"Always Wanting You" is a song written and recorded by American

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 ...

artist

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

and The Strangers. It was released in February 1975 as the second single from the album '' Keep Movin' On''. The song was Haggard and The Strangers twentieth number-one single on the U.S. country chart. It stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of ten weeks on the chart.

Content

"Always Wanting You" was written for

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

, because Haggard fell in love with her while recording her song "Kentucky Gambler" but knew they could not be together as both were married to others. Haggard and Parton had toured together during 1974–1975. Haggard expressed his desires for a more intimate relationship on several occasions, but Parton insisted throughout that it could never work (she was married, but he was between wives at the time). After Haggard wrote "Always Wanting You", he sang it to Parton over the phone in the early hours of the morning, hoping it would impress her enough to give in; she declined. Haggard wrote about his experiences in his book ''Sing Me Back Home: My Own Story''; he was not embarrassed about it, nor did Parton claim to be. "Always Wanting You" reached the pinnacle of Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart on April 12, 1975, and was strong enough to remain in that position for two weeks. It was Haggard's sixth number one single in a row, and the 20th of his eventual 38 chart-toppers, the third most in history.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar The Strangers: *

Roy Nichols Roy Ernest Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix ...

– lead guitar * Norman Hamlet – steel guitar, dobro *

Tiny Moore Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was an American Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard du ...

– mandolin * Ronnie Reno – guitar * Mark Yeary – piano * Johnny Meeks - bass *Biff Adam – drums *Don Markham – saxophone

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Popular culture

The song is featured in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas''.

References

{{authority control 1975 singles 1975 songs Merle Haggard songs Songs written by Merle Haggard Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) Capitol Records singles Torch songs