"Streets of Baltimore" is a heavily covered country song written by Tompall Glaser

Tompall Glaser

Tompall Glaser is an American country music artist. Active since the 1950s, he has recorded both as a solo artist and with his brothers Chuck and Jim in the trio Tompall & the Glaser Brothers...

 and Harlan Howard

Harlan Howard

Harlan Perry Howard was a prolific American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote a large number of popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists...

 in 1966.

Although Glaser co-wrote the song, his group, Tompall Glaser & The Glaser Brothers

Tompall & the Glaser Brothers

Tompall & The Glaser Brothers was an American country music group composed of three brothers: Chuck, Jim, and Tompall Glaser, all of whom also had success in the 1970s as solo artists. Between 1960 and 1975, the trio recorded ten studio albums, and charted nine singles on the Billboard Hot Country...

, were not the first to record the song. Bobby Bare

Bobby Bare

Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...

 released his Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...

-produced version in June 1966; the Glasers recorded theirs only in September 1966.

The singer tells us he broke up from his home to take his wife to where she wanted to be - Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

. After working hard and trying to make a home, he finds out his wife loves Baltimore more than she loves him, so he returns to his Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 farm without her.

Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...

' version of the song has been featured on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Wire

The WIRE

the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...

, which is set in Baltimore.

Recordings

• Bleed The Dream
  Bleed the Dream
  Bleed the Dream is an American rock band from Southern California.- Formation to Built by Blood :Keith Thompson had left Baltimore for Los Angeles a year earlier to follow his musical career. A month into 2003, Brandon Thomas left Baltimore too after speaking with Keith. Bleed the Dream had been...
  
  
• Bobby Bare
  Bobby Bare
  Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...
  
  
• The Bluegrass Patriots
• The Flying Burrito Brothers
  The Flying Burrito Brothers
  The Flying Burrito Brothers was an early country rock band, best known for its influential debut album,The Gilded Palace of Sin . Although the group is most often mentioned in connection with country rock legends Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, the group underwent many personnel changes.-Original...
  
  
• Nanci Griffith
  Nanci Griffith
  Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
  
  
• The Little Willies
  The Little Willies
  The Little Willies is a band formed in 2003. It features Norah Jones on piano and vocals, Richard Julian on vocals, Jim Campilongo on guitar, Lee Alexander on bass, and Dan Rieser on drums....
  
  
• Gram Parsons
  Gram Parsons
  Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
  
  
• Charley Pride
  Charley Pride
  Charley Frank Pride is an American country music singer. His smooth baritone voice was featured on thirty-nine number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. His greatest success came in the early- to mid-1970s, when he became the best-selling performer for RCA Records since Elvis...
  
  
• The Patuxent Partners
• Red Meat
  Red Meat (band)
  Red Meat is a country band that has released the albums "Meet Red Meat" , "Thirteen" , "Alameda County Line" and "We Never Close" . The last three albums were produced by Dave Alvin, and engineered by Mark Linett...
  
  
• Michael Rossback
• Skik (as De grachten van Amsterdam)
• The Statler Brothers
• Evan Dando
  Evan Dando
  Evan Griffith Dando is an American musician, most famous for fronting the alternative rock band The Lemonheads. He is the only original member left in the current Lemonheads line-up, having served as lead singer since the band's original formation in 1986...
  
  
• The Capitol Showband