George Strait is one of the most successful artists in country music history. Hailed as the King of Country Music, Strait has launched 60 singles to the top of the Billboard and Mediabase country charts. The Texas native found his stride early in his career with a string of hits. Among those was his iconic “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” which topped the charts on this day (July 11) in 1987.
Strait has one of the most impressive chart runs of any country artist. His debut single, “Unwound” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1981. His next single, “Down and Out” dropped months later and peaked at No. 16. The would be the last time one of his singles would miss the top 10 until he released his cover of Hank Williams’ “Lovesick Blues” in 1991. Only two of those songs missed the top five.
[RELATED: Watch George Strait’s Incredible “Amarillo by Morning” Performance on ‘Austin City Limits’ in 1984]
He released “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” on April 10, 1987, six years into his long string of hits. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard chart dated July 11, 1987. It spent one week at the top of the chart and 16 weeks on the chart in total. It was his eleventh career chart-topper.
George Strait Strikes Country Gold with “All My Ex’s Live in Texas”
Whitey Shafer and his wife Lydia co-wrote “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” However, George Strait made a change in the lyrics to make it a little more personal. According to Songfacts, the original lyrics saw the song’s narrator learning to swim in the Brazos River. Strait changed it to the Frio River, which runs through the Texas Hill Country for his version.
“That was a fun song to write,” Shafer said. “I was kinda writin’ my biography,” he added. The songwriter went on to say that he changed the names to “protect the guilty” but he did, in fact, have several exes who resided in the Lone Star State. In fact, Lydia was his fourth wife.
“I do have some exes in Texas. Thank God they live down there,” Shafer said. “It’s not really why I live in Tennessee, but it’s a good kicker for the song,” he added.
Featured Image by Kathy Hutchins
Most Popular
Comments / 0