"Stop and Smell the Roses" is the title of a 1974 song (see
1974 in music-Events:*January - The Ramones form.*January - Joni Mitchell releases her monumental album Court and Spark, supported by the single "Help Me" reaching the highest moment of commercial success....
) by the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
Mac DavisMorris Mac Davis, known as Mac Davis , is a country music singer and songwriter originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much pop music crossover success. He became one of the most successful country singers of the 1970s and 1980s. He is also an actor...
. The song was written by Davis and the noted
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and trumpeter
Doc SeverinsenCarl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
.
Released as a
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
from his album of the same name (not to be confused with
the albumStop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 1981 following the twin commercial disasters of Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy...
released in 1981 by
Ringo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE , better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the rock group The Beatles. When The Beatles formed in 1960, Starr belonged to another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes....
), the song "Stop and Smell the Roses" became Davis' second Top 10 hit on the
U.S. pop chartThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, where it peaked at #9 in the fall of 1974. The song remained in the Top 40 for ten weeks.
"Stop and Smell the Roses" is the title of a 1974 song (see
1974 in music-Events:*January - The Ramones form.*January - Joni Mitchell releases her monumental album Court and Spark, supported by the single "Help Me" reaching the highest moment of commercial success....
) by the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
Mac DavisMorris Mac Davis, known as Mac Davis , is a country music singer and songwriter originally from Lubbock, Texas who has enjoyed much pop music crossover success. He became one of the most successful country singers of the 1970s and 1980s. He is also an actor...
. The song was written by Davis and the noted
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and trumpeter
Doc SeverinsenCarl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen is an American pop and jazz trumpeter. He is best known for leading the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.-Early life:...
.
Released as a
singleIn music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats.-History:...
from his album of the same name (not to be confused with
the albumStop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 1981 following the twin commercial disasters of Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy...
released in 1981 by
Ringo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE , better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the rock group The Beatles. When The Beatles formed in 1960, Starr belonged to another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes....
), the song "Stop and Smell the Roses" became Davis' second Top 10 hit on the
U.S. pop chartThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, where it peaked at #9 in the fall of 1974. The song remained in the Top 40 for ten weeks. On the
U.S. adult contemporary chartThe Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
, "Stop and Smell the Roses" became the singer's second #1 hit, following "
Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me"Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" was a hit song by country and pop singer-songwriter Mac Davis. Coming from his breakthrough album of the same name, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1972, spending three weeks atop that chart...
". On the
U.S. country music chartHot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
, where Davis has enjoyed considerable success, the song reached #40. Also that year,
Henson CargillHenson Cargill was a country music singer best known for the 1968 #1 hit, "Skip a Rope".-Career:Henson's career started in his home state of Oklahoma, performing at clubs around Oklahoma City and Tulsa. His family was active in politics and raised buffalo on a ranch outside Oklahoma City. His...
took a rendition to #29 on the same chart.
Severinsen was best known as the bandleader on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
late-night talk show
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992....
. Davis was an occasional guest on the show, and during this time the two became acquainted. Following an appearance on the show, Severinsen approached Davis with the idea of recording a song that included the phrase "stop and smell the roses", since he had recently heard the phrase from a physician. Soon after, Davis vacationed in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
and wrote the song, crediting Severinsen as a co-writer for giving him the idea. Severinsen was quoted as saying that Davis "could've gone ahead and written the song and not done that."
The lyrics to the song advise that while it is often necessary to forsake family obligations and pleasurable activities in order to succeed professionally, everyone should make sure that they take some time to "stop and smell the roses along the way".