Tennessee Whiskey

"Tennessee Whiskey" is one of Chris Stapleton's best-known songs and a staple of his setlists, but the song dates back to 1981, when David Allan Coe recorded the first version of the song. Coe took it to #77 on the Country chart, and two years later George Jones covered it and took it to #2. The song became a mainstay of Jones' live shows, but the song was mostly forgotten by 2015, when Stapleton recorded a bluesy cover for his debut solo album, Traveller, in 2015 at the suggestion of his producer, Dave Robb. He recalled to Billboard magazine: "The guys in the band and I were in Charlottesville, Virginia, waiting to set up microphones and started playing in that groove. I just was really enjoying it and started singing 'Tennessee Whiskey' on top of it, trying to make it something new." "We liked it so much, we played it that night - and every night since. When we started to record, we used it as a warm-up song. Dave said, 'We need to do that right now.' That's what you hear."

The song was written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove. Hargrove, who died in 2010, was a solo artist whose song "Let It Shine" was a hit for Olivia Newton-John in 1976. Dillon was just getting started as a songwriter - he wrote several country hits for George Strait in the '80s, including "Marina del Rey" and "The Chair." Dillon went to see Hargrove perform at a dive bar in Nashville, and he talked to her after the show. The pair hit it off (only professionally, Dillon assured us) and stayed up until 4 o'clock in the morning writing what became "Tennessee Whiskey." When we asked Dillon if he was drinking when he wrote the song, he replied, "As much as I could."

"Tennessee Whiskey" is a love song about a woman who gives the guy something to live for besides alcohol. The main character in the song has spent a lot of time in bars and thinks in terms of alcohol metaphors, so that's what he uses to describe this lady. She's as smooth as Tennessee whiskey, sweet as strawberry wine, and warm as a glass of brandy.