Say It's Not You
"Say It's Not You" | ||||
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Single by George Jones | ||||
from the album If My Heart Had Windows | ||||
B-side | "The Poor Chinee" | |||
Released | 1968 | |||
Recorded | 1967 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:30 | |||
Label | Musicor | |||
Songwriter(s) | Dallas Frazier | |||
Producer(s) | Pappy Daily | |||
George Jones singles chronology | ||||
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"Say It's Not You" is a song by American country singer George Jones. It was written by Dallas Frazier.
Background
Musicor released "Say It's Not You" as a single in 1968. The song, a ballad in which a man confronts his adulterous lover, reached #8 on the country Billboard charts. During his time with Musicor, Jones would record at a furious pace, cutting over 280 singles, and remained a constant presence on the country charts. However, the hastily produced sessions, combined with the sloppy LP packages that were issued under his name, left some with the impression that Musicor was not taking as much time as it should with Jones, who was by far its top country star. Although the quality control was not always what it should have been, Jones singing was stellar, and songs like "Say It's Not You" would heavily influence Gram Parsons, who would be a key figure in the creation of the country-rock genre.
Keith Richards version
Jones would record "Say It's Not You" as a duet with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in 1994, with the legendary guitarist writing in his memoir Life that country-rock pioneer and Jones fan Gram Parsons first made him aware of the song: "Gram taught me country music - how it worked, the difference between the Bakersfield style and the Nashville style...Some of the seeds he planted in the country music area are still with me, which is why I can record a duet with George Jones with no compunction at all." Richards also recalls first crossing paths with the country singer when the Rolling Stones and Jones were on the same show in Texas in 1964: "They trailed in with tumbleweed following them, as if tumbleweed was their pet. Dust all over the place, a bunch of cowboys. But when George got up, we went whoa, there's a master up there." "Say It's Not You" remained a special song for Richards, who performed it along with several other sad country songs at a piano during his drug trial for heroin possession in Toronto in 1977 (a bootleg, recorded at a time when the guitarist's future remained quite cloudy, was eventually released as KR's Toronto Bootleg). After they finally recorded the song together at Bradley's Barn, both men praised each other effusively, with Jones calling Richards "the world's greatest rock 'n' roll guitarist"[1] in his autobiography and confessing to Chuck Dean of Rolling Stone in 1996, "I'll be honest with you: I love Keith Richards more than anything as a person. He's a character – just fun to be around." In his own autobiography Richards recalled, "George was a great guy to work with, especially when he had the hairdo going. Incredible singer."[2]
References
- v
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- e
- Grand Ole Opry's New Star
- Country Church Time
- White Lightning and Other Favorites
- George Jones Salutes Hank Williams
- George Jones Sings Country and Western Hits
- George Jones Sings from the Heart
- George Jones Sings Bob Wills
- Homecoming in Heaven
- My Favorites of Hank Williams
- I Wish Tonight Would Never End
- George Jones Sings Like the Dickens!
- I Get Lonely in a Hurry
- The Race Is On
- Mr. Country & Western Music
- New Country Hits
- Old Brush Arbors
- Trouble in Mind
- Country Heart
- Love Bug
- I'm a People
- We Found Heaven Right Here on Earth at "4033"
- Walk Through This World with Me
- George Jones Sings the Songs of Dallas Frazier
- The George Jones Story
- My Country
- If My Heart Had Windows
- I'll Share My World with You
- Where Grass Won't Grow
- Will You Visit Me on Sunday
- George Jones with Love
- George Jones Sings the Great Songs of Leon Payne
- George Jones (We Can Make It)
- A Picture of Me (Without You)
- Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half as Bad as Losing You)
- In a Gospel Way
- The Grand Tour
- Memories of Us
- The Battle
- Alone Again
- I Wanta Sing
- Bartender's Blues
- My Very Special Guests
- I Am What I Am
- Still the Same Ole Me
- Shine On
- Jones Country
- You've Still Got a Place in My Heart
- Ladies' Choice
- Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes
- Wine Colored Roses
- Too Wild Too Long
- One Woman Man
- You Oughta Be Here with Me
- And Along Came Jones
- Walls Can Fall
- High-Tech Redneck
- The Bradley Barn Sessions
- I Lived to Tell It All
- It Don't Get Any Better Than This
- Cold Hard Truth
- The Rock: Stone Cold Country 2001
- The Gospel Collection
- Hits I Missed...And One I Didn't
- Burn Your Playhouse Down – The Unreleased Duets
- What's in Our Heart (with Melba Montgomery)
- Close Together (As You and Me) (with Melba Montgomery)
- Bluegrass Hootenanny (with Melba Montgomery)
- George Jones & Gene Pitney – For the First Time! Two Great Stars
- George Jones & Gene Pitney – Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee! (with Gene Pitney)
- It's Country Time Again! (with Gene Pitney)
- Double Trouble (with Johnny Paycheck)
- A Taste of Yesterday's Wine (with Merle Haggard)
- Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again (with Merle Haggard)
- George Jones & The Smoky Mountain Boys
- Hillbilly Hit Parade
- George Jones Singing 14 Top Country Song Favorites
- George Jones Sings His Greatest Hits
- The Fabulous Country Music Sound of George Jones
- Long Live King George
- The Crown Prince of Country Music
- A King & Two Queens (with Judy Lynn and Melba Montgomery)
- Blue & Lonesome
- Heartaches & Tears
- Famous Country Duets
- Hits by George
- The Best of George Jones
- All-Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 1
- Encore
- Anniversary – 10 Years of Hits
- By Request
- Super Hits
- Friends in High Places
- Super Hits, Volume 2
- 16 Biggest Hits
- 50 Years of Hits
- God's Country: George Jones and Friends