"Making Believe" 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 written by

Jimmy Work Jimmy Work (March 29, 1924 – December 22, 2018) was an American country musician and songwriter best known for the country standard " Making Believe". Work was born in Akron, Ohio, but moved to Dukedom, Tennessee, with his family at age two. ...

Kitty Wells Ellen Muriel Deason (August 30, 1919 – July 16, 2012), known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording " It Wasn't God ...

recorded a chart-topping version in 1955. The song is on many lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years, including Thorleifs,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Don Gibson Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjo ...

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

Lefty Frizzell William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country and honky-tonk singer-songwriter. Frizell is known as one of the most influential country music vocal stylists of all time. He has been cited as in ...

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American retired singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of Rock music, rock, Country music, country and Gospel music, gospel. She was among th ...

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

Anita Carter Ina Anita Carter (March 31, 1933 – July 29, 1999) was an American singer who played upright bass, guitar, and autoharp. She performed with her sisters, Helen and June, and her mother, Maybelle, initially under the name The Carter Sisters a ...

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 ...

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

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 ...

, The Kendalls,

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 ...

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis ...

, The Haden Triplets,

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards). Emerg ...

and

Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish Rock music, rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll and Heavy metal music, heavy metal. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Michael Poulsen, drummer Jon Lars ...

. The song is occasionally called "Makin' Believe". Singer-songwriter Work released the song as a single in February 1955 on

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In its early years, Dot sp ...

, and it reached #5 on ''

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 ...

s country music jukebox charts. A month later, singer Kitty Wells released the song as a single which hit #2 on the country charts and remained there for 15 weeks, still a record for a song in the runner-up position on the country Billboard charts. The song was blocked to #1 by the 21-weeks long " In the Jailhouse Now" by

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 ...

. The song is a melancholy ballad about not getting over a former lover. The singer daydreams that they are still loved by the old flame even while fully knowing "you'll never be mine" again. The song received new attention with three single releases in 1977-78, The Kendalls hitting #80 with the song, their first release on

Ovation Records Ovation Records was an American independent record label based in Glenview, Illinois. The label was founded in 1969 by Dick Schory, who had been on RCA Records with his Percussion Pops Orchestra and had helped create the Dynagroove process used ...

. A few months later,

climbed to #7 with her version. The following January,

and The Strangers received considerable airplay for their version, which was the B side of their single "Running Kind".

Billy Joe Royal Billy Joe Royal (April 3, 1942 – October 6, 2015) was an American country soul singer. His most successful record was " Down in the Boondocks" in 1965. Life and career Born in Valdosta, Georgia, to Clarence and Mary Sue Smith Royal, and ra ...

also released a cover version of the song.

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

and

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

released a duet version of the song in 1988 and used it as the title track for their final album together. Although the song was not a radio hit for them, it was a popular number at their concerts and the album sold fairly well via television ads. Ray Charles released this song on the album ''

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two ''Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music Volume Two'' is a 1962 album by Ray Charles. It is the second volume of country and western recordings by Charles following his landmark Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, debut on ABC Record ...

'' in 1962. Punk rock group

released this song on the album ''

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell ''Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell'' is the fourth studio album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on February 11, 1992. Following up on the surprise success of their breakthrough singles " Ball and Chain" and " Story of My L ...

'' in 1992, and they also included the song on the DVD '' Live in Orange County'' released in 2003. Metal band

also released this song on the album '' Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood'' in 2008.

Personnel for Merle Haggard version

– vocals, guitar The Strangers: * Roy Nichols – lead guitar * Norman Hamlet – steel guitar, dobro * Tiny Moore – mandolin * Ronnie Reno – guitar * Mark Yeary – piano * James Tittle – bass *Biff Adam – drums *Don Markham – saxophone

Chart performance

Jimmy Work

Kitty Wells

The Kendalls

Emmylou Harris

References

External links

* {{authority control 1955 singles 1977 singles Jimmy Work songs Kitty Wells songs Emmylou Harris songs The Kendalls songs Billy Joe Royal songs 1955 songs