55 Years Ago Today, the First Couple of Country Music Released Their Debut Album Together—and It Became a Top Five Hit

On this day (October 18) in 1971, country stars George Jones and Tammy Wynette released We Go Together, the album that would establish the married couple as “Mr. and Mrs. Country Music.” While they married in 1969, Jones’ contractual obligations with mentor Pappy Daily’s label Musicor had prevented him from recording with his new bride until this point.

Finally, the “He Stopped Loving Her Today” crooner paid a steep price to break his contract with Musicor so that he could join Wynette at Epic Records. It was a risky move, but one that ultimately paid dividends. The couple would go on to record nine studio albums and chart eight Top 10 singles, including number-one hits like “We’re Gonna Hold On” (1973) and “Golden Ring” (1976).

How Tammy Wynette Helped Revive George Jones’ Career

George Jones and Tammy Wynette met in the late 1960s when their paths frequently crossed on tour. They wed in 1969 and began touring together, with Wynette frequently singing backup on her husband’s songs.

Around this time, Jones’ personal life was heading off the rails. A heavy drinker, he had begun missing concerts, and his second wife, Shirley, filed for divorce in 1968. Tensions were also mounting between the singer and his longtime producer, Pappy Daily, as Jones wasn’t happy with the direction his material was going at Musicor.

Furthermore, the label wouldn’t allow him to record with Wynette for her label, Epic Records. Conversely, Epic Records forbade the “Stand By Your Man” singer from appearing on Musicor.

As Jones revealed in his 1996 memoir I Lived to Tell It All, he paid $300,000 to several all professional ties with Musicor and Daily, signing away all the rights to his Musicor recordings in the process.

We Go Together marked not only his Epic debut, but also his first collaboration with producer Billy Sherrill. Sherrill had worked with Wynette since 1966, co-writing her 1968 hit “Stand by Your Man”.

The countrypolitan architect’s sumptuous, pop-influenced sound didn’t exactly square with Jones’ rough-around-the-edges honky-tonk image. But that was just fine for the country hitmaker, who was looking to reinvent himself after a bit of a commercial slump. More than a decade his junior, Wynette brought a much-needed contemporary edge to her new husband’s music.

Their First Hit

Unsurprisingly, George Jones and Tammy Wynette’s romantic chemistry translated seamlessly to the recording studio. We Go Together reached number three on the country albums chart, and its lead single, “Take Me”, gave the pair their first top 10 hit.

Co-written with Leon Payne, Jones had already brought “Take Me” to the top 10 as a solo artist in 1966. But the re-recorded duet has had much more staying power, with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant once declaring it “about as good as music gets.”

[RELATED: 3 Classic Country Music Duos That I Hated To See Break Up]

“Take Me” kicked off an incredible musical run that outlasted the couple’s marriage, as they would officially divorce in 1975.

Featured image by Brian Rasic/Getty Images

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