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On This Day in 2000, Alan Jackson Breathed New Life Into This Don Williams Classic
As Alan Jackson prepares to wrap up four decades of live performing this summer, many are reflecting on his contributions to country music. A leading figure in the “neotraditional country” movement that swept the 1980s and ’90s, the Georgia-born crooner is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, regardless of genre. Since releasing his debut album New Traditional in 1987, Jackson has sent 35 songs to the top of the country singles chart—many of which the singer wrote himself. And while he didn’t write “It Must Be Love”, released on this day (April 24) in 2000, the 17-time ACM Award winner made it wholly his own.
Videos by American Songwriter
Originally written by Bob Dill and recorded by country music singer Don Williams in 1979, Alan Jackson released “It Must Be Love” as the third single from his 1999 album Under the Influence.
This collection saw Jackson paying homage to his heroes, covering tracks by Charley Pride, Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, and Johnny Paycheck. The first two singles—covers of Jim Ed Brown’s “Pop a Top” and Williams’ “The Blues Man—brought success, respectively reaching No. 6 and No. 37 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
A No. 1 hit for Williams in 1979, Jackson restored “It Must Be Love” to its former glory, spending one week atop the country songs chart. It also cracked the Top 40 of the all-genre Hot 100, peaking at No. 37.
“Doing a Don Williams song justice,” commented one Facebook user. “The man has respect running through his veins.”
This Wasn’t the Only Time Alan Jackson Paid Tribute to Don Williams
After the release of his 20th studio album, Angels and Alcohol, in 2015, Alan Jackson momentarily dropped out of the radar. In 2020, he re-emerged with another Don Williams cover, teaming up with fellow Georgia native Caylee Hammack for a fresh rendition of “Lord, I hope This Day Is Good”.
That collaboration further inspired “A Man Who Never Cries”, a track from Jackson’s 2021 album Where Have You Gone. The three-time CMA Entertainer of the Year penned the song after Hammack told him their Don Williams cover had brought her usually stoic father to tears.
“He was sitting there in the kitchen and he doesn’t say much about all her career stuff, but she said when she played him that cut, he just lit up and she saw some tears from a man who never cries,” Jackson told Billboard. “When I read that, I thought, ‘Man, that sounds like a song. I’ll have to write that.’ So I kind of took that idea and built around it.”
Featured image by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images
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