The Year That Clayton Delaney Died

1971 single by Tom T. Hall

"The Year That Clayton Delaney Died"

Single by Tom T. Hall

from the album In Search of a Song

B-side

"Second Handed Flowers"

Released

July 5, 1971

Recorded

March 26, 1971
Mercury Custom Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee

Genre

Country

Length

2:42

Label

Mercury 73221

Songwriter(s)

Tom T. Hall

Producer(s)

Jerry Kennedy

Tom T. Hall singles chronology

"Ode to Half a Pound of Ground Round"
(1971)

"The Year That Clayton Delaney Died"
(1971)

"Me and Jesus"
(1972)

"The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Tom T. Hall.

Background

The song is based on Hall's childhood neighbor and boyhood hero, Lonnie Easterling.^[1]

Chart performance

It was released in July 1971 as the only single from the album, In Search of a Song. "The Year That Clayton Delaney Died" was Hall's second number one on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of eighteen weeks on the country charts.^[2]

Weekly charts

Chart (1971)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[3]	42
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	6
Canadian RPM Top Singles	42

Year-end charts

Chart (1971)	Rank
U.S. Country (Billboard)^[4]	4

References

^ "In the Words of Tom T. Hall ..." CMT News. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 149.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 366.
^ Billboard, December 25, 1971.