His version, released on the Barnaby Records label, was produced by Ray Stevens and was a U.S. chart single in the fall of 1971, reaching number 65.

Billy "Crash" Craddock recorded the song three years later on the album Rub It In, taking it to Number One on the country music charts and Top 20 on the pop charts in 1974.

He told Tom Roland in The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits that many stations refused to play it at first because they thought it was risque.

"I said, 'We're talking about suntan lotion, and if you still think it's risque, then don't play it,'" Craddock said.

Craddock eventually recorded a sequel to the song, “You Rubbed It In All Wrong,” which borrows heavily from the original song's melody but instead replaces the lotion with sand, as the man's lover is discovered to be cheating on him.