Amazed at the number of people who respond to articles about songs and song writers, this one was my pick as the best in country, and it’ll come to a surprise to George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Merle Haggard.
Regular readers are familiar with my habit – writing about famous songs and song writers made popular in the golden days of AM radio – when disc jockeys held us all in the palm of their hand while we waited for them to play that one special record.
The reason for this is that while I’ve played, officiated, and written about sports at just about every level, I actually came out of college with degrees in music – education and performance. I’ve always had an ear for tunes and harmonies. So I love it when someone takes the time to write and offer their appreciation for the latest ‘story behind the story’ of a song from the past.
Like Dale, who wrote recently and said, “I wish you would do it more.” And then he offered this bit of bait: “What do you think is the best country song ever recorded…like what you did recently about Lulu and her song, To Sir With Love?”
First, Dale, any honest answer is bound to offend the senses of fans of George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, and Alan Jackson…because all of those people wrote or recorded what most others believe to be the best of the best, on popularity alone. But there are so many that never got the radio play of George singing He Stopped Loving Her Today, or Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man. So you’ve offered a fun opportunity, and I’m going to give you an answer that will come as a surprise to a whole lot of people. Technically, this is my choice for the best, and most complete combination of story, lyrics, and harmonies to ever come out in a country hit.
Recorded by David Wills in 1974, famous writer and producer Billy Sherrill wrote a song entitled There’s A Song On The Jukebox that fit Wills’ voice and ability to communicate a lyric as well as any country artist who ever recorded a hit. And while he didn’t have that many hits, a few people today remember David Wills for Song On The Jukebox, despite his efforts to compete in that era alongside Jones, Haggard, Wynette, and the early offerings of Dolly Parton.
At the time Wills was living in Memphis, Tennessee, scraping to make a living while playing local honkey-tonks four nights a week. Desperate for a break of fortune, he heard about a talent show in Lakeland, Florida, specifically looking for new and different talents that might be the next generation of Nashville names. Wills wanted to go, but didn’t have the $15 it took to enter, nor did he have the travel money to get there and back.
Enter a Memphis businessman named Sy Rosenberg, the long-time manager of singer Charlie Rich, who had heard Wills in the bars, liked him, and offered to pay his freight to Lakeland and back. As it turned out, Wills got there and turned the right heads, and within a month of getting back to Memphis had a contract with Epic Records. He just didn’t have a song.
Enter Sherrill, with co-writer Carmol Taylor, who had put lyrics and tune together and thought the voice and style of Wills, along with the ever-growing popularity of the big Nashville Sound in the background, had all the makings of a hit. Wills saw his opportunity, took it, and hit it out of the park.
If you listen to the embedded cut in the column, the first you recognize is his enunciation of the lyrics. It’s crystal clear.
The next thing that impresses is the variety of instrumentation – guitar, piano, steel guitar, some strings, and the best background voices that Sherrill could find.
And finally, it’s just a love song that has instant country appeal. Put those three things together and you get the following:
Of course, opinions are like noses. Everybody’s got one. But for all the things, technically, it takes to make a great recording sound – lyrics, tune, harmonies, and instrumentation – There’s A Song On The Jukebox is one of the few country tunes ever written that’s so appealing as to make you want to listen to it over and over. Someone once wrote about He Stopped Loving Her Today, “It’s just interesting. Macabre, but interesting.”
There’s A Song On The Jukebox is hardly macabre. And to make it better, David Wills is still out there, now dedicated almost entirely to song writing after charting hits of his own between 1974 and 1988. Since then he’s written hits for Garth Brooks, George Strait, Martina McBride, Patty Loveless, Janie Fricke and Toby Keith.
Just my opinion…but this was one of Billy Sherrill’s best, or anyone’s, best – the story behind the story of a great country tune.
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