"You Better Move On" is a 1961

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

song by

Arthur Alexander Arthur Alexander (May 10, 1940 – June 9, 1993) was an American country-soul songwriter and singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for AllMusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and that, though largely unknown, "his music is the stuf ...

. It reached number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in March 1962. Versions by

Billy "Crash" Craddock Billy Wayne "Crash" Craddock (born June 16, 1939) is an American country and rockabilly singer. He first gained popularity in Australia in the 1950s with a string of rockabilly hits, including the Australian number one hits " Boom Boom Baby" an ...

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 ...

and

Johnny Paycheck Johnny Paycheck (born Donald Eugene Lytle; May 31, 1938 – February 19, 2003) was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greates ...

were hits on the

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

charts.

Arthur Alexander version

The lyrics were inspired by Alexander's real life situation, in which his girlfriend and future wife already had a boyfriend. Alexander said of the situation "When I met her out of high school he was still hanging in there. His family was pretty well off. I didn't have no money but I knew she liked me. It was a small town and people would be talking. That's where I got the idea for the song. I didn't talk to him personally. I said it in song." The song was recorded at the fledgling

FAME Studios FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) Studios is a recording studio located at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, United States, an area of northern Alabama known as the Shoals. Though small and distant from the main recording l ...

, which at that point was located above the City Drug Store in

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner, and had a population of 40,184 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Florence is l ...

. (The studio would shortly move to its more famous location in nearby

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located on the left bank of the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, its population was 13,146. The estimated popula ...

.) The session musicians on the recording included David Briggs, piano, Terry Thompson, guitar, Forest Riley, acoustic guitar,

Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam." '' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acc ...

, bass guitar,

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

, drums, and unknown back up singers. Music critic

Toby Creswell Toby Creswell (born 21 May 1955) is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of ''Rolling Stone'' (Australia) and a founding editor of ''Juice''. In 1986, he co-wrote, his first book, ''Too Much Ain't Enough'' a bio ...

included "You Better Move On" as one of the 1001 great songs of all time.

The Rolling Stones version

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

released their version of Arthur Alexander's song on an EP, ''

'', on January 10, 1964. Bruce Eder of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote about the EP: "the real centrepiece was Arthur Alexander's 'You Better Move On,' an American-spawned favourite that the band had been doing in concert — this was their chance to show a softer, more lyrical and soulful sound that was every bit as intense as the blues and hard R&B they'd already done on record." The EP reached no. 1 in the UK EP charts in February 1964, having entered the chart the week after its release.

Billy "Crash" Craddock version

released a version of the song as a single in 1971 and on his album of the same name the following year. Craddock's version reached No. 10 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

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, No. 4 on ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

''s Country Top 65 chart, and No. 9 on ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

''s Country Singles Chart.

Tommy Roe version

Tommy Roe Thomas David Roe (born May 9, 1942) is an American rock and pop singer-songwriter. Best-remembered for his hits " Sheila" (1962), "Sweet Pea" (1966) and " Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of th ...

released a version in 1979, which reached No. 70 on ''Billboard''s Hot Country Singles chart, No. 68 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Country chart, and No. 75 on ''Record World''s Country Singles chart.

George Jones and Johnny Paycheck version

and

recorded a version for their 1980 collaboration album '' Double Trouble''. It was also released as a single and reached No. 18 on ''Billboard''s Hot Country Singles chart, No. 19 on ''Record World''s Country Singles chart, and No. 23 on the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Country chart.Cash Box Top 100 Country
, ''

''. February 7, 1981. p. 24. Retrieved February 15, 2021.

References

{{Billy "Crash" Craddock 1961 songs 1961 singles 1980 singles Dot Records singles Billy "Crash" Craddock songs George Jones songs Johnny Paycheck songs Songs written by Arthur Alexander Epic Records singles Arthur Alexander songs Tommy Roe songs The Rolling Stones songs