My 100 Favorite Charted Country Songs: Why Don’t You Haul Off and Love Me

Tweet

You may remember the story of this list, how a friend of mine asked for my 100 favorite songs to have made Billboard magazine’s country singles chart. We swapped lists, and found we’d matched on a dozen or so songs. This is one of the songs we matched on. It’s another “with a title like that, you KNOW it’s country” song. Why Don’t You Haul Off and Love Me - Wayne Raney I actually had the pleasure of meeting the man who co-wrote this song!!!! The great Lonnie Glosson was 88 at the time and had to ride a mobility scooter out onto the stage at a bluegrass festival. However, once he was out there, he played the harmonica and sang like he was 28! Glosson also had the distinction of playing on another one of the songs on this list: he and Wayne Raney did the double harmonica attack on the Delmore Brothers’ “Blues, Stay Away From Me.” So that’s my brush with fame regarding this song. Regarding it, it’s just a lighthearted love song. This was Raney’s only big hit as a singer. He was quite popular, however, as a session harmonica player. AND Linda Ronstadt recorded one of his songs: the oft-joked-about song “We Need a Whole Lot More of Jesus (And Lot Less Rock and Roll).” As for the opening line of this tune, “They say a love bug will get you at the age of 43,” Raney was all of 28 at the time this was a hit. Why Don’t You Haul Off and Love Me Written by Wayne Raney and Lonnie Glosson Recorded by Wayne Raney Released as a single, 1949 Peak chart position: #1 Today’s rock songs: “Warm and Tender Love” Squeeze me until I’m turning blind: