The Story Behind the Song:“’Til I Can Make It on My Own”

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Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette

Tammy Wynette called “’Til I Can Make It on My Own” her favorite of all the songs she had a hand in writing. As with much of her material, the writing process began at a recording session. Pianist George Richey brought up an idea about how a person just divorced might gradually become independent. Wynette had just ended her marriage with George Jones, so she related well to the topic. They didn’t have enough time to get very far into it at the session, so producer Billy Sherrill suggested they put the song aside until a later date.

One Saturday night, Tammy visited Richey and his wife Sheila at their home. Sheila fixed popcorn while Tammy and George worked on the song. They worked late into the evening and were able to assemble most of “’Til I Can Make It on My Own,” but it still needed two more lines. The next day (Sunday), Richey asked Billy Sherrill to come over to the house to help them wrap up the song. Sherrill liked to bet on football games and since it was Sunday (with several games airing simultaneously on television), George had multiple TV sets going in just about every room in the house so Billy could run from one room to another watching all of them. As soon as the games were over, Sherrill finally came into the room where Richey and Tammy were writing and knocked out the last two lines immediately. “’Til I Can Make It on My Own” was finished.

With this song, Tammy Wynette logged the 15th of her 16 solo number one hits on April 10, 1976. Additionally, she had four chart-topping duets. Her first trip to the summit was 1967’s “My Elusive Dreams” with David Houston. Three duets with George Jones also reached #1: “We’re Gonna Hold On” in 1973, “Golden Ring” in 1976 and “Near You” in 1977.

“Near You” was recorded under very tense circumstances on December 12, 1974, the day before Jones moved out of his and Tammy’s Franklin Road home. Their divorce became final on March 13, 1975. “Near You” was withheld for a couple of years, being released in late ’76 and reaching #1 on February 4, 1977. After Richey’s divorce from his wife Sheila, Wynette married George on July 6, 1978.

Many times during their 20 years of marriage (until Tammy’s 1998 death), he was often referred to as “Mr. Tammy Wynette,” but he didn’t mind. Richey was comfortable with his place in country music as a musician, songwriter, producer and label executive. He played piano on dozens of sessions, co-wrote many fine country songs including Lynn Anderson’s “Keep Me in Mind,” Joe Stampley’s “Soul Song,” and George Jones’ “The Grand Tour” and “A Picture of Me (Without You).” George headed Capitol Records in the early 1970s and produced Freddie Hart’s classic, “Easy Loving,” and many of Sonny James’ hits. He served as music director for the “Hee Haw” television show from 1970 to 1977. George Richey died at 74 on July 31, 2010.

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