{{short description|1955 single by George Jones}} {{For|the Pat Boone song|Why Baby Why (Pat Boone song)}} {{Infobox song | name = Why Baby Why | cover = Why_Baby_Why_GJ_sgl.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = George Jones | album = Grand Ole Opry's New Star | B-side = Seasons of My Heart | released = September 17, 1955 | recorded = August 27, 1955 | studio = Gold Star (Houston, Texas) | venue = | genre = Country, rockabilly | length = 2:47 (original 1955 version) 2:16 <small>(Unbridged Version)</small> | label = Starday<br> <small>Starday 202</small> | writer = Darrell Edwards<br />George Jones | producer = Pappy Daily | prev_title = Hold Everything | prev_year = 1955 | next_title = What Am I Worth | next_year = 1956 }} {{Infobox song | name = Why Baby Why | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Charley Pride | album = Charley Pride Live | B-side = It's So Good to Be Together | released = 1982 | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Country | length = 2:11 | label = RCA | writer = Darrell Edwards<br />George Jones | producer = Norro Wilson | prev_title = You're So Good When You're Bad | prev_year = 1982 | next_title = More and More | next_year = 1983 }} "'''Why Baby Why'''" is a country music song co-written and originally recorded by George Jones. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records<ref name="amg"/> and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily,<ref name="rsag4">{{cite book | author1=Nathan Brackett|author2=Christian Hoard | title=''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | publisher=Simon & Schuster | year=2004 | isbn=0-7432-0169-8 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/438 438]|edition=4th }}</ref> it peaked at 4 on the ''Billboard'' country charts that year.<ref name="amg">{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p1669|pure_url=yes}} |title=George Jones biography |access-date=2008-09-11 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |work=Allmusic}}</ref> It was Jones' first chart single, following several unsuccessful singles released during the prior year on Starday.<ref name="cme">{{cite book | author=Irwin Stambler, Grelun Landon | title=Country Music: The Encyclopedia | publisher=Macmillan Books | year=2000 | isbn=0-312-26487-9 | pages=223}}</ref> "Why Baby Why", has gone on to become a country standard, having been covered by many artists.
==Recording and composition== Jones' recording session for "Why Baby Why" took place at Gold Star Studios in Houston, Texas and featured the house lineup of Glenn Barber on lead guitar, Herb Remington on pedal steel guitar, Tony Sepolio on fiddle, and Doc Lewis on piano.<ref name="house">{{cite book | title=House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios | author=Andy Bradley | author2=Roger Wood|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin, Texas|year=2010|isbn=978-0-292-71919-4|pages=48–50}}</ref><ref name="TSHAWC">{{cite web|last1=Wood|first1=Roger|last2=Cano|first2=Ray|title=SugarHill Recording Studios|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sugarhill-recording-studios|website=Texas State History Association|date=May 27, 2015|access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref><ref name="KUTX">{{cite web|last=Mellard|first=Jason|title=Legendary Houston Recording Studio Sugarhill Opens|url=https://kutx.org/this-week-in-texas-music-history/legendary-houston-recording-studio-sugarhill-opens/|website=KUTX.org|date=October 9, 2023|access-date=August 19, 2024}}</ref> The arrangement is upbeat honky tonk,<ref name="rsag4"/> led by a fiddle that plays throughout the song. Overall, the song has been described as a classic of the "finger-pointin' cheatin' song".<ref name="holland">{{cite book | last=Holland | first=Richard | chapter='It All Began the Day My Conscience Died': The Cheatin' Song From Prototype to Post-Modern | title=2001: A Texas Folklore Odyssey | url=https://archive.org/details/2001texasfolklor0000aber | url-access=registration | editor=Francis Edward Abernethy| publisher=University of North Texas Press | year=2001 | isbn=1-57441-140-3 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/2001texasfolklor0000aber/page/138 138], 142}}</ref> In the liner notes to the retrospective ''Cup Of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years'', country music historian Colin Escott observes that part of the song's appeal "lay in the way a Cajun dance number was trying to break free of a honky tonk song." Jones recorded the backing vocal himself, with help from innovative techniques from engineer Bill Quinn, after a planned appearance by more established singer Sonny Burns did not materialize due to the latter's drinking. According to the book ''George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend'', Jones's frequent songwriting partner Darrell Edwards was inspired to write the words after hearing an argument between a couple at a gas station.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen |first= Bob |year=1996 |title=George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend |publisher=St Martin's Press |isbn=978-0312956981 |page=103}}</ref> The lyric sets up the theme of the song:
{{quote|<poem> Lord, I can't live without you and you know it's true But there's no livin' with you so what'll I do I'm goin' honky tonkin', get as tight as I can And maybe by then you'll 'preciate a good man Tell me why baby, why baby, why baby why You make me cry baby, cry baby, cry baby cry </poem>}}
==Credits and personnel== For the 1955 Original recording.
*George Jones – vocals, acoustic *Herb Remington – steel *Lew Brisby – bass *Tony Sepolio – fiddle *Doc Lewis – piano
==Critical reception== The single's early airplay occurred in Jones' home state of Texas, with Houston's country music station KIKK ranking it number one locally.<ref name="auto">{{cite book | last=Jones | first=George | author-link=George Jones | author2=Carter, Tom | title=I Lived to Tell It All | publisher=Villard | year=1996 | isbn=0-679-43869-6 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/ilivedtotellital00jone/page/41 41–42] | url=https://archive.org/details/ilivedtotellital00jone/page/41 }}</ref> Their charts were sent to stations around the country, which began to pick it up as well, partially overcoming Starday's regionally limited distribution.<ref name="auto"/> However, its progress on the chart was blunted by Red Sovine and Webb Pierce's cover duet,<ref name="amg"/> which benefited from Decca Records' major label status and national distribution<ref name="auto"/> and rose to number one on the chart over the 1955–1956 Christmas holiday period.<ref name="holland"/> Jones's rendition was later included as the first track on his 1957 debut album ''Grand Ole Opry's New Star''.
==Cover versions== Since the release of Jones' rendition, "Why Baby Why" has been covered by several other artists, many of whom have also charted with it. Jones himself re-recorded it a couple of times as a duet; first with Gene Pitney for their ''It's Country Time Again!'' album released in 1966, and with Ricky Skaggs for the 1994 album ''The Bradley Barn Sessions'' which featured re-recordings of Jones' songs as duets with various artists. Two different versions of the song have reached Number One on the country charts, making it one of the only country songs to hold that distinction. Artists who have had country chart hits with renditions of this song include the following:
*Red Sovine and Webb Pierce, #1 in 1956<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redsovine.com/redsovinebio.html |title=Red Sovine biography |access-date=2008-09-11 |work=Red Sovine website}}</ref> *Hank Locklin, #9 later in 1956<ref name="whitburn">{{cite book |title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |year=2006 |author-link=Joel Whitburn |pages=512 |publisher=Billboard Books |isbn=9780823082919 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKicir5sZr4C&q=%22Charley+pride%22+%22george+jones%22+%22why+baby+why%22+-lyrics&pg=PA512}}</ref> *Warren Smith and Shirley Collie, #23 in 1961<ref name="whitburn"/> *Charley Pride, #1 in 1983<ref name="whitburn"/> *Roger McGuinn, recorded the song in 1976 for his 1977 album ''Thunderbyrd'' *Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson recorded the song for their 1983 album ''Take It to the Limit''. *The Good Brothers, #20 in 1991 in Canada<ref>[http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.1434&volume=53&issue=10&issue_dt=February%2009%201991&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=jn5agqeivqgdi8198ubcnp3ss6 RPM Country Tracks - Volume 53, No. 10, February 09 1991]</ref> *Palomino Road, #46 in 1992<ref name="oldies">{{cite web |url=http://www.oldies.com/artist-biography/Palomino-Road.html |title=Palomino Road biography |access-date=2008-08-10 |work=Oldies.com}}</ref> *Patty Loveless cut the song in 2008. *Peter Grudzien "Early". *Actors Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain covered the song for the 2022 miniseries ''George & Tammy''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{George Jones singles}} {{Charley Pride singles}} {{Patty Loveless}} {{Hank Locklin|state=autocollapse}}
Category:1955 singles Category:1956 singles Category:1961 singles Category:1982 singles Category:2008 singles Category:Shirley Collie songs Category:George Jones songs Category:Patty Loveless songs Category:Palomino Road songs Category:Webb Pierce songs Category:Charley Pride songs Category:Red Sovine songs Category:Hank Locklin songs Category:Warren Smith (singer) songs Category:The Good Brothers songs Category:Male vocal duets Category:Songs written by George Jones Category:Song recordings produced by Norro Wilson Category:RCA Records singles Category:1955 songs Category:Starday Records singles Category:Song recordings produced by Pappy Daily