| We'll Stick Together | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1968 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright chronology | ||||
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We'll Stick Together is both a single and an album of duets between Kitty Wells and her husband Johnny Wright. Both were released in 1968 on the Decca label.
The single was a duet between Wells and Wright. Sources are in conflict as to whether the song was written by their son, Bobby Wright, [1] or by Bill Phillips. The single was released by Decca in May 1968 with "Heartbreak Waltz" as the "A" side. At the time, Billboard wrote: "First disk duet for the husband and wife team should fast prove sales giant. Two equally potent sides." [2]
Though Wells and Wright were one of the best known couples in country music, We'll Stick Together was the only record on which they charted together. [3] The song was later rated as one of the two best duets between Wells and Wright. [4] The song was one of Wells' final hit singles, as the years after 1968 brought a "long dry spell" as a crossover style dominated the country chats and Wells asked to be released from her "life-time" contract with Decca/MCA. [5]
The song's chorus recited the following lyrics:
"Cause we stuck together through the lean lean years
The lean and hungry years were filled with strife Now we're still together in the green green years
And we'll still together for the rest of our life"
After the release of the song, Wells and Wright began touring together in their own Kitty Wells-Johnny Wright Family Show. [4] Wells and Wright continued performing We'll Stick Together, often with their son Bobby, and sometimes as their finale, [6] [7] at concerts through the 1980s and 1990s. [8] [9] One reviewer in 1987 called the performance "a heartwarming experience" and described the song as "prophetic" in light of the couple’s longevity in remaining married for more than 50 years. [10] Another concert review from 1987 noted that "many audience members stood to applaud" when Wells sang "We'll Stick Together" with her husband and son. [11]
The album (Decca DL 75026) was released in June 1968 and reached No. 30 on the U.S. country albums chart. [12] Though Wells and Wright were described as "probably country music's longest running act -- both professionally and maritally", the album marked the first release of music they recorded together. [13] In its review of the album upon its release, Billboard wrote:
Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright, Mr. and Mrs. in real life, are coupled on records for the first time on this album. They raise the tradition of the country duet to a high art. [14]
Another reviewer wrote that the album "leaves one wondering why they waited so long" to release a joint album and recommended several of the tracks, including the title track. [15]
The Jordanaires provided backup vocals and music on the album. [16] [17]
Side A
Side B
Ellen Muriel Deason, known professionally as Kitty Wells, was an American pioneering female country music singer. She broke down a barrier for women in country music with her 1952 hit recording "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which also made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts and turned her into the first female country superstar. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” would also be her first of several pop crossover hits. Wells is the only artist to be awarded top female vocalist awards for 14 consecutive years. Her chart-topping hits continued until the mid-1960s, paving the way for and inspiring a long list of female country singers who came to prominence in the 1960s.
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life." First performed by Al Montgomery as "Did God Make Honky Tonk Angels" on the Feature label which was owned by songwriter J.D. Miller.
"Heartaches by the Number" is a popular country song written by Harlan Howard, and published in 1959. The sheet music was a best seller in both the US and Britain in January 1960.
Johnnie Robert Wright Jr. was an American country music singer-songwriter, who spent much of his career working with Jack Anglin as the popular duo Johnnie & Jack, and was also the husband of country music star Kitty Wells.
Jack Anglin was an American country music singer best known as a member of the Anglin Brothers, and later Johnnie & Jack with Johnnie Wright.
"Fraulein" is a 1957 song written by Lawton Williams and sung by Bobby Helms. Released by Decca Records that year, "Fraulein" was Helms's debut single on the U.S. country chart, reaching #1 for four weeks and staying on chart for 52 weeks, the sixth longest song in country music history to spend over 50 weeks on the country singles chart. The song's popularity crossed over to the pop chart where "Fraulein" peaked at #36.
"Making Believe" is a country music song written by Jimmy Work. Kitty Wells recorded a chart-topping version in 1955. The song is on many lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years, including Thorleifs, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, Roy Acuff, Lefty Frizzell, Wanda Jackson, Connie Francis, Ray Charles, Anita Carter, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, The Kendalls, Ernest Tubb, Skeeter Davis, The Haden Triplets, Social Distortion and Volbeat. The song is occasionally called "Makin' Believe".
The singles discography of Kitty Wells, an American country artist, consists of ninety singles, nineteen B-sides, and two music videos. In 1949 she was signed to RCA Victor Records, where she released her debut single, "Death at the Bar" also in 1949. Dropped from RCA in 1950, Wells signed with Decca Records and released the single "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" in 1952. The song was an answer song to Hank Thompson's hit, "The Wild Side of Life", spending six weeks at number one on the Billboard Magazine Hot C&W Sides chart. The single sold one million copies and made Wells the first female country artist to have a single reach number one on the Billboard country list. Until the end of the decade, Wells became the only woman on the country chart that would consistently receive radio airplay. In 1953 the song, "Paying for That Back Street Affair" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot C&W Sides list, as well as twenty one additional Top Ten singles on the same chart between 1953 and 1959. This included singles such as the Red Foley duet "One by One" (1954), "Making Believe" (1955), "I Can't Stop Loving You" (1958), "Mommy for a Day" (1959), and "Amigo's Guitar" (1959). The latter song was written by Wells herself and later won her a BMI Songwriter's Award.
The albums discography of Kitty Wells, an American country artist, consists of thirty-six studio albums, eleven compilation albums, and one box set. Wells' first album release was 1956's Country Hit Parade on Decca Records, which compiled her hits during her first four years of recording for the label. Prior to its release, many labels were reluctant to release albums by female country artists until Wells became the first female vocalist to sell records. Following its release, Wells and her label issued three studio albums during the 1950s: Winner of Your Heart (1957), Lonely Street (1958), and Dust on the Bible (1959). After the success of Wells' number one single "Heartbreak U.S.A." in 1961, an album of the same name was released the same year.
Herbert Paul Gilley was an American country music lyricist and promoter from Kentucky. In his lifetime, he was little known as a songwriter, but decades after his death by drowning at age 27, he was identified more widely as likely having written the lyrics to a dozen famous songs, including two that were hits for Hank Williams: "Cold, Cold Heart" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". He may have also written "I Overlooked an Orchid", which was a number-one country hit in 1974 for Mickey Gilley. Other songs that have been attributed to Gilley include "If Teardrops Were Pennies", "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes", and "Crazy Arms".
Winner of Your Heart is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1956 on the Decca label.
Lonely Street is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1958 on the Decca label. Thom Owens of AllMusic found it "slightly uneven but enjoyable". On November 17, 1958, it was ranked No. 9 on Billboard magazine's "Favorite C&W Albums" based on the magazine's annual poll of country and western disc jockeys.
Kitty Wells' Country Hit Parade is an album by Kitty Wells that was released in 1956 on the Decca label. Joe Viglione of Allmusic.com gave it four stars and called it "groundbreaking", "a classic of the genre", and "entertaining beyond its historical importance."
Seasons of My Heart is an album by Kitty Wells that was released in 1960 on the Decca label. Thom Owens of Allmusic called the album "an excellent LP collection of country ballads."
The Kitty Wells Show is a live album recorded at a concert by Kitty Wells, her son Bobby Wright, her husband Johnny Wright, singer Bill Phillips, and musicians Tommy Jackson, Paul Yandell and Odell Martin. The album was released in 1966 on the Decca label in the United States and on the Brunswick label in the United Kingdom.
Queen of Honky Tonk Street is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1967 on the Decca label in the United States and on the Calendar Records label (SR66-9640) in Australia.
Showcase is an album recorded by Kitty Wells and released in 1968 on the Decca label. In the United Kingdom, it was released by MCA Records with the title My Big Truck Drivin' Man. The album's title track, "My Big Truck Drivin' Man", was Wells' final top 40 hit, peaking at No. 35 on the Billboard country chart.
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Guilty Street is an album by country singer Kitty Wells, released in 1969 on the Decca label. The album included two songs that charted on the Billboard country singles chart: "Happiness Hill" and "Guilty Street".
"One by One" is a song by Kitty Wells and Red Foley that was released in 1954 on the Decca label. It was written by Johnny Wright, Jack Anglin, and Jim Anglin. In May 1954, it peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard country and western chart. It was also ranked as the No. 2 record on the Billboard 1954 year-end country and western retail and juke box charts.