Little Green Apples
Little Green Apples is a song written by Bobby Russell that became a hit in 1968 for three different artists, each releasing a separate version.
Roger Miller’s version was the first to hit the charts. He recorded it in January 1968 in Nashville, and it was the lead single from the album A Tender Look at Love. The song reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #6 on the country chart. In the UK it peaked at #19 in spring 1968 and later reached #39 in spring 1969.
Patti Page released her version in June 1968 from the album Gentle on My Mind. It reached #12 on the Easy Listening chart and #96 on the Hot 100, becoming Page’s last Hot 100 appearance.
O. C. Smith released his version in September 1968 from the album Hickory Holler Revisited. It became a bigger hit, reaching #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B chart, and it earned Gold certification for sales. The song helped boost Smith’s profile as an artist.
The song’s writer, Bobby Russell, won two Grammy Awards in 1969 for Little Green Apples: Song of the Year and Best Country Song.
In later years, the song was covered by other artists, including Robbie Williams with Kelly Clarkson in 2013 (a top 40 hit in Mexico) and Jamaican reggae singer George Nooks in 2025 (reaching #7 in Jamaica). Buzz Cason, who worked with Russell, said the song came from an experiment in writing more lifelike, story-driven lyrics. Russell wrote it for Roger Miller, who made the first recording on January 24, 1968 in Nashville, produced by Jerry Kennedy.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:16 (CET).