On This Day in 1978, a Pair of Outlaw Country Legends Were at No. 1 With a Song That Delivered a Solemn Warning to Mothers Around the World

On this day (March 11) in 1978, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart with “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.” Released as a single from their duet album, Waylon & Willie, it became their biggest collaborative hit, spending four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.

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Most country fans immediately connect this song to Jennings and Nelson. After all, they cut the most successful version. Theirs was a multi-week No. 1 that won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1979. However, they weren’t the first to cut the song.

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Ed Bruce, who co-wrote the song with his wife, Patsy, was the first to record it. He released it as a single from his 1976 self-titled album. Chris LeDoux also recorded it for Songbook of the American West later that year.

According to Songfacts, Bruce was on his way home from a jingle recording session when he came up with the idea for the song. “I had just left the studio, and everybody was knocked out with what I did,” he recalled. “I was good at what I did, but nobody really knew, and my first thought was ‘Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to play guitars.’ Then, I changed it to ‘Don’t let ‘em grow up to be cowboys,’ and worked in guitars,” he added.

How Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings Landed on This Song

Ed Bruce initially thought about pitching “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” to Waylon Jennings or Willie Nelson. He knew it fit both of their styles well. Instead, he chose to record it first. After his version reached No. 15 on the country chart, he reached out to Jennings.

Interestingly, Jennings had already recorded a version of the song. However, he didn’t like the way it sounded. As a result, he took it to Nelson before they began working on Waylon & Willie.

“Me and Willie were talking about recording again, and I said, ‘Willie, I cut this thing, but I ain’t sure about it,’” Jennings recalled. He didn’t believe his solo version sounded right, but thought it could be a good duet. Nelson agreed and added his vocals. “The whole record was finished. I just took part of my voice out and put his on,” Jennings said about recording the duet.

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