(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time

"(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time"
Single by Ronnie Milsap
from the album A Legend in My Time
B-side	"The Biggest Lie"
Released	November 30, 1974
Genre	Country
Length	2:55
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Don Gibson
Producer(s)	Tom Collins, Jack D. Johnson
Ronnie Milsap singles chronology
"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" (1974) "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" (1974) "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry" (1975)

"(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" is a song written and recorded by Don Gibson in 1960. It appeared as the B-side of his hit "Far Far Away", from the album Sweet Dreams. Gibson re-recorded the song on the 1972 album Country Green.

Ronnie Milsap version

The song was recorded by Ronnie Milsap and released in November 1974 as the lead single from his album A Legend in My Time. This was Milsap's sixth country hit and his third number one. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of ten weeks within the top 40.^[1] Milsap's recording altered the song from its original 3/4 time signature to a 4/4 time signature.^[2]

Charts

Chart (1974–1975)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[3]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

Other cover versions

Frequently covered, the song is usually titled without the parenthetical lead. Versions have been recorded by

• Connie Francis
• Roy Orbison covered the track for his 1961 album Lonely and Blue, and recorded a second later version which was featured on his 1967 tribute album to Gibson, Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson.
• Frank Ifield 1963^[4]
• Dottie West on her 1967 LP, I'll Help You Forget Her.
• Johnny Cash (on the album American V: A Hundred Highways)
• Waylon Jennings
• B. B. King
• A live version by Tammy Wynette and the Good Guys on Navy Hoedown NH-21, among others.^{[citation needed]}
• A 1973 rendition by Sammy Davis Jr. became an Adult Contemporary chart hit, reaching #33 in Canada^[5] and #29 U.S.^[6]

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 232.
2. Rich, Kienzle (2004). Ultimate Ronnie Milsap (CD booklet). Ronnie Milsap. RCA Records. 82876.
3. "Ronnie Milsap Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
4. "Cover versions of A Legend in My Time written by Don Gibson | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
5. Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
6. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 67.