This day in 1972, Tom T. Hall records “(Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine” around noon at Mercury Custom Recording Studio in Nashville.

The song was Hall’s third number one on the U.S. country singles chart. “(Old Dogs, Children And) Watermelon Wine” spent one week at the top and a total of thirteen weeks on the chart. On June 1, 2014, Rolling Stone ranked it at #93 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.

The song is a true account of Hall’s experience at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, where he had a conversation with a janitor at a Miami Beach hotel. The janitor appraises his own life by concluding that the only worthwhile things are the three listed in the song’s title.