"The Whiskey Ain't Workin'" is a song recorded 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, o ...
artists
Travis Tritt
James Travis Tritt (born February 9, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1989, releasing seven studio albums and a greatest hits package for the label between then and 1999. In the 20 ...
and
Marty Stuart
John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as ...
. It was released in November 1991 as the third single from Tritt's album ''
It's All About to Change''. It peaked at number two on the ''Billboard''
country music chart in the United States, and at number four on the country singles chart in Canada. The song was written by Stuart and Ronny Scaife.
The song won both artists the
Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals at the 356h Annual
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
s in 1992.
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
is directed by Gerry Wenner. In it, Tritt and Stuart are at a
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (un ...
and they wind up going to
jail
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
, but are
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
ed out by a woman who was also at the bar.
Personnel
Compiled from liner notes.
*
Richard Bennett — electric guitar
* Mike Brignardello — bass guitar
*
Larry Byrom
Steppenwolf was an American-Canadian rock band that was prominent from 1968 to 1972. The group was formed in late 1967 in Los Angeles by lead singer John Kay, keyboardist Goldy McJohn, and drummer Jerry Edmonton, all formerly of the Canadian ...
— acoustic guitar
* Terry Crisp —
steel guitar
A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...
*
Stuart Duncan
Stuart Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo.
Life
Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school band. ...
— fiddle
*
Dennis Locorriere
Dennis Michael Locorriere (born June 13, 1949; Union City, New Jersey, United States) is the American lead vocalist and guitarist of the country rock group Dr. Hook (formerly Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show).Bonitto, Brian (2014)Hooking up with ...
— background vocals
* Tim Passmore — background vocals
*
Matt Rollings
Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer.
Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...
— piano
* Jim Ruggiere — harmonica
*
Marty Stuart
John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as ...
— electric guitar solo, lead and background vocals
* Travis Tritt — lead vocals
* Steve Turner — drums
*
Billy Joe Walker Jr. — electric guitar
Chart positions
Year-end charts
References
Travis Tritt songs
Marty Stuart songs
1992 singles
Male vocal duets
Songs written by Marty Stuart
Warner Records singles
Songs written by Ronny Scaife
1991 songs
{{1991-country-song-stub