DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (24)

By: Alan Scherstuhl
March 13, 2023

One in a series of 25 enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, on the topic of favorite Country singles from the Sixties (1964–1973). Series edited by Josh Glenn. BONUS: Check out the DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM playlist on Spotify.

WAYLON JENNINGS | “GOOD HEARTED WOMAN” | 1971

The single that Waylon Jennings took to #3 both is and isn’t the record that people think of when they think of “Good-Hearted Woman” today. Waylon recorded it in September of ’71, when he was still pushing against RCA brass about what country could and couldn’t sound like. He won some compromises on this single, which kicks off with a proto-version of what would soon become Waylon’s signature stomp, that dusty one-two that, by the time of “Loneseome, On’ry, and Mean” would have the bass cranked close to reggae levels. Ralph Mooney’s pedal steel shimmers and dances — but once the chorus hits, out comes the Nasvhille goop, the backup singers, the celebratory bombast that underscores the ambivalence of the lyric.

A couple years later, for the game-changing Wanted: The Outlaws compilation, Waylon stripped away the schmaltz, paring the track down to the bass/guitar/drums/steel that’s all it ever needed… and then overdubbing duet vocals from Willie and some canned applause. That’s all it took to send “Good-Hearted Woman” back to the charts, to #1 this time. The CMA’s 1976 single of the year — the foundation of that hot new Outlaw sound — was a ’71 remix.

Legend has it the song came from Waylon’s seeing Tina Turner described in a newspaper as a “good-hearted woman loving two-timing men.” (Purportedly it’s a Waylon/Willie collab though Willie insists he didn’t add much.) Just as the recording finds Waylon nearing his classic sound, the lyric finds him rambling toward self-awareness, that simultaneous myth-making and -busting that exemplifies the best Outlaw songwriting.

A loose reconsideration of ’68’s “Stand By Your Man,” “Good-Hearted Woman” doesn’t claim that it’s virtuous, necessarily, for the lover of some fool-around Charley — or, worse, an abusive Ike — to stick with him. It simply observes that that’s what a good-hearted woman does, acknowledges that this is hard and painful, and points out that she doesn’t understand why he must make it so.

She’s trapped, uncomplaining, in the prison of good-heartedness, while the singer suggests there’s some primal truth about her man — and men in general — that she just can’t wrap her head around. As if it’s complicated. As if the lyric makes the most sense as a pained consideration of the human cost of all loving and leaving that the outlaws, cowboys, and Nashville rebels Waylon championed so often got away with. On most versions of the song, studio, live, or in-between, Waylon switches up the pronouns on a final chorus to make it personal — “She loves me in spite of my wicked ways.” You can almost believe, for a moment, that it’s the fool-around who’s finally coming close to understanding.

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DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM: INTRODUCTION by Josh Glenn | David Cantwell on Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton’s WE FOUND IT | Lucy Sante on Johnny & June Carter Cash’s JACKSON | Mimi Lipson on George Jones’s WALK THROUGH THIS WORLD WITH ME | Steacy Easton on Olivia Newton-John’s LET ME BE THERE | Annie Zaleski on Tammy Wynette’s D-I-V-O-R-C-E | Carl Wilson on Tom T. Hall’s THAT’S HOW I GOT TO MEMPHIS | Josh Glenn on Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen’s BACK TO TENNESSEE | Elizabeth Nelson on Skeeter Davis’s I DIDN’T CRY TODAY | Carlo Rotella on Buck Owens’ TOGETHER AGAIN | Lynn Peril on Roger Miller’s THE MOON IS HIGH | Erik Davis on Kris Kristofferson’s SUNDAY MORNIN’ COMIN’ DOWN | Francesca Royster on Linda Martell’s BAD CASE OF THE BLUES | Amanda Martinez on Bobbie Gentry’s FANCY | Erin Osmon on John Prine’s PARADISE | Douglas Wolk on The Byrds’ DRUG STORE TRUCK DRIVIN’ MAN | David Warner on Willie Nelson’s WHISKEY RIVER | Will Groff on Tanya Tucker’s DELTA DAWN | Natalie Weiner on Dolly Parton’s IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS (WHEN TIMES WERE BAD) | Charlie Mitchell on Stonewall Jackson’s I WASHED MY HANDS IN MUDDY WATER | Nadine Hubbs on Dolly Parton’s COAT OF MANY COLORS | Jada Watson on Loretta Lynn’s DON’T COME HOME A DRINKIN’ (WITH LOVIN’ ON YOUR MIND) | Adam McGovern on Johnny Cash’s THE MAN IN BLACK | Stephen Thomas Erlewine on Dick Curless’s A TOMBSTONE EVERY MILE | Alan Scherstuhl on Waylon Jennings’s GOOD HEARTED WOMAN | Alex Brook Lynn on Bobby Bare’s THE WINNER. PLUS: Peter Doyle on Jerry Reed’s GUITAR MAN | Brian Berger on Charley Pride’s IS ANYBODY GOING TO SAN ANTONE.

MORE ENTHUSIASM at HILOBROW

DOLLY YOUR ENTHUSIASM (24)

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