‘Why Can’t He Be You’ a hit for Lynn
This week in 1977: The U.S. House Of Representatives approved hikes in the minimum wage; a government study revealed that birth rates among girls ages 15 to 17 was rising; Roman Polanski was given three months in jail for rape in California; and a singer from Butcher Holler, Ken., had her 39th hit record. A lot of hit songs came from old sayings and according to Hank Cochran, Loretta Lynn’s 1977 hit “Why Can’t He Be You” was one of those tunes.
Hank commented, “Loretta Lynn recorded an album “I Remember Patsy” and she cut that song for the album. And that was Loretta’s second single off that album. I had written that song as something else and it was right after Patsy had finished a recording session, so she wasn’t going to record for awhile.”
“In the meantime, Elvis recorded a song that was real close to what I had originally written on that, so I re-did what I had from “He’s Not You” to “Why Can’t He Be You.” And the original idea came from that old saying I’ve heard about somebody saying “Yeah he’s a good ole boy, but he’s not you.” But that’s where that idea came from.”
Loretta Lynn’s Decca Records single “Why Can’t He Be You” came on the country music charts Aug. 6, 1977 and peaked at No. 7. It was her 39th charted song and was on the charts for 13 weeks.
Loretta Lynn placed 78 songs on the country music charts from 1960 through 2000, including 16 No. 1s. Her hits included duets with Ernest Tubb and Conway Twitty.
Loretta joined The Grand Old Opry in 1962 and was inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 1988.
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Doug Davis & The Good Ole Boys will perform at 10 a.m. today at Reunion Plaza.