"Take Me" is a 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

Leon Payne Leon Roger Payne (June 15, 1917 – September 11, 1969), "the Blind Balladeer", was an American country music singer and songwriter. Life He was born in Alba, Texas, United States. He was blind in one eye at birth, and lost the sight in the other ...

. Jones originally released the song on the Musicor label in 1966 and scored a No. 8 hit. However, the song is best remembered for being the first single release by Jones and his third 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 ...

in 1971 on Epic Records. That version was also a top ten hit, peaking at No. 9.

Recording and composition

Jones wrote "Take Me" with Leon Payne, who is perhaps best known for his hits "

I Love You Because ''I Love You Because'' is a musical set in modern-day New York. It is based on Jane Austen's novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. It features lyrics by Ryan Cunningham, set to music by Joshua Salzman. Production history Cunningham and Salzman first met ...

", " You've Still Got a Place in My Heart", and for the two songs of his Hank Williams recorded: " Lost Highway" and " They'll Never Take Her Love from Me". In his autobiography ''I Lived to Tell It All'', Jones recalled, "When I was at Musicor, I might record an entire album in three hours, a practice that violated the musician's union's rules. I'd go through one take...Yet I recorded some of my biggest songs in that casual fashion, including 'Take Me'..."

Tammy Wynette

The song took on a whole new poignancy when Jones cut it with his third wife, country star Tammy Wynette. Although Jones and Wynette had been married since 1969 and had toured together for years, they had not been able to record together due to record contract constraints, although Tammy had sung backup on a handful of George's songs while he was on the Musicor label and had even appeared on the cover of his 1969 LP ''I'll Share My World with You''. Jones eventually broke his contract with Musicor at a hefty sum so he could join Tammy at Epic Records and record with her 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 ...

. "Take Me" became the couple's first single release together and climbed to No. 9, kicking off a remarkable run for the duo that would last beyond their divorce in 1975. In the liner notes to the 2005

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

reissue of '' My Very Special Guests'', Jones is quoted, "When we first started doing duets, she had a hard time following me because I don't open my mouth much when I sing. She had to learn to read my lips!" Jones performed the song with

Shelby Lynne Shelby Lynne (born Shelby Lynn Moorer, October 22, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter and the older sister of singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. The success of her pop rock album '' I Am Shelby Lynne'' (1999) led to her winning the Grammy ...

at the ''George Jones and Friends: 50th Anniversary Concert'' in 2007. While appearing on '' Charlie Rose'' with

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with ...

and

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in fil ...

to promote the album ''

Raising Sand ''Raising Sand'' is a collaborative studio album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released in October 2007 by Rounder Records. ''Raising Sand'' won Album of the Year at the 2008 Americana Music Hon ...

'', former

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

vocalist Robert Plant spoke of being overwhelmed when he had recently heard the duet version of "Take Me" for the first time, with Burnett adding, "George Jones and Tammy Wynette doing 'Take Me' is sublime. That's about as good as music gets."

References

{{George Jones and Tammy Wynette 1965 songs 1966 singles 1971 singles George Jones songs Tammy Wynette songs Songs written by George Jones Songs written by Leon Payne Male vocal duets Song recordings produced by Pappy Daily