"Loving You Could Never Be Better" is a song written by Earl Montgomery, Charlene Montgomery and Betty Tate, and recorded by American country music artist

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", ...

. It was released in April 1972 as the second single from his album '' George Jones (We Can Make It)''. The song peaked at number 2 on the '' Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart. It also reached number 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. The song was a good example of how producer

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gl ...

had updated the sound of Jones' records, incorporating a laid back, R&B bass line. By drawing from such unlikely and disparate musical influences as

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...

and "

wall of sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session ...

" rock producer

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, he gradually began embroidering his own subtle permutations on the rather predictable fabric of country record production. "I just decided I'd do it my way, and screw 'em if they didn't like it," Jones biographer Bob Allen quotes Sherrill. "Back then, the musicians had their own repertoire of stock Nashville licks and chord progressions that would work on any song. But I often wanted something different, and I'd make 'em play it."

Chart performance

References

1972 singles George Jones songs Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill Epic Records singles Songs written by Earl Montgomery 1972 songs {{1970s-country-song-stub