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Wild and Blue

1982 song performed by John Anderson

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ17065904
Source-derived summary

"Wild and Blue" is a song written by John Scott Sherrill, and recorded by American country music artist John Anderson. It was released in September 1982 as the first single and title track from the album Wild & Blue. The song was Anderson's eleventh country hit and the first of five number ones on the country chart. The single went to number one for two weeks and spent a total of eleven weeks within the top 40. John's sister Donna Kay Anderson provides background vocals.

Punk-folk band The Mekons covered "Wild and Blue" on their 1991 album Curse of the Mekons. The alternative country band Freakwater also recorded their cover of the song in 1991, for their album "Dancing Under Water." The 2014 re-issue of Lucinda Williams' self-titled album includes a live cover of "Wild and Blue", recorded on her 1989 European tour.

Hank Williams Jr. covered the song on his 1984 album Major Moves.

The Country/Southern Rock Band The Steel Woods covered the song on their 2017 album Straw in the Wind.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Wild and Blue” as 1982 song performed by John Anderson. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wild, Blue and song.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1982, 1991, 2014, 1989—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1982-09. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Wild, Blue and song providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Wild and Blue”, the useful work is to connect “1982 song performed by John Anderson” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17065904. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1982, 1991, 2014 and 1989.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Wild and Blue”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Wild and Blue primary sources, Wild and Blue archive and Wild research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wild and Blue”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Wild and Blue” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.