No one in country music does it quite like George Strait. With more number-one hits than any artist of any genre (60) and a record 22 CMA wins, the “King of Country” has earned every inch of that title. In January 1987, Strait made history as his seventh studio album, Ocean Front Property, became the first album to debut atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. The LP yielded three number-one singles, including the ubiquitous “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”, which reached the top on this day (July 11) in 1987.
This George Strait Hit Is Autobiographical—Sort Of
If you’ve set foot inside a drinking establishment in the Lone Star State between 1987 and now, you almost certainly know every word to George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”.
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Our narrator explains that a string of failed relationships in Texas prompted him to flee to Tennessee. And Allison’s in Galveston / Somehow lost her sanity / And Dimples who now lives in Temple’s / Got the law looking for me.
Before you ask, the story is autobiographical—just not for George Strait, who prefers to keep his personal and professional lives separate.
“I don’t think there’s anything autobiographical about my material, unless it’s subconsciously,” Strait once said, according to the New Yorker. “I just look for a song I like, and when I hear it I know it right away.”
Fellow Texan Sanger D. “Whitey” Shafer penned “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” with his fourth wife, Lynda J. Shafer. (You might recognize Shafer from his other work, which includes George Jones’ “Tell Me My Lying Eyes Are Wrong” and “The Baptism of Jesse Taylor” by Johnny Russell.)
As for Shafer, he did indeed channel his experiences with three failed marriages into “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”.
“That was a fun song to write,” Shafer recalled in The Billboard Book Of Number One Country Hits.
He added, “I was kinda writin’ my biography. I changed the names to protect the guilty. I do have some ex’s in Texas. Thank God they live down there. It’s not really why I live in Tennessee, but it’s a good kicker for the song.”
The Song Was Part of an Impressive String of No. 1 Hits
Beginning with 1986’s “Nobody in His Right Mind Would’ve Left Her” and ending in 1989 with “Ace in the Hole”, George Strait embarked on a remarkable run of 11 consecutive number-one hits. This included all three singles from Ocean Front Property: the title track, “All My Ex’s”, and “Am I Blue”.
Even in a career rife with number-one hits, “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” still manages to stand out. You can almost hear Strait smirking as he sings, I remember that old Frio River / Where I learned to swim / But it brings to mind another time / Where I wore my welcome thin.
Featured image by Paul Natkin/WireImage