In 1972, Don Gibson released what would be his final No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs, “Woman (Sensuous Woman).” The song held the top position for a week and spent a total of sixteen weeks on that chart.
It was also Gibson’s biggest record after conquering his own addiction.
Gibson got the biggest break of his life in 1956 when a staff writer of Acuff-Rose spotted him while performing at a nightclub in Knoxville, Tennessee. Little did he know it would be the start of his flourishing career with RCA Records.
Gibson’s first record for the label was a big hit, and for the next eight years, the North Carolina native grew a dozen more Top Ten records.
However, Gibson was tormented by personal problems and was gaining several pounds. A doctor prescribed him some pills that would help him bring his weight back down, but the singer instead started swallowing as many as twenty-five pills at once. In a 1975 interview, Gibson looked back on that time: “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I lost track of time. I lived from day to day. I was on pep pills and tranquilizers – never the hard stuff, just the pills. They were big trouble.”
Luckily, Gibson married Bobbi Patterson, whom he credits for helping him end his chemical dependency. He then signed up with Hickory Records, which took on an active production role in his recordings. A couple of years later, Gibson was finally able to get back to the top of Billboard’s country chart. And after releasing three singles, “Woman (Sensuous Woman)” put Gibson’s name back to the No. 1 position for the first time since 1958.
For You
The Song That Launched Gibson To No. 1 Position Once Again
Written by Gary S. Paxton, “Woman (Sensuous Woman)” tells the tale of a man who is having a lustful affair. He repeatedly goes outside of his marriage to be with the woman that holds him in a spell.
The song portrays love as an addiction with its references to craving her body and losing control.
“Woman, sensuous woman. You control the world I’m living in. Woman, sensuous woman. Release my body and let me live again. Someone true is waiting. I should be with her. And she don’t know I crave your ecstasy,” the song goes.
Few more artists released their versions of “Woman (Sensuous Woman),” such as Ray Charles in 1984 for his album “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind.” Mark Chesnutt also did ten years later, whose version under the title “Woman, Sensuous Woman” reached No. 21 in the 1994 Billboard Hot Country Songs and even peaked at No. 14 on the Canada RPM Country Tracks.
You can listen to “Woman (Sensuous Woman)” in the video below.
