Nutbush City Limits

For the album, see Nutbush City Limits (album).

"Nutbush City Limits"
Single by Ike & Tina Turner
from the album Nutbush City Limits
B-side"Help Him"
ReleasedAugust 1973 (1973-08)
StudioBolic Sound (Inglewood, California)
Genre
Length2:57
LabelUnited Artists
Songwriter(s)Tina Turner
Producer(s)Ike Turner
Ike & Tina Turner singles chronology
"Work On Me"
(1973) 		"Nutbush City Limits"
(1973) 		"Sweet Rhode Island Red"
(1974)
Official Audio
"Nutbush City Limits" on YouTube
"Nutbush City Limits (Live)"
Single by Tina Turner
from the album Tina Live in Europe
B-side"Overnight Sensation" (live), "Legs" (live)
ReleasedMarch 16, 1988 (1988-03-16)
GenreRock
Length3:30
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Tina Turner
Producer(s)John Hudson
Tina Turner singles chronology
"Afterglow"
(1987) 		"Nutbush City Limits (Live)"
(1988) 		"Addicted to Love (Live)"
(1988)
"Nutbush City Limits
(The 90s Version)"
Single by Tina Turner
from the album Simply the Best
B-side"The Best"
ReleasedSeptember 1991 (1991-09)[4]
GenreDance-pop
Length3:42
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Tina Turner
Producer(s)Chris "C. J." Mackintosh,
Dave Dorrell
Tina Turner singles chronology
"It Takes Two"
(1990) 		"Nutbush City Limits
(The 90s Version)"
(1991) 		"Way of the World"
(1991)
Music video
"Nutbush City Limits" on YouTube

"Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 1973, it is one of the last hits that husband-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner released together.

In the years since, "Nutbush City Limits" has been performed by popular artists such as Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band, and Turner herself re-recorded several different versions of the song.

As an unincorporated rural community, Nutbush does not have geographical city limits; rather, its general boundaries are indicated by signs reading "Nutbush, Unincorporated" which are posted on the local highway (Tennessee State Route 19).[5]

A line dance to the song, called the "Nutbush", created in the 1970s disco era, took off in Australia during the 1980s, and it has seen sustained success, gaining viral popularity internationally through TikTok.[6][7] In May 2024, ABC News Australia reported on research indicating that the dance routine for Nutbush City Limits was invented by the education department of the State of New South Wales in Australia, having been distributed to teacher training institutions as a teaching aid in 1975.[8][9]

  1. ^ Henry Epps (August 29, 2012). Great Achievements by African-American Women vol II. Lulu.com. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-1-300-13855-6.
  2. ^ Elliott, Paul (May 30, 2016). "The Top 20 Greatest Funk Rock Songs". TeamRock. Team Rock Limited. Archived from the original on June 2, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Rolling Stone Staff (May 24, 2023). "Tina Turner: 15 Essential Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 24, 2023. The result was "Nutbush City Limits," a grease R&B-meets-country-rock stomp...
  4. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 847. ISBN 9780862415419.
  5. ^ Machnitzki, Thomas R. (October 11, 2004). "Nutbush, TN 38063 Tina Turner's Childhood Home in Tennessee". Retrieved November 21, 2007. Photographic documentation of contemporary Nutbush.
  6. ^ "Smac on TikTok". TikTok. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  7. ^ "Thanks To TikTok The World Has Discovered Australia's Obsession With The Nutbush". Junkee. December 3, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "Nutbush City Limits researchers trace origins of renowned dance to NSW education department". ABC News. May 24, 2024. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  9. ^ "Doing the Nutbush: how Australia got its very own line dance". Taylor & Francis online. July 25, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2024.