"I Always Get Lucky With You" is a song written by

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 ...

, Freddy Powers, Gary Church, and Tex Whitson. It was first recorded by Haggard on his 1981 album '' Big City'' and then covered 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

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 ...

in April 1983 as the second single from the album '' Shine On''. The song was Jones' ninth and final number one on the country chart as a solo artist (and thirteenth overall). The single stayed at number one for one week and spent thirteen weeks on the country chart.

Background

Co-writer Merle Haggard recorded the song first on his 1981 hit LP '' Big City'' but did not release it as a single. According to the Stephen L. Betts ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' article "George Jones Gets 'Lucky' with Merle Haggard Song" published online on February 13, 2015, Haggard's manager, Tex Whitson, first pitched it to Jones' producer

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

because Jones and Haggard were on the outs at the time. "I'd get mad at him over the years because of his self-damage, but everything I said to him was out of love," Haggard wrote in an article for ''Rolling Stone'' after his friend died. "Imagine you're George Jones, and every night you're expected to sing as good as you did on a song like '

She Thinks I Still Care "She Thinks I Still Care" is a country song written by Dickey Lee and Steve Duffy. First popularized by George Jones, the song has been recorded by many artists, including Connie Francis, Anne Murray, Elvis Presley and Patty Loveless. Geo ...

.' He was a shy country boy from

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

walking around with that on his shoulders. He knew people expected him to be the greatest country singer that ever lived. He was the

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

of country music, and people expected a home run every time." Sherrill, who had produced Jones and Haggard on their first duet album together '' A Taste of Yesterday's Wine'' the year before, persuaded Jones to cut it. In the 1994 video retrospective ''Golden Hits'', Jones recalled that he "sung it around

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

at some of the clubs to try and get used to it before I went into the studio and it came off great. It's a great song. Merle Haggard wrote a good one there." Jones, who was about to hit rock bottom after spending most of the previous decade in a booze and drug-crazed wasteland, delivered a sterling performance, which became the last chart topper of his career, ironically bumping off "

Pancho and Lefty "Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album ''The Late Great ...

," Haggard's hit duet with

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 ...

. Haggard would record the song again in 2006 as part of the second Jones/Haggard release '' Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again''. A duet version featuring Jones and

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy A ...

was made available on the 2009 Jones LP ''

Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets ''Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets'' is the 60th and final studio album by American country music singer George Jones released on August 19, 2008 on the Bandit Records label. It features duets never before released, including so ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1981 songs 1983 singles Merle Haggard songs George Jones songs Songs written by Merle Haggard Songs written by Freddy Powers Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records singles