"Leave Them Boys Alone" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter and musician

Hank Williams Jr. Randall Hank Williams (born May 26, 1949), known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. or Bocephus, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style has been described as a blend of rock, blues, and country. He is the son of count ...

with

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

Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), marked ...

. It was released in May 1983 as the second single from Williams' album '' Strong Stuff''. The song reached number six on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. It was written by Williams,

Dean Dillon Dean Dillon (born Larry Dean Flynn; March 26, 1955) is an American country musician and songwriter. Between 1982 and 1993, he recorded six studio albums on various labels, and charted several singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts. Since 1 ...

, Gary Stewart, and

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

Content

The lyrics of the song, much like Williams' "Family Tradition" echo the sentiment that the outlaw singers and their current escapades were antedated by the hard-living honky-tonkers of the 1950s, such as Hank Williams, Sr., and Ernest Tubb, prior to the music being fairly taken over by the Nashville Sound in the 1960s.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Strong Stuff'' for ''Record'' magazine, Lee Ballinger dismissed "Leave Them Boys Alone" as the album's "obligatory song about other Southern musicians".

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1983 singles 1983 songs Hank Williams Jr. songs Waylon Jennings songs Ernest Tubb songs Elektra Records singles Curb Records singles Songs written by Dean Dillon Songs written by Hank Williams Jr. Song recordings produced by Jimmy Bowen Vocal collaborations