George Strait Passed On Recording “Tennessee Whiskey”

The King of Country, George Strait himself, could have recorded “Tennessee Whiskey” but passed on it.

George was asked a few years ago, what’s the biggest song he ever passed on.

“There’s a couple, but the biggest one is probably ‘Tennessee Whiskey’ that Dean Dillon wrote. Dean pitched that to me in the ’80s . . . And, I just didn’t . . . I missed it.”

“Tennessee Whiskey” was written by long-time George Strait songwriter Dean Dillon along with Linda Hargrove. It was first recorded by David Allan Coe in 1981, on an album with the same name, but only peaked at number 71 on the charts.

Then in 1983, George Jones recorded his version and it went all the way to number two, but after that the song lay dormant until the CMAs in 2015.

That’s when Chris Stapleton brought out Justin Timberlake and introduced it to an entirely new audience, and instantly made Stapleton a household name.

In other George Strait news, he announced the only performance in his home state this year with a concert set for Saturday, June 15th in College Station at Texas A&M’s Kyle Field.

It will be the first concert ever at that stadium and will feature Parker McCollum.

Categorised in: Country Music News

This post was written by Cheryl Johnstone