B-side "Do It" Format 7" single Length 4:33 | Released April 1975 (1975-04) Genre schlager | |
 | ||
Recorded 1975 at EMI-Bovema Studios, Heemstede, Netherlands | ||
"Mississippi" is a song by Dutch country pop band Pussycat. Written by Werner Theunissen and produced by Eddy Hilberts, "Mississippi" was the group's only number-one single.
History
Werner Theunissen wrote "Mississippi" in 1969 being inspired by the Bee Gees song "Massachusetts". The song grabbed EMI Bovema's attention, and they decided to sign the band. By December 1975, the song became a massive hit seller at the number one position in the Dutch charts, followed by its international success in 1976 pushing the song into the charts across Europe and the United Kingdom as far as Africa and Australia, where it reached number one in August 1976. It spent four weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in October 1976. In South America, it charted for 129 weeks. It is estimated to have sold five million copies worldwide.
The song was promoted by John Saunders Hughes in the UK through a Liverpool radio station. The lyrics are about the history of music, how rock music became more popular than country music.
Another version of this song was recorded by Barbara Fairchild. There is also a version in Spanish called "Te Necesito" by the Colombian singer Fernando Calle. Another notable cover version was recorded by Swedish dansband Vikingarna, that released the song in Swedish, with lyrics by Margot Borgström in April 1976, less than six months after the original release. The Swedish song title was also "Mississippi", and it appeared on the band's album Kramgoa Låtar 3 the same year.
There was also a Czech version of this song performed by singer and actress Petra Černocká.