"The Tennessee Waltz" is a popular/country music song written by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King in 1947.

Originally recorded by Roy Acuff, it was later popularized by Patti Page and by Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1950.

The popularity of this song also made it the fourth official song of the state of Tennessee in 1965. It was adopted by Senate Joint Resolution 9 of the 84th General Assembly.

Like "Ignition (Remix)", and "Crocodile Rock", "The Tennessee Waltz" is a self-referential song, i.e. a song about the song itself.

The 1949 Roy Acuff & The Smoky Mountain Boys recording was issued by Columbia as catalog number 20551.

The song was originally written by Jimmy Wilkinson (Jimmy Wilson) and sold to Pee Wee King who made it popular. Jimmy Wilkinson was the upright bass player for Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys.

Patti Page was familiar with "Tennessee Waltz" as it was a favorite song of her father's. She made her recording of the song to be the B-side of a seasonal single "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" issued by Mercury Records as catalog number 5534; it was radio disc jockeys who chose to play "Tennessee Waltz" boosting the track into the pop music chart on November 10, 1950 for a 30 week chart run with a #1 peak. A #2 C&W hit, "Tennessee Waltz" became Page's career record.

The success of the Patti Page version led to covers by Les Paul with Mary Ford (Capitol 1316) and Jo Stafford (Columbia 39065) both of which reached the Top Ten (Stafford's at #7).

Other recordings were made by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (Decca 27336) and, for the UK market, by Petula Clark.

On the charts, "Tennessee Waltz" reached #1 on December 30, 1950 with the Patti Page, Jo Stafford, Guy Lombardo and LesPaul/Mary Ford versions being given a tandem ranking; as such "Tennessee Waltz" remained #1 in Cash Boxthrough the February 3, 1951 chart.

"Tennessee Waltz" returned to the charts in the fall of 1959 via a rockabilly version recorded by both Bobby Comstock & the Counts and Jerry Fuller: on the Hot 100 the versions respectively reached #52 and #63 while Cash Boxassigned both versions a joint ranking on its Top 100 Singles chart with a peak position of #42.

In 1964 "Tennessee Waltz" was recorded in a rock and roll ballad style by Alma Cogan; this version hit the German Top Ten and spent five weeks at #1 in Sweden. The success of Cogan's version has inspired remakes by Swedish singers Kikki Danielsson and Lotta Engberg and by German singer Heidi Brühl.

Sam Cooke included an upbeat version of "Tennessee Waltz" on the final album he recorded: the 1 March 1964 release Ain't That Good News: originally the B-side of the track "Good Times", "Tennessee Waltz" became popular enough in itself to reach #35. The "Good Times/ Tennessee Waltz" double A-side single would be the last Sam Cooke single released during the singer's lifetime.

In 1966, Otis Redding recorded a version of "Tennessee Waltz" featuring Booker T & the MGs on his classic R&B album .

Johnny Jones - a native of Atlanta who had briefly replaced Sam Cooke in the Soul Stirrers before Johnnie Taylor joined the group - reached #49 R&B in 1968 with his deep soul rendition of "Tennessee Waltz" cut for producer Bobby Robinson's Fury Records.

In 1980 Lacy J. Dalton hit #18 on the C&W chart in Billboardwith her gritty reworking of "Tennessee Waltz".

In 1983 the song was featured on James Brown's Bring It Onalbum that was released on the Churchill record label.

Norah Jones performed "Tennessee Waltz" as an encore during a live show at the House of Blues in New Orleans on August 24th 2002. It is featured as extra material on the following DVD-release of the show.

Leonard Cohen recorded "Tennessee Waltz" - one of the few covers he's ever cut - for his 2004 album Dear Heather; this version featured an additional verse written by Cohen himself.

Other artists who've recorded "Tennessee Waltz" (with the parent album): Eva Cassidy ( Imagine2002), Holly Cole ( Don't Smoke in Bed1993), Connie Francis, Emmylou Harris ( Cimarron1981), Tom Jones backed by The Chieftans ( Long Black Veil1995), (1995), Pete Molinari ( Today, Tomorrow and Forever2009), Anne Murray ( Let's Keep It That Way1978), Elvis Presley and Billie Jo Spears ( Country Girl1981). [1]

The 3 August 1966 broadcast of The Merv Griffin Showfeatured an impromptu performance of "Tennessee Waltz" by Monti Rock with go-go dancing accompaniment by Jayne Mansfield.

The marching bands of several state funded universities perform the song at the end of every home football game. These include The University of Tennessee Pride of the Southland Band, and The Middle Tennessee State University Band of Blue. The University of Chattanooga Marching Mocs perform the "Tennessee Waltz March" during pre-game of every home football game, as well as at other athletic events. Outside of Tennessee, Baylor University Golden Wave Band in Waco TX, and The Appalachian State University Marching Mountaineers in Boone NC, also play the song at home football games.