My 100 Favorite Charted Country Songs: Singing My Song

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Today (11/10) is the 49th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It wasn’t the worst shipwreck in Great Lakes history, but it’s the most-remembered because of the song. That song isn’t on the list, and I’m starting on the country side today anyway! Here’s today’s song. Singing My Song - Tammy Wynette Did you know Tammy Wynette actually did other songs than “Stand By Your Man” and “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”? No kidding, she really did! Of course, this song didn’t make the pop top 20 the way “Stand By Your Man” did, so…. This song is so deceptive. She’s singing the joys of being married to George Jones at a time when she was hiding the keys to all the cars to keep him from going to the liquor store (prompting him to drive the riding mower to a bar one night…which was the second time he’d done that to get around a wife [his second wife, Shirley Corley, had tried and failed to keep George away from booze by taking the keys]). Of course, none of that rhymes so she painted an idyllic image. Wynette had a delivery style that was relatively unique in country music: she’d be very quiet in the beginning of the song, then by the end she was belting out the chorus for all she was worth. It worked splendidly. Singing My Song Written by Tammy Wynette, Glenn Sutton, and Billy Sherrill Recorded by Tammy Wynette Released as a single, 1969 Peak chart position: #1 (also charted #75 pop) Today’s rock song: “Silver Bird” I make sure he ain’t never alone: