"Why Baby Why" is a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

song co-written and originally recorded by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily, it peaked at 4 on the '' Billboard'' country charts that year. It was Jones' first chart single, following several unsuccessful singles released during the prior year on Starday. "Why Baby Why", has gone on to become a country standard, having been covered by many artists.

Recording and composition

Jones' recording session for "Why Baby Why" took place at Gold Star Studios in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and featured the house lineup of Glenn Barber on lead guitar, Herb Remington on pedal steel guitar, Tony Sepolio on fiddle, and Doc Lewis on piano. The arrangement is upbeat honky tonk, led by a fiddle that plays throughout the song. Overall, the song has been described as a classic of the "finger-pointin' cheatin' song". In the liner notes to the retrospective ''Cup Of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years'', country music historian Colin Escott observes that part of the song's appeal "lay in the way a Cajun dance number was trying to break free of a honky tonk song." Jones recorded the backing vocal himself, with help from innovative techniques from engineer Bill Quinn, after a planned appearance by more established singer Sonny Burns did not materialize due to the latter's drinking. According to the book ''George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend'', Jones's frequent songwriting partner Darrell Edwards was inspired to write the words after hearing an argument between a couple at a gas station. The lyric sets up the theme of the song:

Credits and personnel

For the 1955 Original recording. *George Jones – vocals, acoustic *Herb Remington – steel *Lew Brisby – bass *Tony Sepolio – fiddle *Doc Lewis – piano

Critical reception

The single's early airplay occurred in Jones' home state of Texas, with Houston's country music station KIKK ranking it number one locally. Their charts were sent to stations around the country, which began to pick it up as well, partially overcoming Starday's regionally limited distribution. However, its progress on the chart was blunted by

Red Sovine Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck-driving country songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music. His most noted examples ar ...

and

Webb Pierce Michael Webb Pierce (August 8, 1921 – February 24, 1991) was an American country music vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist of the 1950s, one of the most popular of the genre, charting more number-one hits than any other country and western pe ...

's cover duet, which benefited from

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

' major label status and national distribution and rose to number one on the chart over the 1955–1956 Christmas holiday period. Jones's rendition was later included as the first track on his 1957 debut album '' Grand Ole Opry's New Star''.

Cover versions

Since the release of Jones' rendition, "Why Baby Why" has been covered by several other artists, many of whom have also charted with it. Jones himself re-recorded it a couple of times as a duet; first with

Gene Pitney Gene Francis Alan Pitney (February 17, 1940 – April 5, 2006) was an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and musician. Pitney charted 16 top-40 hits in the United States, four in the top ten. In the United Kingdom, he had 22 top-40 h ...

for their '' It's Country Time Again!'' album released in 1966, and with

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

for the 1994 album '' The Bradley Barn Sessions'' which featured re-recordings of Jones' songs as duets with various artists. Two different versions of the song have reached Number One on the country charts, making it one of the only country songs to hold that distinction. Artists who have had country chart hits with renditions of this song include the following: *

and

, #1 in 1956 *

Hank Locklin Lawrence Hankins Locklin (February 15, 1918 – March 8, 2009) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He had 70 chart singles, including two number one hits on ''Billboard''s country chart. His biggest hits included " Send Me the ...

, #9 later in 1956 * Warren Smith and Shirley Collie, #23 in 1961 *

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

, #1 in 1983 *

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...

, recorded the song in 1976 for his 1977 album ''

Thunderbyrd ''Thunderbyrd'' is an album by the American musician Roger McGuinn, released in 1977 on the Columbia Records label. Following the success of his 1976 album ''Cardiff Rose'', McGuinn intended to make another album in collaboration with its produc ...

'' *

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

and

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

recorded the song for their 1983 album '' Take It to the Limit''. *

The Good Brothers The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from Richmond Hill, Ontario. The band's core members are Brian Good (guitar), his twin brother Bruce Good (autoharp) and younger brother Larry Good (banjo). ...

, #20 in 1991 in CanadaRPM Country Tracks - Volume 53, No. 10, February 09 1991
/ref> * Palomino Road, #46 in 1992 *

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

cut the song in 2008. * Peter Grudzien "Early". *Actors

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor. Shannon received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations, for '' Revolutionary Road'' (2008), and '' Nocturnal Animals'' (2016). He received Screen Actors Guil ...

and

Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in projects with Feminism, feminist themes, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Jessica Chastain, various ...

covered the song for the 2022 miniseries '' George & Tammy''.

References

{{Hank Locklin, state=autocollapse 1955 singles 1956 singles 1961 singles 1982 singles 2008 singles Shirley Collie songs George Jones songs Patty Loveless songs Palomino Road songs Webb Pierce songs Charley Pride songs Red Sovine songs Hank Locklin songs Warren Smith (singer) songs The Good Brothers songs Male vocal duets Songs written by George Jones Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson RCA Records singles 1955 songs Starday Records singles Song recordings produced by Pappy Daily