George Richey (born George Baker Richardson; November 30, 1935 – July 31, 2010) was an American
songwriter
A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...
and
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
. He was born in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
, but raised in
Malden, Missouri
Malden is a city in the northeast corner of Dunklin County, Missouri, United States, located near the intersection of Missouri Route 25 and U.S. Route 62. The population was 4,277 at the 2010 census. Malden is within Missouri's 8th congressional ...
.
Career
Richey was a mainstay of the
Nashville country music community since the 1960s through his songwriting and record production. In the 1970s, he co-wrote "
Keep Me in Mind," a No. 1 country hit for
Lynn Anderson
Lynn Renée Anderson (September 26, 1947 – July 30, 2015) was an American country singer and television personality. Her crossover signature recording, "Rose Garden," was a number one hit in the United States and internationally. She charte ...
in 1973. He also wrote hits for future wife
Tammy Wynette
Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...
and Wynette's then-husband,
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", ...
, including Jones's "
A Picture of Me (Without You)" and "
The Grand Tour
''The Grand Tour'' is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and Andy Wilman, made for Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 Novembe ...
," and Wynette's "
'Til I Can Make It On My Own" and "
You and Me", among many other artists. Richey served as a session musician for recordings by
Marty Robbins
Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...
,
Ringo Starr
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
and
Lefty Frizzell
William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country music singer-songwriter and honky-tonk singer.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Frizzell released many songs that charted ...
.
Richey served as the musical director for the television show ''
Hee Haw
''Hee Haw'' is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with the fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty" as the backdrop. It aired first-run on CBS from 1969 to 1971, in syndication from 1971 to 1993, and on TNN from 199 ...
'' from 1970 to 1977.
While married to Wynette, he was her full-time manager and occasional producer and songwriter.
Following her death in 1998, he largely retreated from public life.
Personal life
In 1953, Richey married Dorothy Ann Tippit. While together, they had two children, Kelly and Diedre. Richey and Tippit divorced in 1969. In 1974, he married Sheila Hall.
In 1977, Hall filed for divorce on the grounds of "cruel and inhuman treatment", which she later withdrew. Hall would again file for divorce in October 1977 after learning that Richey was having an affair with Tammy Wynette.
Marriage to Tammy Wynette
George Richey and Tammy Wynette married on July 6, 1978. Richey then became Wynette's full-time manager and also took control of her finances. Georgette Jones, Wynette's daughter by former husband, George Jones, has claimed that Richey attempted to keep Wynette away from her children and close friends. She also claims that Richey was abusive to Wynette for the duration of their marriage.
Georgette Jones, and another of Wynette's daughters, Jackie Daly, both claimed that Wynette admitted that her infamous kidnapping incident was staged in order to explain bruises from a beating from Richey.
On April 5, 1998, Wynette felt a burning in her leg. Richey called her doctor, Wallis Marsh, who was 500 miles away in Pittsburgh. Marsh urged Richey to take her to the emergency room, but Richey did not. She died in her sleep the following afternoon. Richey would later claim that Wynette didn't want to be taken to a hospital, as she had started feeling better.
After Wynette's death
In April 1999, Wynette's daughters Tina, Jackie and Georgette filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Richey and Marsh after local reporter, Jennifer Kraus, discovered that
Midazolam
Midazolam, sold under the brand name Versed among others, is a benzodiazepine medication used for anesthesia and procedural sedation, and to treat severe agitation. It works by inducing sleepiness, decreasing anxiety, and causing a loss of a ...
had been shipped to Wynette. Richey subsequently allowed for an autopsy to be performed on Wynette. No cause of death was determined, with no Midazolam found in Wynette's body. Richey was later dropped from the lawsuit.
In 2001, Richey married former
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...
cheerleader, Sheila Slaughter. They had a daughter, Tatum, and would remain married until Richey's death.
Death
Richey, a longtime smoker, died on July 31, 2010, following a long battle with chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bron ...
. There was no public memorial per his request, and he was buried in Nashville near Wynette. His death was kept private for over 3 weeks, with his
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page continuing to add new posts, initially leading to confusion about his passing.
In popular culture
He is portrayed by
Steve Zahn
Steven James Zahn (; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. His film roles include ''Reality Bites'' (1994), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999), '' Shattered Glass'' (2003), ''Sahara'' (2005), '' Chicken Li ...
in the 2022 television miniseries, ''
George & Tammy
''George & Tammy'' is an American drama television miniseries created by Abe Sylvia and directed by John Hillcoat, which premiered on Paramount Network, Showtime and CMT on December 4, 2022, with Showtime as its primary network. It stars Jessic ...
''.
References
Footnotes
Books
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Richey, George
1935 births
2010 deaths
Musicians from Arkansas
Deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
People from Malden, Missouri