"Stay a Little Longer" is a Western swing dance tune written by

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

Tommy Duncan Thomas Elmer Duncan (January 11, 1911 – July 25, 1967), was an American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys. He recorded and toured with bandleader Bob Wills on and o ...

. The title comes from a refrain in the chorus: The song consists of a number of unrelated verses, one of which (verse three) comes from an old folk song"Shinbone Alley": Bob Wills and the

Texas Playboys 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 ...

recorded it in 1945 and it reached number three in 1946.Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits'', p. 493

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

(number 22 in 1973) and

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

(number 17 in 1982) also charted Top 40 hits. The song has been recorded numerous times. In The Andy Griffith Show episode "The Darling Baby", the lyrics went like this:

References

Bibliography

*Cohen, Norm. ''Folk Music: A Regional Exploration''. Greenwood Press, 2005. *Whitburn, Joel. ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits''. Billboard Books, 2006. Western swing songs 1946 songs Bob Wills songs Mel Tillis songs Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Bob Wills Songs written by Tommy Duncan {{1940s-country-song-stub