"Let's Invite Them Over" is a song written by Onie Wheeler, which was recorded as a duet by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artists

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

and

Melba Montgomery Melba Joyce Montgomery (October 14, 1938 – January 15, 2025) was an American country music singer and songwriter. She was known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney, and Charlie Louvin. She was also a solo artis ...

. The song was released as the pair's second single in 1963. The ironic duet is sung in close harmony by a couple who are "not in love with each other, but in love with our best friends".

Background

"Let's Invite Them Over" was recorded at the Columbia Recording Studio, located in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on May 23, 1963. The recording date was the second session that took place between Jones and Montgomery. Other songs included on the session were "What's in Our Heart", "Suppose Tonight Would Be Our Last", and "I Let You Go". The recording session included

The Nashville A-Team The Nashville A-Team was a nickname given to a group of session musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, who earned wide acclaim in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, similar to their West Coast counterpart who became known (after the fact) as the Wre ...

of musicians, whom appeared on other recordings by the pair. The session was produced by

Pappy Daily Harold W. Daily (February 8, 1902 – December 5, 1987), better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records. Daily worked with many of the well ...

. It was issued as a single in September 1963 via

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

. The song was the pair's follow-up single to the success of their previous, " We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds". The song reached the seventeenth position on the ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. It became the duo's second major hit single together. In the book ''George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend'', Bob Allen quotes the singer: "Now, truthfully, Melba fit my style of singin' more than Tammy ynettedid. I hate to use the word 'hard-core', but that's what Melba is - a down-to-earth hard-core country singer." In 1999

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humoro ...

and

Iris Dement Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel. She has been nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life DeMent was born in Parag ...

released a version on Prine's 1999 duet album ''

In Spite of Ourselves ''In Spite of Ourselves'' is the 13th studio album of John Prine, featuring duets of classic country songs with various well-known female folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk h ...

''.

Chart performance

References

1963 singles 1963 songs Male–female vocal duets George Jones songs Melba Montgomery songs United Artists Records singles Song recordings produced by Pappy Daily {{1960s-country-song-stub