"Color of the Blues" is a

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

country song written by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

and

Lawton Williams Lawton Williams (July 24, 1922 – July 27, 2007) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Williams taught himself to play guitar as a teenager but made no steps towards a musical career until, while serving in World War II, he ...

and released by Jones on January 15, 1958.

Background

By the time of the release of "Color of the Blues" in 1957, Jones had been releasing singles for three years and had scored four Top 10 hits: "

Why Baby Why "Why Baby Why" is a country music song co-written and originally recorded by George Jones. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily, it peaked at 4 on the ''Billboard'' country c ...

" (1955), "

You Gotta Be My Baby "You Gotta Be My Baby" is a song written and recorded by George Jones. It was his second Record chart, Top 10 hit on Starday Records, peaking at #7 on the country singles chart. That same year, he sang "You Gotta Be My baby" at his first appea ...

" (1956), " Just One More" (1956), and " Don't Stop the Music" (1957). However, his three previous singles had failed to chart and, in the wake of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's explosion in popularity, he had even recorded a few half-hearted

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

sides with producer

Pappy Daily Harold W. Daily (February 8, 1902 – December 5, 1987), better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records. Daily worked with many of the well-kn ...

. Jones was not discouraged, however, telling Ray Waddell of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' in a 2006 interview that he was just happy to have moved on from

Starday Records Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. History The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record di ...

: "When I went to

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

I got my first halfway decent sounds. "Window p Above and "Color of the Blues" didn't sell that big, but they got me a lot of radio play."

Composition

"Color of the Blues" is considered one of Jones' greatest earlier works, and he often performed it live during the late 1950s. According to Rich Kienzle's liner notes of the 1994 Song retrospective ''The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country'', Lawton Williams (who had composed

Bobby Helms Robert Lee Helms (August 15, 1933 – June 19, 1997) was an American country singer, who is best remembered for his 1957 Christmas hit "Jingle Bell Rock". Additionally, he had two other hit records from that year: " Fraulein" and "My Special Ange ...

' 1957 honky-tonk smash " Fraulein") wrote the lyrics while Jones came up with the melody and title. Like many other

honky-tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano (tack piano) ...

tunes of the 1950s, Jones sings of self-pity over a failed relationship; his lover has sent him a letter in the mail written with blue ink on blue paper, leading him to declare that "blue must be the color of the blues." Like his earlier composition "

Seasons of My Heart "Seasons of My Heart" is a song written by George Jones and Darrell Edwards. The song was released as the b-side to the #4 hit "Why Baby Why" in 1955. The song was also recorded by Johnny Cash and, released in 1960, it became a #10 hit. The so ...

," the song contains vivid poetic imagery, with the color blue symbolizing his despair: ::''There's a rainbow overhead'' ::''With more blue than gold and red'' ::''Blue must be the color angels choose'' ::''A blue dress you proudly wore'' ::''When you left to return no more'' ::''Blue must be the color of the blues'' The song reached #7 on the country singles chart. It is often featured on compilations of Jones early Starday and Mercury albums, including; 1961's ''Greatest Hits'', 2004's ''Definitive Collection: 1955-1962'', '' 50 Years of Hits'', and 2005's ''24 Greatest Hits''. ''Jones thought so much of the song that he would recut it for both

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

and Musicor in the 1960s. It would also be recorded by

Red Sovine Woodrow Wilson "Red" Sovine (July 7, 1917 – April 4, 1980) was an American country music singer and songwriter associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives but set to music. His most noted examples are "Giddyu ...

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis Si ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

, and

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

featuring

Susan Tedeschi Susan Tedeschi (; born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks’ and other musicians. Early li ...

.''

Chart performance

Discography

References

{{authority control 1958 songs Songs written by Lawton Williams Songs written by George Jones George Jones songs Mercury Records singles Song recordings produced by Pappy Daily