Tina Turner Became the Surprising Inspiration for One of Waylon Jennings’ Biggest Hits

Compare the life and music of Waylon Jennings and Tina Turner, and it likely seems like they don’t have much in common. But it’s Turner who became the unlikely inspiration for his 1971 single, “Good-Hearted Woman“, one of Jennings’ biggest hits.

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The title track of his 1972 studio album, Jennings wrote “Good-Hearted Woman” with Willie Nelson. Jennings was staying in a motel in Fort Worth, Texas, when he saw an ad in a newspaper, which gave him the inspiration for “Good-Hearted Woman”.

“I’d been reading an ad for Ike and Tina Turner,” Jennings recalls (via Songfacts). “And it said, ‘Tina Turner singing songs about good-hearted women loving good-timing men.’ I thought, ‘What a great country song title that is!’”

Turner might have been the inspiration for “Good-Hearted Woman”, but so were the Jennings’ and Nelson’s own spouses at the time, Jessi Colter and Connie Koepke. Jennings remained married to Colter until he passed away in 2002. Nelson was married to Koepke from 1971 to 1988.

“I think Connie and Jessi both were the object of that song,” Nelson says. “Naturally, we started thinking about the ones who were having to put up with us at that particular time.”

The Message in “Good-Hearted Woman” by Waylon Jennings

“Good-Hearted Woman” might have been at least partly autobiographical for Jennings and Nelson, who wrote the song while playing poker. “Good-Hearted Woman” says, “She’s a good-hearted woman in love with a good timin’ man / She loves him in spite of his ways she don’t understand / Through teardrops and laughter / They’ll pass through this world hand in hand / A good-hearted woman lovin’ a good timin’ man.”

When Jennings first released “Good-Hearted Woman”, it became a Top 5 hit for him. He liked the song so much that he released another version of it three years later. In 1975, Jennings and Nelson released “Good-Hearted Woman” as a duet. That version appears on the record, Wanted! The Outlaws. The project includes songs by Jennings, Nelson, Colter, and Tompall Glaser.

In 1974, Tina Turner also recorded her version for her compilation Good Hearted Woman record.

Jennings’ talent as a songwriter is without question. Still, Colter tells American Songwriter that writing “Good-Hearted Woman” restored his faith in his ability to write songs. After releasing “Good-Hearted Woman”, Jennings went on to pen several more hits, including “Theme From The Dukes Of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys)”, “Just To Satisfy You”, “If Ole Hank Could See Us Now”, and others.

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