"Tennessee Whiskey" was written in 1981 by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove. The pair decided to write a song together after meeting each other at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. He had an idea for it for some time and they went back to Hargrove's house to write the song at four o'clock in the morning.[3]
After completion, the song was first offered to George Strait but he turned it down.[4] It was first recorded by American country music artist David Allan Coe for his album of the same name Tennessee Whiskey released in 1981. His version is recorded in more of a traditional country style. Commercially, it peaked at number 77 on the US BillboardHot Country Singles chart.[5]
The song was later covered by fellow American country music artist George Jones, whose version was released in August 1983 as the third single from his album Shine On. Jones' version reached a new peak commercially, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in November 1983[7] and number one on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.[8]
The song remained a mainstay in Jones' live set, with the singer often substituting the name of whatever city or town he was in for "Tennessee" in the second chorus. In 1985, he performed the song at the inaugural Farm Aid, and Coe joined Jones onstage to sing a chorus.
American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton recorded an R&B-influenced cover of the song for his debut studio album Traveller released in 2015.[12] Stapleton first sang his version on the spur of the moment while the band was playing during a soundcheck before a show in Charlottesville, Virginia. Stapleton and the band enjoyed playing the song, and he decided to sing the song every show.[13] His producer Dave Cobb heard the song and suggested that he should record the song for his album.[14] His cover was never officially released to radio as a single, but it was released as a promotional CD single.[15]
On November 4, 2015, Stapleton performed it at the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards as a duet with Justin Timberlake. The performance was described as the best moment of the night by music writers.[10][11] Based solely on two days' sales after the broadcast, it reached number one on the Hot Country Songs chart, and number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 131,000 copies.[16][17] It peaked at number 20 on the Hot 100 the following week, selling a further 118,000 copies.[18][19] It was certified Platinum by the RIAA on May 4, 2016,[2] and reached over a million in sales in the US by January 2017.[20] It was certified 6× Platinum on July 31, 2019, for six million units in combined streams and sales.[2] It has sold 1.98 million copies in the US as of March 2020.[21]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Other versions
Meghan Linsey performed the song on season 8 of The Voice in May 2015.[44] Her version charted on the country chart after her performance with 32,000 copies sold that week.[45]Deana Martin gave "Tennessee Whiskey" a new beat when she recorded it for her 2016 album Swing Street.[46]
A YouTube video featuring Kris Jones at the wheel of his pickup truck, recorded by his daughter Dayla, went viral and has gained over 35 million views. It led to a performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[47] In 2017, Stan Walker and Parson James released a version as a single.[48] Australian singer Judah Kelly covered the song on his debut album, Count On Me (2017).[49]
Keke Wyatt also covered the song in 2017 for her album of covers called Keke Covers where she did an R&B inspired version of the tune.
In 2017 Keala Settle released a version of "Tennessee Whiskey" on her EP Chapter One. It has gained 1.4 millions plays on Spotify.
In March 2018, it was announced that Tennessee Whiskey: The Musical, a play for Broadway and based on the story of Dean Dillon, is in the pre-production phase.[55]
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