Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1970
One Toke Over the Line
Buy One Toke Over the Line now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
"'One Toke Over the Line'" is a song written and performed by American folk rock duo Brewer & Shipley. It is a track from their 1970 LP 'Tarkio', and was released as their debut single in early 1971.
Background
Mike Brewer gives this account of the origin of the song, "One day we were pretty much stoned and all and Tom says, Man, Im one toke over the line tonight. I liked the way that sounded, and so I wrote a song around it."
The song gained popular acclaim while the band was touring as an opening act for Melanie, after they received an encore but had run out of other songs to play.
This song was banned in several areas, especially in the Deep South, the Bible Belt, and the rural areas in the Midwest, due to the Biblical references to Jesus and Mary.
The song is also noted for its overlapping pre-recorded vocals in the final refrains.
The line, "Sitting downtown in a railway station, one toke over the line," became the main catchphrase of the song, including its final hook line, "One toke, one toke over the line".
Chart history
The song peaked at #10 on the U.S. 'Billboard' Hot 100 and #8 'Cash Box'[http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19710424.html Cash Box Top 100 Singles, April 24, 1971] during the spring of 1971, and was the duo's only Top 40 hit. It also reached #5 in Canada and #7 in New Zealand.[http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20listener&qartistid=1376#n_view_location Flavour of New Zealand, 28 June 1971]
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
A cover version was performed in early 1971 by Gail Farrell and Dick Dale on 'The Lawrence Welk Show', which is introduced by accordionist Myron Floren, then called a "modern spiritual" by Lawrence Welk after the performance.
Later uses
The song is notably mentioned in the opening of Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel, 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas', and was "sung" by Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) in the 1998 film of the same name. In the 2014 movie 'St. Vincent (film)', the song "One Toke Over the Line" is heard playing on Bill Murray's headphones and is listed on the soundtrack credits.
See also
* List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
Buy One Toke Over the Line now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1970