"Blue Collar" is a song by the Canadian rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive. It was written by Fred Turner, who also sings the lead vocal. It appears as the third track on their 1973 eponymous debut album. It was the second single from the album released in Canada, following "Gimme Your Money Please"/"Little Gandy Dancer", but the first to be released in the US.
Contents
Background
The song's lyrics contrast the "9 to 5" white-collar worker with the night shift blue-collar worker (represented by the singer). The singer notes that the stressed white-collar worker's "restless face is no longer mine," adding that the night shift worker can "rest my feet while the world's in heat."
Release
The 1973 single peaked at #21 on the Canadian RPM charts, making it the first of BTO's eleven top 40 singles in Canada. It peaked at #68 on the US Billboard charts during the final week of 1973, and was a popular AOR radio song, as evidenced by regional performance in metros like Columbus, Ohio (#15) and Chicago (#23). The song runs 6:10 on the album, while the single version is edited to 4:06.
Reception
Bob Freska from Something Else Reviews writes: "Written and sung by Fred Turner, 'Blue Collar' is a mellow and generally optimistic take on being an off hours working stiff. More importantly, it flirts with something seemingly not in the Bachman-Turner Overdrive wheelhouse: Jazz. It's laid back. It has washy ride cymbals and some very non-rock guitar chords and intervals. The key here is the guitar solo. It's all Bachman. Randy gets a million points for style on this one."
The Vinyl District review by Michael H. Little calls the song "a mid-tempo and syncopated slice of ersatz jazz fusion that's about as blue collar as Oscar Wilde. The fact that I once operated a jackhammer makes me nine times more blue collar than this tune, which features lots of jazzbo guitar vamping, and percussion that could just as well be by Santana."
Personnel
According to the liner notes of Bachman–Turner Overdrive.
C.F. Turner – bass guitar, lead vocals
Randy Bachman – lead guitar
Tim Bachman – rhythm guitar
Robbie Bachman – drums, percussion
Barry Keane – congas
Will MacCalder – piano