"Marie Laveau" is a 1974 live recording by 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:...

. "Marie Laveau" was Bobby Bare's thirty-fourth single to hit the country charts, which became his only number one. It was written by Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Allan "Shel" Silverstein , was an American poet, singer-songwriter, musician, composer, cartoonist, screenwriter and author of children's books. He styled himself as Uncle Shelby in his children's books...

. "Marie Laveau" went to number one for a single week and spent a total of eighteen weeks on the country charts.

The song is about a fictitious witch who lived in a Louisiana bayou swamp, having the same name as the famous New Orleans voodoo priestess

Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voodoo renown in New Orleans. She was born free in New Orleans....

who is approached by a scoundrel, "Handsome Jack". Jack asks Marie to conjure up $1,000,000; in exchange, Jack will then marry Marie. Marie conjures up the money, but Jack backs out on his end of the deal, resulting in Marie casting a spell on Jack in revenge.

Chart performance

Chart (1974)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1