"Tender Years" is a song written by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

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", ...

and Darrell Edwards. It became Jones' second #1 country hit.

Background

"Tender Years" spent seven non consecutive weeks at #1 and a total of 32 weeks on the country chart. "Tender Years" also made it to the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, peaking at number 76. Like his previous singles "Family Bible" and " Window Up Above," the recording displayed a more mature, restrained vocal approach from the one that had established him on earlier honky tonk hits such as "

Why Baby Why "Why Baby Why" is a country music song co-written and originally recorded by George Jones. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily, it peaked at 4 on the ''Billboard'' country c ...

" and "White Lightning". In the liner notes to the 1994 Mercury compilation ''Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years'', country music historian

Colin Escott Colin Escott (born August 31, 1949) is a British music historian and author specializing in early U.S. rock and roll and country music. His works include a biography of Hank Williams, histories of Sun Records and The Grand Ole Opry, liner notes ...

argues that "Tender Years" "just about defined the territory he carved out as his own in the years ahead. 'Window Up Above,' ' Color of the Blues,' and 'Accidentally on Purpose' had all hinted at the same direction, but on 'Tender Years' the song, the production, and the performance came together in a statement of soon-to-be classic George Jones." Music journalist Rich Kienzle concurs, observing in his essay for ''The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country'', "Here, his singing voice, which so far had been high and nasal, began to deepen. His restrained delivery and the smoother, '

Nashville Sound The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk music, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with "smooth strings and choruses", "sophist ...

' production (complete with muted accompaniment and a vocal chorus) produced a smoother, but no less expressive George Jones." Years later Jones would perform the song with

Faron Young Faron Young (February 25, 1932 – December 10, 1996) was an American country music producer, musician, and songwriter from the early 1950s into the mid-1980s. Hits including "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')" and " Live Fast, Love Hard, D ...

and

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 ...

during a segment on Robbins' television show (the video is available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

). The famous French singer

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

recorded the song during a

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

session and afterward he recorded a French version Tes Tendres Années. This French rendition was used as a basis for the 1963 Dutch hit ''Spiegelbeeld'' written by Lodewijk Post and sung by Dutch singer

Willeke Alberti Willeke Alberti (born 3 February 1945) (real name: Willy Albertina Verbrugge) is a Dutch singer and actress, the daughter of entertainer and singer Willy Alberti (1926–1985) and Hendrika Geertruida Kuiper (1921–2011). Biography Willeke Albe ...

Chart performance

Johnny Hallyday version (in French)

The song was covered in French by

. His version (titled "Tes tendres années") was released in early 1963 and reached no. 1 in the Netherlands. In Wallonia (French Belgium) his single spent 28 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2, in Flanders (Dutch Belgium) – 12 weeks peaking at number 9.

Charts

References

George Jones songs 1961 songs 1961 singles Mercury Records singles Johnny Hallyday songs {{1960s-country-song-stub