Good Hearted Woman (song)

In 1969, while staying at the Fort Worther Motel in Fort Worth, Texas,[1] Waylon Jennings was inspired to start writing the song when he saw an advertisement on a newspaper promoting Tina Turner as a "good hearted woman loving two-timing men", a reference to Ike Turner.[2] Jennings went to talk to Nelson, who was in a middle of a poker game. He joined the game, and told Nelson about his idea. While they kept playing, they expanded the lyrics as Nelson's wife Connie Koepke was writing them down.[1]

Jennings recorded the song for the first time as the title track of his 1972 album Good Hearted Woman,[1][3] the single peaked at number three on the Billboard's Hot Country Singles.[4] In 1975, Jennings remixed the song, adding vocals from Willie Nelson (and adding fake crowd noise to give it a live feel) for the album Wanted: The Outlaws!. The album cemented the pair's outlaw image and became country music's first platinum album.[5] The song peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Country Singles and at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] The song won the Single of the Year award in the 1976 Country Music Association Awards,[7] and took Jennings and Nelson to the mainstream audiences, giving them nationwide recognition.[8][9]

• In 1976, a duet version of "Good Hearted Woman" performed by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson became the first of three number ones on the country chart for the duo.
• The 2005 album Texas Fed, Texas Bred: Redefining Country Music, Volume 1 includes a cover version performed by Guy Clark.
• LeAnn Rimes recorded a version of the song for her 2011 release, Lady & Gentlemen.
• Tina Turner recorded a version on Soul Deep.
• Hank Williams III recorded a version of the song, later released in Long Gone Daddy.
• George Jones sang it in 1980.
• Mel Street recorded a version for his 1972 album, Borrowed Angel.
• Micky and the Motorcars (with Cody and Willy Braun) recorded a version for Cross Canadian Ragweed's "The Red River Tribute" to Waylon Jennings (2003)
• Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt performed the song for Jerry Bradley at the induction ceremony of Jerry Bradley into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2019.

Works cited

• Busby, Mark (2004). The Southwest. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313328053.
• Hartman, Gary (2008). The History Of Texas Music. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 9781603440028.
• Horstman, Dorothy (1996). Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy. Country Music Foundation. ISBN 9780915608195.
• Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of 70s Music. Virgin. ISBN 9781852279479.