"Right or Wrong" is a jazz ballad from 1921. Composed by Arthur Sizemore and Paul Biese, with words by

Haven Gillespie James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breez ...

, it is described by the original sheet music as "a beautiful fox-trot ballad." The lyrics tell of the loss of a paramour. The title comes from a refrain in the chorus:

Recordings

"Right or Wrong" was recorded by many early jazz and swing orchestras, including Mike Markel and His Orchestra (OKeh 4478, 1921), Original Dixie Jazz Band (Oriole 445, 1925), Peggy English (Brunswick 3949, 1928),

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gui ...

(Bluebird 6832, 1936). The recording with the longest lasting influence was performed by the black-faced Emmett Miller and the Georgia Crackers (OKeh 41280, 1929). Miller's version was picked up by an early

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

and became a standard

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...

dance tune. Both Wills (Vocalion 03451, 1936) and

Milton Brown Milton Brown (September 8, 1903 – April 18, 1936) was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hy ...

(Decca 5342, 1936) made early recordings. Western swing versions generally do not include any of the verses, only repetitions of the chorus. The song also appears on

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Red ...

's 1990 album ''Sugar.'' The 1937 popular song by Mildred Bailey and Her Orchestra (Vocalion 3758) is a different song, having been written by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include ''Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930 in film, 1930), ''Something to Sing About (1937 fil ...

for the film '' Something to Sing About''.

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

's hit "Right or Wrong" in 1961 is not this song, but one written by herself.

George Strait version

The biggest hit for "Right or Wrong" came on April 28, 1984, when

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait is considered one of the most influential and popular recording artists of all time. In the 1980s, he was credited for ...

recorded the old Bob Wills song for his best-selling album of the same name (See '' Right or Wrong''). The single from that album (MCA 52337) reached #1, staying on the charts for 12 weeks. George Strait's success led to the songwriter, Haven Gillespie, receiving an ASCAP award in 1985 for writing the song.King, "Gillespie, James Haven Lamont", p. 375: "Gillespie received a Freedoms Foundation award in 1950 for 'God's Country' (1950) and an ASCAP award for country music in 1985 for 'Right or Wrong' (1921)."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Bibliography

* Gillespie, Haven (w.); Arthur Sizemore and Paul Biese (m.
"Right or Wrong"
Triangle Music, 1921. Fro
Indiana University Sheet Music Collections
* King, Charles D. "Gillespie, James Haven Lamont" from ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', pp. 374–375, edited by John E. Kleber, Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter. * Stambler, Irwin; Grelun Landon. ''Country Music: The Encyclopedia''. St. Martin's Griffin, 2000. * Whitburn, Joel. ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006. {{George Strait 1980s singles Western swing songs 1921 songs 1984 singles George Strait songs Songs with lyrics by Haven Gillespie Song recordings produced by Ray Baker (music producer) MCA Records singles