About The Song
Songwriters who knew Waylon Jennings well were keenly aware that the best way to get him interested in one of their tunes was to use a little psychology on him by saying, “Here’s a song that you can’t do, but I’d like for you to listen to it anyway and give me your opinion.” More often than not, Waylon would take the bait and decide right then and there to make the song his.
That’s the method Waylon’s producer Chips Moman used to introduce Jennings to “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).” However, Moman actually did feel that Waylon might not want to record it because the lyrics referred to him by name, in addition to other performers Willie Nelson and Hank Williams, as well as songwriters Mickey Newberry and Jerry Jeff Walker. Of course, other artists had mentioned themselves on their own records before, particularly Loretta Lynn in “Hey Loretta,” and David Allan Coe in “You Never Even Called Me by My Name.”
Jennings had no problem with the song’s references and quickly snapped up “Luckenbach, Texas” to launch his new album “Ol Waylon,” the first country album to “ship gold,” (meaning advance sales of 500,000 units before the album was released), and the first to debut in the #1 position on Billboard’s country album chart, where it remained for 13 weeks. The “Ol Waylon” album (its title taken from the previous fall’s CMA telecast in which Willie Nelson amusingly refers to Jennings several times as “Ol Waylon”) reached platinum status on October 7th, 1977.
While Waylon was in Moman’s American Studios in Nashville recording “Luckenbach, Texas,” Nelson happened to drop by for no particular reason. Jennings saw him and said, “Hey come on over here and sing with me on this.” So Willie ended up adding his voice to the final verse, providing a couple of lyrical alterations in the process.
On April 16, 1977 “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)” made Billboard history when it became the first single ever to debut in the upper half of the 100-position country chart. A handful of records had debuted in the 50s before, but “Luckenbach, Texas” came in at #48 in its first week. It went on to claim the #1 slot just five weeks later on May 21st, spending six weeks at the summit, one of only three country singles to achieve this feat during the 1970s (the others are Freddie Hart’s “My Hang Up Is You” in 1972 and C. W. McCall’s “Convoy” in late 1975 and early ‘76).
Suddenly the small town of Luckenbach (there really is such a place, basically just a wide spot in the road 50 miles north of San Antonio) was besieged by network reporters and camera crews. Reportedly, over one hundred city limit signs have been stolen from the town since Waylon’s famous record first hit the airwaves in 1977. Twenty years later, toward the end of his career, Jennings finally made an appearance in Luckenbach for the first time, performing a concert there on July 4, 1997. Neither of the song’s writers (Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons) ever made their way to the tiny community.
Video
Lyrics
The only two things in life that make it worth livin’
Is guitars that tune good and firm feelin’ women
I don’t need my name in the marquee lights
I got my song and I got you with me tonight
Maybe it’s time we got back to the basics of love
Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys
Between Hank Williams’ pain songs and
Newbury’s train songs and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”
Out in Luckenbach, Texas, ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain
So baby, let’s sell your diamond ring
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away
This coat and tie is choking me
In your high society, you cry all day
We’ve been so busy keepin’ up with the Jones
Four car garage and we’re still building on
Maybe it’s time we got back to the basics of love
Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’ got us feudin’
Like the Hatfield and McCoys
Between Hank Williams’ pain songs and
Newbury’s train songs and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”
Out in Luckenbach, Texas, ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain
Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
Willie and Waylon and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’s got us feudin’
Like the Hatfield and McCoys
Between Hank Williams’ pain songs
And Jerry Jeff’s train songs and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”
Out in Luckenbach, Texas, there ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain
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