Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” Has Made an Unknown a Superstar. We’ve Been Here Before.



The debut track, "Rich Men North of Richmond," marked Oliver Anthony's inaugural recording experience with a professional microphone. A surprise hit in the country genre, the song, lasting a mere three minutes, achieves a myriad of objectives. It functions as a rallying cry for the working class ("Trading my soul, toiling all day/ Working overtime for meager pay"), a conservative call to action ("Your currency holds no value, taxed relentlessly"), and an entry point for those intrigued by conspiracy theories ("I wish politicians cared for miners, not just minors on an isolated island").

However, despite its title, the composition doesn't exclusively target wealthy individuals. The most prominent adversaries depicted in "Rich Men North of Richmond" aren't the affluent elite. In the second verse, Anthony passionately laments, "Streets teeming with the hungry, struggling to find sustenance/ The obese benefiting from welfare," providing a vivid picture of the situation. He completes the image in the subsequent lines, asserting, "If you're 300 pounds and five-foot-three/ Tax funds shouldn't fuel your Fudge Round indulgence."

Similarly unconventional was Guy Drake's path to musical success. Born in Kentucky in 1904, he held a range of odd jobs, including assisting an undertaker. He recounted an epiphany that struck him in middle age during the mid-1960s. While perched high on a radio tower, engaged in painting, he bore witness to an unsettling scene:

From my elevated vantage point, I spotted a hybrid dwelling, combining wood and a Holiday Inn sign, topped by a patchwork roof of slabs, tin, and linoleum. Children roamed, some old enough for school, completely unclothed. Adults were nowhere in sight. What truly captured my attention was the presence of a Cadillac parked before this structure.

Drake claimed to have jotted down lyrics on a paint can label after descending, thus creating his debut song. For years, he struggled to find someone willing to record his lyrics until 1969, when he invested $1,500 of his own money to produce a record. Shortly thereafter, "Welfare Cadilac" (spelled with one "L") traversed the nation, garnering fans and sparking controversy.

"Welfare Cadilac" can be better described as a drawling spoken-word poem than a conventional song. Drake, with his deliberate Kentucky accent, describes a dilapidated dwelling with broken screens and cracked walls: "The place isn't much, but I don't pay rent." Amidst this depiction of decay, he injects a hint of mischief, "At the start of each month, a government check I receive/ On Wednesdays, commodities arrive, sacks aplenty from the welfare office/ And my new Cadillac serves as my mode of transportation."

Drake's creation made its mark on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart in January 1970. A month later, Variety reported that 50 welfare recipients protested at a Kansas City radio station, demanding the song be taken off the air. An Oregon welfare official also recorded a statement for radio stations in the state, advocating for empathy towards the impoverished.

Guy Drake reveled in satire. His television performances of "Welfare Cadilac" featured a toothless grin and an exaggeratedly large lapel flower. Amidst the protests, Drake maintained that his intention was to provoke laughter, not anger: "I didn't write this song to incite anyone," he told reporters. "I wanted people to laugh because I believed that laughter could divert their attention from their troubles." He also clarified, "If someone isn't on welfare and doesn't own a Cadillac, then I'm not referencing them."


However, not everyone found his explanation persuasive. Rolling Stone magazine labeled Drake's song as "offensively racist," a three-minute piece perpetuating the notion that lazy individuals thrive while diligent Americans suffer. Nevertheless, in 1970, a substantial number of Americans were humming Drake's composition. In a poll conducted by a Louisville station, listeners voted 28 to 1 in favor of "Welfare Cadilac."

Drake's most influential supporter and publicist turned out to be the President of the United States. In 1970, Richard Nixon asked Johnny Cash to perform three songs during a visit to the White House: "A Boy Named Sue," "Okie From Muskogee," and "Welfare Cadilac." This move triggered protests from civil rights officials once it became public. Meanwhile, Drake's record sales tripled, surging from 5,000 to 15,000 copies per day.

Ultimately, Cash declined to perform "Welfare Cadilac" for Nixon or anyone else. Nonetheless, Guy Drake's record and the discussions surrounding it continued to thrive. Drake's record label, Royal American, released a cover version by Jerry McCain, a Black blues artist. Rolling Stone's assessment of it was unenthusiastic: "Almost indistinguishable from the original, except for McCain's Amos and Andy-style laughter at the end of each verse, exclaiming, 'Isn't that fortunate?'"