Sylvia's Mother
{{Short description|Single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Sylvia's Mother
| cover = Sylvia's_Mother_-_Dr._Hook.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
| album = Dr. Hook
| B-side = Makin' It Natural
| released = March 1972
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country rock, pop
| length = 3:50
| label = Columbia Records
| writer = Shel Silverstein
| producer = Ron Haffkine
| prev_title = Last Morning
| prev_year = 1971
| next_title = Carry Me, Carrie
| next_year = 1972
}}
"Sylvia's Mother" is a 1972 single by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show and the group's first hit song. It was written by Shel Silverstein, produced by Ron Haffkine and was highly successful in the United States, reaching #5 on the Billboard singles chart (tied with "Sexy Eyes" from the album Sometimes You Win for the band's best performing song),Fread Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (New York, Billboard, 2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=PgGqNrqfrsoC&dq=%22Sylvia's+Mother%22+US+Billboard+1972+5&pg=PT321 p. 312] as well as #2 in the United Kingdom. It spent three weeks at #1 on the Australian music charts,{{cite web |url=http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1972/19720722.html |title=Go-Set Australian charts - 22 July 1972 |website=Poparchives.com.au |date=1972-07-22 |access-date=2016-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604071831/http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1972/19720722.html |archive-date=4 June 2012 }} making it the 15th ranked single in Australia for 1972; and also reached #1 in South Africa, where it was the 3rd ranked song for the year, and in New Zealand. The song spent 7 consecutive weeks at #1 in Ireland on the Irish Singles Chart.{{Cite web |title=The Irish Charts - All there is to know |url=http://irishcharts.ie/search/placement |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=irishcharts.ie}} It appeared on the group's first album, Doctor Hook.
Song background
"Sylvia's Mother" is autobiographical, with songwriter Shel Silverstein drawing upon his unsuccessful attempt to revive a failed relationship. Silverstein had been in love with a woman named Sylvia Pandolfi. She later became engaged to another man and ended up as a museum curator at the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico City. {{cite web| first=Arjan |last=Vlakveld | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZMUx2CfpXI&t=1s |title=Sylvia Pandolfi and Louisa Pandolfi (Sylvia's mother) tell the story of 'Sylvia's Mother' |website=YouTube | date= 13 Dec 2017}}{{cite web|first1=Pat |last1=Binder |first2=Gerhard |last2=Haupt |url=http://universes-in-universe.de/car/cinco-cont/e-cur.htm |title=Cinco continentes y una ciudad - Curators |website=Universes-in-universe.de |date= |access-date=2016-10-07}}{{cite web|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/writing/searching-for-sylvia|title=Searching For Sylvia |website=Songfacts.com |date=2012-10-17 |access-date=2016-10-07}}New Tendencies in Mexican Art: The 1990s, page 11, by Ruben GalloAge of discrepancies, page 31, by Olivier Debroise{{cite web|last=Kalil |first=Susie |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/gray-matter-of-concern-6567937 |title=Gray Matter of Concern |publisher=Houston Press |date=1993-12-16 |access-date=2016-10-07}} Desperate to continue the relationship, Silverstein called Pandolfi's mother, Louisa, but she told him the love had ended.{{cite web|url=http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?%2Fnps%2Ftop2000%2Fbb.sylviasmother.wmv |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608124751/http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/nps/top2000/bb.sylviasmother.wmv |archive-date=2011-06-08 }}]
Cash Box said " 'T ain't easy to render unto Silverstein what is Shel's, but this group knows the secret to Top 40 success on this happy/sad tune, bound to be a huge request and sales item."{{cite magazine|magazine=Cash Box|title=Cash Box Singles Pick|accessdate=2023-04-02|page=20|date=February 26, 1972|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-02-26.pdf}}
Chart performance
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1972)
! Peak |
|---|
| align="left"|Australian Kent Music Report{{cite book |last=Kent |first=David |author-link=David Kent (historian) |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 |year=1993 |publisher=Australian Chart Book |isbn=0-646-11917-6}}
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| align="left"|Belgian VRT Top 30
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| align="left"|Canadian RPM Top Singles
| style="text-align:center;"|2 |
| align="left"|Denmark Top 10{{cite web|url=http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=5304 |title=Sylvia's Mother - Dr Hook & The Medicine Show |website=Danskehitlister.dk |date= |accessdate=2016-10-07}}
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| align="left"|German Media Control Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| align="left"|Irish Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| align="left"|Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| align="left"|Netherlands{{cite web|author=Steffen Hung |url=http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Dr%2E+Hook+And+The+Medicine+Show&titel=Sylvia%27s+Mother&cat=s |title=Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother |website=Swedishcharts.com |date= |accessdate=2016-10-07}}
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| align="left"|New Zealand Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| align="left"|Norwegian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|5 |
| align="left"|South African Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|1 |
| align="left"|Swedish Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|9 |
| align="left"|Swiss Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| {{singlechart|UK|2|date=19720723}} |
| align="left"|U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|5 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100{{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19720617.html |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 17, 1972 |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025074332/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19720617.html |archive-date=October 25, 2017 |url-status=dead }}
|align="center"|1 |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Chart (1972)
!Rank |
|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report
| style="text-align:center;"|15 |
| Belgian VRT Top 30
| style="text-align:center;"|90 |
| Canada RPM
| style="text-align:center;"|23 |
| German Media Control Charts
| style="text-align:center;"|48 |
| Italian Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|22 |
| Netherlands
| style="text-align:center;"|33 |
| South African Singles Chart
| style="text-align:center;"|3 |
| UK
| style="text-align:center;"|20 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100
| style="text-align:center;"|64 |
| U.S. Cash Box {{Cite web |url=http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1972YESP.html |title=Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 30, 1972 |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928150812/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/1972YESP.html |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |url-status=dead }}
| style="text-align:center;"|65 |
{{col-end}}
Certifications and sales
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Sylvia's Mother|artist=Dr. Hook|type=single|relyear=1972|salesamount=50,000|region=Ireland|nocert=true|salesref={{cite web|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1973/Billboard%201973-10-27.pdf|title=From the Music Capitols of the World - Dublin|publisher=Billboard|page=58|first=Ken|last=Stewart|date=October 27, 1973|access-date=February 18, 2025}}}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Sylvia|artist=Dr. Hook|type=single|relyear=1972|certyear=1972|region=United States|award=Gold|access-date=February 18, 2025}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}
Bobby Bare cover
{{Infobox song
| name = Sylvia's Mother
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Bobby Bare
| album =
| B-side = Music City U.S.A.
| released = 1972
| recorded = June 15, 1972
Mercury Custom Recording Studio
Nashville, Tennessee
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length = 3:52
3:39 (7" version)
| label = Mercury Records 73317
| writer = Shel Silverstein
| producer = Jerry Kennedy
| prev_title = What Am I Gonna Do
| prev_year = 1972
| next_title = I Hate Goodbyes
| next_year = 1973
}}
In 1972, about the same time the Dr. Hook version was on the chart, country singer Bobby Bare recorded a cover version. Bare's version became a hit, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that October.{{cn|date=March 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZMUx2CfpXI The real story of Sylvia's Mother]
- {{YouTube|0dz9Lq4HUOo|Dr. Hook - Sylvia's Mother}}
{{Shel Silverstein}}
{{Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Ron Haffkine
Category:Songs written by Shel Silverstein
Category:Songs about telephone calls
Category:Cashbox number-one singles
Category:Number-one singles in Australia
Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand
Category:Number-one singles in South Africa