On this day (August 7) in 1982, George Jones and Merle Haggard released “Yesterday’s Wine” as a single from their duets album, A Taste of Yesterday’s Wine. Willie Nelson wrote the song and used it as the title track from his 1971 album of the same name. Unfortunately, the original rendition of the song didn’t see the same success as Haggard and Jones’ duet.
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“Yesterday’s Wine” was the perfect fit for Haggard and Jones. The song is about two old friends who unexpectedly reunite in a bar after many years. Both singers were aging stars who had lived legendary lives by the early 1980s. As a result, they made the lyrics feel more authentic than any other version of the song.
The single topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for one week in October 1982. It was one of Jones’ final chart-toppers. He would go to the top of the country chart one more time with a song co-written by Merle Haggard.
Merle Haggard and George Jones Were Like Brothers
A Taste of Yesterday’s Wine proved that George Jones and Merle Haggard had musical chemistry. However, they were more than collaborators who played similar styles of country music. Haggard wrote a feature about Jones for Rolling Stone after he passed away in April 2013 and revealed how close they were.
“I was always trying to help George out of some damn thing,” Haggard wrote. “I felt like his big brother, even if I was younger. And I know he depended on me and respected me to tell him the truth when a lot of times other people would lie to him,” he added.
As it goes with close friends, Haggard didn’t sugarcoat things for Jones. “I’d get mad at him over the years because of his self-damage, but everything I said to him was out of love,” he explained in the article. At the same time, he understood that Jones was under immense pressure every time he stood on a stage. “He was the Babe Ruth of country music, and people expected a home run every time,” he wrote.
Featured Image by Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images
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