My 100 Favorite Charted Country Songs: Queen of the Silver Dollar

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Along with song #60 on the rock/pop list we’re at song #60 on the country list. Today’s song is one of those “what if” songs, with a ton of famous names around it, but it bombed. Except with me, of course, where it landed on this list. Here’s today’s song. Queen of the Silver Dollar - Doyle Holly Waylon Jennings arranged (and sang) on this. That’s one of the reasons I cannot take any other version of this song. It was written by Shel Silverstein and originally recorded by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show. After Doyle Holly (former member of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos) brought it to country, lots of people recorded it, including Emmylou Harris and Dave & Sugar, but NO. I still go back to the Doyle Holly version. Why? Waylon’s arrangement. If you’re familiar with that bass/kick drum-heavy sound of Waylon’s in the 70s then nobody needs to tell you that he had a hand in the production of this song. And if you know his voice, you can easily pick it out. As I said, this bombed, barely scratching the top 30. With all of those heavyweights behind it, I think it should’ve done much better. But Waylon wasn’t the “outlaw” at the time, Buck Owens’ popularity was waning (even with Hee Haw), and Shel Silverstein wasn’t revered as a songwriter the way he is now. So it was all the right ingredients, just at the wrong time. Queen of the Silver Dollar Written by Shel Silverstein Recorded by Doyle Holly From Doyle Holly, 1973 Peak chart position: #29 Today’s rock song: “Pieces of April” The jesters gather round her: