Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)

The song refers to a couple whose position in "high society" has placed strains on their marriage ("this successful life we're livin' got us feudin' like the Hatfields and McCoys") and finances ("four-car garage, and we're still buildin' on"). Jennings suggests that the couple return to "the basics of love" and move to the small town of Luckenbach, Texas.

References in the song include the Hatfields and McCoys, Hank Williams, Mickey Newbury, Jerry Jeff Walker, and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain".^[1] The final refrain of the song features a guest vocal by Willie Nelson.^[2]

The song was co-written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons who proposed the song to Jennings because his "name's in it." At the time of recording the song, neither the writers nor Jennings had ever been to Luckenbach. In his autobiography, Jennings wrote, "I knew it was a hit song, even though I didn't like it, and still don't."^[3] Jennings stated that he disliked the song because it required him to sing his own name in the third-person, and because he felt it was too similar to Danny O'Keefe's Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues.^[4]

Rolling Stone considered the song to be a "myth-making moment" in the history of outlaw country music.^[2]

The song debuted on April 16, 1977, reaching #1 on the country charts on May 21, 1977 and stayed there until June 25, 1977.