September 1978,[2] Flowers and the Don Williams band members were staying at aSheraton Hotel inTulsa, Oklahoma. A snowstorm had caused an interruption of their schedule.[3] Flowers said, "We were all snowed in, and there was absolutely nothing to do. I was sitting there in my room, watchingThe Rockford Files with some hotel stationery beside me, just bored, and I started writing out some verses."[4] He spent only a half-hour on it and the song had only two chords. Flowers said he intended to add another chord later, "but Don heard it and liked it the way it was."[5]
About two months later, Flowers was performing with Williams in Nashville as the opening act for an Eric Clapton concert.[2] After the performance, Flowers and Williams went to Clapton's hotel room where the three men took turns playing songs. Flowers sang and played guitar on his new song, "Tulsa Time" with Williams singing harmony and Clapton playing slide guitar on a dobro.[2] Clapton said, "I love that song and I want to record it right away".[2] Williams said, "You can't record it—I'm going to record it".[2] Both artists recorded the song, but Williams was first.
Williams' recording of "Tulsa Time" was the first song on his albumExpressions, released in August 1978. By October, the song was number one on the Country singles chart.[4]It became the number oneBillboard country song of 1979.[6] The song was named "single record of the year" in 1979 by theAcademy of Country Music[7] and Williams wonCMA Male Vocalist of the Year.
Clapton initially released two versions of the song: first on his 1978 albumBackless and second in 1980 on the live albumJust One Night.[6] The latter version was released as a single and reached number 30 on the U.S.BillboardHot 100 singles chart.[4][6] A live version from 1978 appears on Clapton'sCrossroads 2: Live in the Seventies, a boxed set released in 1996. This is a different performance from the version featured onJust One Night.
In 2024,Rolling Stone ranked the song at #132 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.[8]
| Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USHot Country Songs (Billboard)[9] | 1 |
| USBubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)[10] | 106 |
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Chart (1979) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[11] | 25 |
Note:[a]
| Chart (1980) | Position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard Hot 100[13] | 30 |
