On this day (July 30) in 1983, George Jones topped the Hot Country Songs chart with “I Always Get Lucky with You.” It was his ninth and final No. 1 single as a solo artist. It was co-written by Merle Haggard, who was sharing the top of the country chart the week before Jones took over.
Haggard co-wrote “I Always Get Lucky with You” with Freddy Powers, Gary Church, and Tex Whitson. He recorded it for his 1981 album Big City, but didn’t release it as a single. Whitson, who was also Haggard’s manager at the time, pitched the song to Jones’ longtime producer Billy Sherrill. The two country legends, who had been friends for years, weren’t on speaking terms at the time. However, that didn’t stop Jones from recording the song. He knew a hit when he heard one.
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He released “I Always Get Lucky With You” in April 1983. It reached the top of the chart on July 30. The week before, on July 23, Haggard and Willie Nelson topped the chart with their version of “Pancho and Lefty.” Both songs spent a single week at No. 1.
George Jones Was Nearing the End of His Comeback
George Jones’ peak stretched from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. His singles started charting lower and lower by 1975. Tastes were changing, and the Nashville Sound was falling out of favor. At the same time, drugs, alcohol, and mental health issues stopped him from doing his best work.
When the world entered the 1980s, Jones hadn’t had a hit single in a few years. His last top 10 hit was “Bartender’s Blues,” which reached No. 6 in 1977. His last No. 1 single was “The Door” from 1974.
After fighting it for an untold amount of time, Jones agreed to record “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” It shot to No. 1 in 1980 and gave his career the second wind it needed. The first half of the decade saw him score a total of three solo No. 1 singles and seven further top 10 hits.
Around 1985, Jones’ singles started slipping down the chart again, missing the top 10 more often than not. Tastes further changed in the following decade, pushing his classic sound further away from the genre’s new iteration.
George Jones didn’t need late-career hits to prove to the world that he was the greatest country singer the world had ever seen. He had already left his mark on the genre, taken his flowers, and influenced generations of artists. At the end of the day, the country music world was lucky to have him.
Featured Image by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images
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