"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),[1] as well as #2 in the United Kingdom. It spent three weeks at #1 on the Australian music charts,[2] 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.[3] 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. [4][5][6][7][8][9] Desperate to continue the relationship, Silverstein called Pandolfi's mother, Louisa, but she told him the love had ended.[10]
The lyrics tell a similar story: A man, despondent after learning that Sylvia (with whom he had an earlier relationship) is leaving town, tries to telephone her to say one last goodbye. However, Sylvia's mother (Mrs. Avery) answers the phone, and tells him that Sylvia is engaged to be married and is trying to start a new life in Galveston, Texas. She asks the narrator not to say anything to Sylvia because she might start crying and want to stay. She pauses for a moment, telling him Sylvia is hurrying to catch a 9 o'clock train. She then returns to the phone conversation and thanks the narrator (who is never named) for calling. Several times during the conversation, an operator interrupts to ask for more money ("40 cents more for the next three minutes") to continue the call.
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."[11]
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 BillboardHot Country Singles chart that October. One of the last hits he had during his stay at Mercury Records, "Sylvia's Mother" was the first of many Silverstein-penned successes for Bare, including an entire album (1973's Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies), as well as "Marie Laveau", "The Winner", "Rosalie's Good Eats Café", "The Mermaid", "Warm and Free", and others.
References
^Fread Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (New York, Billboard, 2003), p. 312
