Long before critics were condemning artists like Taylor Swift for capitalizing on past relationships and heartbreaks in their music, George Jones was doing the very same thing. The Rolls-Royce of Country Music had no problem leaning into public perceptions about him in the early 1980s. And there was certainly a lot for the public to have an opinion about, from his ongoing substance abuse to his tumultuous relationship with Tammy Wynette (and the women who came after).
Jones’ 1981 single, “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”, was an especially desolate track about booze and loneliness. “Lord, it’s been ten bottles since I tried to forget her / but the mem’ry still lingers lyin’ here on the ground / And if drinkin’ don’t kill me, her memory will / I can’t hold out for much longer the way that I feel.”
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Given what the masses knew about Jones at the time, most people suspected “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” was about Wynette. That wasn’t true. But Jones didn’t mind leaving people to think that.
George Jones Changed This One Lyric to Reference Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette wasn’t the first or last woman George Jones ever had a relationship with, but theirs was undoubtedly the most high-profile. The country singers were together from 1969 to 1975, and during that time, they earned the nicknames Mr. and Mrs. Country Music. Jones and Wynette recorded nine studio albums from 1971 to 1995, starting with We Go Together and ending with One. Though their split rocked the country music world, it was hardly a surprise, given how his drinking and erratic behavior had strained their marriage so badly.
After Wynette and Jones broke up, the latter country musician began dating a woman named Linda. By the time Jones released “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)”, he and Linda had already broken up, and he was dating a woman named Nancy Sepulvado. Still, as he explained in his memoir, “Much of the public thought the tune was about Tammy Wynette, although we had been divorced for six years. Most people hadn’t yet heard about Nancy and never really knew that much about Linda since my profile with her was always low.”
“Knowing what people thought about Tammy and me, I often changed the words of ‘If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me’ when I sang it publicly, particularly on national television,” Jones said. Instead of the usual refrain, Jones would sing, “If drinkin’ don’t kill me, Tammy’s memory will.”
Say what one will about Jones milking a years-past divorce for record sales, but it worked. “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will)” stayed on the Billboard country charts for 15 weeks.
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