Tag: Billy Sherrill

Etta James: “Almost Persuaded” (Song of the Day)

Etta James took “Almost Persuaded,” the hit David Houston song, and made it her own.

Etta james almost persuaded

The country song “Almost Persuaded” has been recorded by some great singers. Two of the greatest country singers of all time — George Jones and Tammy Wynette — each recorded wonderful versions. But Etta James, not usually thought of for country music, has the greatest version of the song.

“Almost Persuaded” was written by Glenn Sutton and the famous country producer Billy Sherrill. David Houston first released the song in 1966, and his version of “Almost Persuaded” was a number one country hit. It also was top 40 on the pop charts.

The song’s topic is somewhat unusual, as it is not celebrating love or reporting a heartbreak. In “Almost Persuaded,” the singer is married but finds an attraction to another. The singer considers having an affair, but ultimately sees the wedding ring and remembers to be faithful to his or her spouse.

In Houston’s version, the song is slow and sort of sad. In the version by Etta James, she takes the song and stretches out the anguish in the tale while also finding empowerment.

James released her version two years after Houston scored a hit, releasing her version of “Almost Persuaded” in December 1968.

What is interesting about the lyrics is the singer’s decision to be faithful is based on more than one reason. There is the obvious reason, that the singer does not want to lose the “sweet love” she has. But she also recognizes that cheating will change her.

And I was almost persuaded to strip myself of my pride;
Almost persuaded to push my conscience aside.

“Almost Persuaded” is a beautiful song, maybe the best one about struggling to be faithful to the one you love. Some have noted the song’s connection to gospel music, noting also that the title comes from a hymn from the ninth century, “Almost Persuaded” by Philip Bliss

Interestingly, the song started out as a B-side. When David Houston recorded a song called “We Got Love” as his A-side, he didn’t have a B-side song. So his producer Billy Sherill worked with Glenn Sutton to write the B-side song (although another source reports that the song was originally written for Charlie Walker). They came up with “Almost Persuaded.” But after the single was released, a DJ in Atlanta started playing Houston’s B-side and soon “Almost Persuaded” became the hit.

Sometimes a great song finds its own way. And sometimes a great song finds another great version in an artist like Etta James.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    11 Facts About “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

    One of the best parts of the recent Ken Burns series Country Music was not even a part of the broadcast. One of the extras that was edited out of the final version of the series was a detailed segment about “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” the George Jones classic that many consider the greatest country song of all time.

    The segment features stories from many of the people behind the song. Unfortunately, George Jones passed away in 2013, but we get the story from songwriters Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman as well as from producer Billy Sherrill and others. Below are 11 things we learned about “He Stopped Loving Her Today.

    1. “One of the songwriters had a reputation for killing off characters in his songs. Songwriter Bobby Braddock started writing the song and then took it to Curly Putman for help in finishing the song. Putman was known for writing songs where someone dies, such as “Green, Green Grass of Home.”

    2. The song took a long time to write. Braddock and Putman started working together during the Spring of 1977, then took a break. They finished the first version of the song in Fall of 1977.

    3. Braddock initially was not too impressed with the song or the character. When they finished the song, Braddock wrote in his journal that on a scale of one to ten, the song was a seven. One thing he never liked about the song was that the main character was not a good role model because he could never move on.

    4. Someone recorded the song before George Jones. Johnny Russell recorded the song for two different labels, but it was never released.

    5. The song as originally written revealed the main character’s death too early. Braddock and Putman wrote the song with the chorus about the character being dead occurring after the first verse.

    6. Producer Billy Sherrill got the songwriters to change the song. Producer Billy Sherrill had Braddock and Putman rewrite the song to move the disclosure of the character’s death until nearer the end. And he also got them to add a verse about the woman coming to the funeral.

    7. George Jones initially did not like the song and kept singing the wrong music. During early recording sessions, Jones kept singing the song to the music of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

    8. The song took a long time to record. Between the recording of Jones’s opening line of the song and the recording of his final words, nearly a year had passed. The takes were never right, and then one day Jones came in and said he had it figured out. And then he nailed the recording.

    9. The recording gave the producer goosebumps. When Jones finally recorded the spoken recitation, it gave Billy Sherrill goosebumps.

    10. Backing vocalist Millie Kirkham knew what the song needed. Vocalist Millie Kirkham was known for her ability to hit extremely high notes, and Sherrill originally planned for her to sing really high on the song. But she realized that the song needed something more subtle, so she forwent her trademark high notes and did something more moving and haunting, stunning everyone in the recording session.

    11. The song was song of the year for two years. “He Stopped Loving Her Today” won the Country Music Awards Song of the Year for 1980 and for 1981. And it also helped Jones win his first Male Vocalist of the Year award.

    And that’s the Story Behind the Song.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    A New Johnny Cash Album: “Out Among the Stars”

    Out Among the Stars Cash

    Johnny Cash‘s estate is releasing Out Among The Stars, an album of never-before-released material that Cash recorded in the early 1980s for Columbia Records. The music comes from a recording session in 1981 and another session in 1984, both produced by Billy Sherrill. Columbia forgot about the recordings after Cash released his final album for the label, Rainbow, in 1985. (See our previous post about Rainbow and the record label dropping Cash.)

    In a short promotional video for the upcoming album, Cash’s son, John Carter Cash talked about finding these recordings.

    Out Among the Stars will be out among the stores starting March 25, 2014.

    What do you think of “new” music being released after an artist has died? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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