About The Song
That exclamation – uttered during the fade-out at the end of both records – provides a clever link between Jerry Reed’s first #1 single “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” in 1971 and his third, “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” eleven years later.
Unlike the first one, “Goldmine” came from an outside writer and was based on a real-life court case, albeit somewhat loosely. Tim DuBois wrote it for the House of Gold publishing company in Nashville several years before Reed actually cut it in Muscle Shoals with Rick Hall producing.
Thinking back on the song’s writing, DuBois recalled that he had a friend who was going through a divorce. He told Tim that he considered his marriage to be like a goldmine and when he and his wife split, she got all the gold and all he got was the shaft.
That line always stuck with DuBois and one day in January, he was snowed in and decided to start writing a song to pass the time. Tim usually had a co-writer, but on this particular day he was alone. In order to write alone, the storyline had to be something funny that kept his attention. Although mainly written just to amuse himself, Tim went ahead and submitted “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” to House of Gold. Nothing happened with the song for several years.
Meanwhile, Jerry Reed had lost much of his musical focus to the acting bug during a large part of the 1970s. He appeared in several hit movies with his pal Burt Reynolds including “W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings,” “Gator” and the fabulously successful “Smokey and the Bandit.” Jerry also did many TV guest shots and starred in his own short-lived series, “Concrete Cowboys.” That program’s cancellation after just seven episodes led Reed to a musical re-commitment.
Although Jerry was contracted to RCA, the company allowed him to travel down to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” at Rick Hall’s renowned FAME studio. With Hall producing, the song featured hot guitar licks by his regular session players Walt Aldridge and Kenny Bell. Jerry’s legendary status as one of the nation’s greatest guitar players frustrated Aldridge and Bell somewhat, because everyone assumed Reed played guitar on the record. He did that many times, of course, but not on this one. Walt and Kenny provided the guitar parts. Although the two men’s work was mistakenly overshadowed, they were nonetheless proud of the record’s success.
“She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” brought Jerry Reed back to the musical forefront. It became his first top ten single in five years and his first number one record since 1973’s “Lord, Mr. Ford.” The tune reached the top of Billboard’s country singles chart on September 11, 1982.
“Goldmine’s” writer Tim DuBois went on to helm an important period as head of the Nashville headquarters of Arista Records, guiding the recording careers of such artists as Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Pam Tillis, Diamond Rio, Steve Wariner & Brad Paisley. Under DuBois’ leadership, Arista Nashville sold over 80 million albums in its first 11 years of business. Tim also championed Vince Gill during the formative years of his career, co-writing Gill’s star-making single, “When I Call Your Name” in 1990. DuBois also produced three gold-certified albums recorded by Restless Heart in the late 1980s and co-wrote several of the group’s hits.
Video
Lyrics
Well, I guess it was back in sixty-three
When eatin’ my cookin’ got the better of me
So I asked this little girl I was goin’ with
To be my wife
Well, she said she would
So I said, “I do”
But I’d-a said “I wouldn’t” if I’d-a just knew
How sayin’ “I do” was gonna screw up all my o’ my life
Well, the first few years weren’t all that bad
I’ll never forget the good times we had
‘Cause I’m reminded every month
When I send her the child support
Well, it wasn’t too long till the lust was gone
And I’ll admit I wasn’t too surprised
The day I come home and found my suitcase
Sittin’ out on the porch
Well, I tried to get in, she’d changed the lock
Then I found this note stuck on the mailbox
It said, “Goodbye, turkey
My Attorney will be in touch”
So I decided right then and there
I was gonna do what’s right,
Give her her fair share, but, brother,
I didn’t assay it was gonna be that much
She got the goldmine (She got the goldmine)
I got the shaft (I got the shaft)
They split it right down the middle
And then they gave her the better half
Well it all sounds sort o’ funny
But it hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine
And I got the shaft
Now listen, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet
Why, they gave her the colour television set
Then they gave her the house
The kids and both o’ the cars
See, well then they start talkin’ ’bout child support
Alimony and the cost o’ the Court
It didn’t take me long to figure out
How fond of attorneys I was
I’m tellin’ ya they have made a mistake
‘Cause it adds up to more than this cowboy makes
Besides, everything I ever had worth takin’
They’ve already took
While she’s livin’ like a queen on alimony
I’m workin’ two shifts,
Eatin’ baloney, askin’ myself
“Why didn’t you just learn to cook?”
They give her the goldmine (She got the goldmine)
They give me the shaft (I got the shaft)
They said they’re splittin it all down the middle,
But she got the better half
But it all sounds mighty funny
But it hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine
I got the shaft
Well, she got the goldmine (She got the goldmine)
I got the shaft (I got the shaft)
They split it all down the middle
And then they give her the better half
Well I guess it all sounds funny (Ha-ha-ha-ha)
Just hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine
I got the shaft
Huh-hah, they ain’t kiddin’
I got the shaft
But I don’t have to worry
About totin’ a billfold no more
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha,
I let my wife tote it
I’m gonna be carryin’ food stamps
You get it, Judge?
Ha-ha, that’s not funny, huh?
Contempt of Court?
What d’ya mean?
Listen, Judge
I was just kiddin’
I mean
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