Smoke a Little Smoke

"Smoke a Little Smoke"
Single by Eric Church
from the album Carolina
ReleasedJune 21, 2010
Recorded2009
Genre
Length3:11
LabelCapitol Nashville
Songwriter(s)
  • Eric Church
  • Jeff Hyde
  • Driver Williams
Producer(s)Jay Joyce
Eric Church singles chronology
"Hell on the Heart"
(2009) 		"Smoke a Little Smoke"
(2010) 		"Homeboy"
(2011)

"Smoke a Little Smoke" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Eric Church. It was released in June 2010 as the third and final single from his 2009 album Carolina. It was also the eighth single of Church's career to reach the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart after peaking at number 16. Church wrote this song with Jeff Hyde and Driver Williams.

Critical reception

Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave the song a "thumbs-up", saying that it "puts Church's bravado posturing to good use." She also praised the song's production, saying that it "makes no attempts to temper the song’s spot-on snapshot of trying to lose one’s self[…]in an effort to awkwardly make the project 'country.'"[1] In his review of the album, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine said that the song had "an interesting rhythm track[…]that actually reinforce[s] the tones."[2] Country Standard Time reviewer Jeffrey B. Remz called it a "stark [reminder] that Church is making a valiant attempt to rekindle the outlaw movement."[3] In 2017, Billboard contributor Chuck Dauphin put "Smoke a Little Smoke" at number eight on his top 10 list of Church's best songs.[4]

Music video

Church began filming the song's music video in July 2010. The video includes Church driving vintage cars at Clarksville Speedway, and includes a cameo from NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne.[5] Of the video, Church said that he wanted to "show something[…] that [the fans] haven't seen before."[5] The video was directed by Peter Zavadil.

Chart performance

"Smoke a Little Smoke" first charted in mid-2009 as an album cut, spending one week at number 57 on the Hot Country Songs charts. In June 2010, it re-entered the same chart also at number 57. The song was a minor top 20.

Chart (2010–2011) Peak
position
Canada Country (Billboard)[6] 39
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 16
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 78

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 79

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 40,000*
United States (RIAA)[11] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Justus, Karlie (June 23, 2010). "Eric Church — "Smoke a Little Smoke"". Engine 145. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  2. ^ Keefe, Jonathan (20 March 2009). "Carolina review". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  3. ^ Remz, Jeffrey B. "Eric Church - Carolina". Country Standard Time. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2010.
  4. ^ Dauphin, Chuck (July 4, 2017). "Eric Church's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Phillips, Jessica (16 August 2010). "Eric Church Gets Smoked: It's fast cars and haze for days in Eric Church's video for "Smoke a Little Smoke."". Country Weekly. 17 (33): 50–51. ISSN 1074-3235.
  6. ^ "Eric Church Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  7. ^ "Eric Church Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
  8. ^ "Eric Church Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-09-23.
  9. ^ "Best of 2011: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  10. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Eric Church – Smoke a Little Smoke". Music Canada. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  11. ^ "American single certifications – Eric Church – Smoke a Little Smoke". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 10, 2022.