"Peaceful" is a song written by Kenny Rankin

Kenny Rankin

Kenny Rankin was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.-Biography:...

, and recorded by several artists. It is best known as a 1973 hit single for Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy

Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...

.

Introduced by Rankin on his 1967 debut album Mind Dusters on Mercury Records

Mercury Records

Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

, "Peaceful" was recorded by Bobbie Gentry

Bobbie Gentry

Roberta Lee Streeter , professionally known as Bobbie Gentry, is a former American singer-songwriter notable as one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material...

 for her 1968 album Local Gentry

Local Gentry

Local Gentry is the third album by Bobbie Gentry. The second of four albums she released in 1968, it was produced by Kelly Gordon.-Side one:# "Sweete Peony 2:26" *# "Casket Vignette 2:34" *...

 on Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 and a 1969 single by Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame

Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...

 - produced by Mike Smith and arranged/conducted by Keith Mansfield

Keith Mansfield

Keith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...

 for CBS

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 - reached #16 UK that summer. Fame's version of "Peaceful" had a concurrent single release in the US by Epic Records

Epic Records

Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, prompting Mercury to issue Rankin's original track as a single but neither single charted. "Peaceful" was also recorded in 1969 by the Friends of Distinction for their Grazin album on RCA

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

.

Rankin re-recorded the song in 1972, in a new arrangement for his album Like a Seed, his Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

 debut and first chart appearance. That same year Helen Reddy recorded "Peaceful" for her 1972 I Am Woman album. Issued as the follow-up to the #1 hit "I Am Woman

I Am Woman

"I Am Woman" is a song cowritten by Helen Reddy and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Burton and performed by Reddy. Released in its most well-known version in 1970, the song became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement.-Success:...

" in February 1973 and rising as high as #3 in St. Louis

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

 and #2 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 (WCFL

WCFL (AM)

WCFL was the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, hence its call letters. The station is now known as WMVP. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove and is still in use by WMVP...

), Reddy's version of "Peaceful" peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 that May. "Peaceful" also became Reddy's second consecutive #2 Easy Listening

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks

The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...

 hit: the follow-up "Delta Dawn" would be Reddy's first Easy Listening #1 (the first of six consecutive and eight overall).

In September 1996 Rhino

Rhino Entertainment

Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...

issued a retrospective Kenny Rankin album with "Peaceful" as the title cut, the full title being Peaceful: The Best of Kenny Rankin.