How a Prestigious Awards Ceremony Inspired Jamey Johnson’s Biggest Hit From 2008

Jamey Johnson has written plenty of hits, both for himself and others. But his biggest hit as an artist is “In Color“, a song he wrote with Lee Thomas Miller and James Otto. 

Out in 2008, “In Color” is part of That Lonesome Song, Johnson’s sophomore album. “In Color” is about a grandfather looking back with his grandson on his time in the war, with only a black-and-white photo as a reference. The chorus says, “If it looks like we were scared to death / Like a couple of kids just tryin’ to save each other / You should’ve seen it in color / A picture’s worth a thousand words / But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered / You should’ve seen it in color.”

Surprisingly, a prestigious awards show inspired the three writers to pen this multi-platinum hit. Miller was talking to Johnson outside of BMI. Johnson was there as part of a No. 1 party for “Ladies Love Country Boys”. That song is a hit single Johnson co-wrote for Trace Adkins in 2006.

Miller told The Tennessean that he recalled to Johnson that, during the recent BMI Awards, they showed black-and-white photos of the ceremony from years gone by.

“You would have Kitty Wells (standing beside) two people in suits,” Miller remembers telling Johnson. “Being the complete country music nerd that I am, I told my wife that I would love to know who all the people are in all those old pictures. ‘Who are the suits? I wish we were sitting close to Bill Anderson. He’s the only one in this room who could tell us who all of the people in that picture are.’”

Johnson waited until Miller finished speaking and then said, “There’s your idea, Hoss,” Miller remembers. “Think that’s something, ‘You should have seen it in color.’”

What Jamey Johnson Says About Writing “In Color”

The idea for “In Color” might have come from Miller. Still, Johnson deserves a lot of the credit, not only for his vocal delivery, but for helping bring the song to life. Johnson thought about his late grandfather when writing “In Color” with Miller and Otto.

“He died in 2000,” Johnson explained. “I’ve got memories of him. He didn’t know I was a songwriter or a singer; he just knew I could sing and write and that I was moving to Nashville to get it done. He died probably the first eight months that I was in town. I’ve always wanted to pay tribute back to thank him for the lessons growing up, all the conversations with him. Nobody ever pays attention to that stuff until they’re gone, I’m afraid.”

“In Color” gave the three writers a CMA Award for Song of the Year. It was also nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Photo by Rick Diamond/WireImage