Love Bug (George Jones song)

"Love Bug", also spelled "Lovebug," is a single by American country music artist George Jones. Jones' version, which also features a young Johnny Paycheck on backup vocals and draws heavily from the Bakersfield sound as popularized by Buck Owens, reached #6 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1965.

"Lovebug"

Single by George Strait

from the album Easy Come, Easy Go

B-side

"Just Look at Me"

Released

February 28, 1994

Format

CD single

Recorded

April 19, 1993

Genre

Country

Length

2:50

Label

MCA 54819

Writer(s)

Wayne Kemp
Curtis Wayne

Producer(s)

Tony Brown
George Strait

George Strait singles chronology

"I'd Like to Have That One Back"
(1993)

"Lovebug"
(1994)

"The Man in Love with You"
(1994)

Background

By 1965, one of the few other country singers who was as hot as Jones on the country charts was Buck Owens, who had helped establish Bakersfield as an alternative to Nashville as a country music center. The Bakersfield sound was seen as having more bite than the more tepid Nashville sound, and a rivalry soon sprouted; in the 2001 documentary series Lost Highway music journalist Chet Flippo states, "I think that Nashville felt that Bakersfield was a bad smell that they wished would go away. It really had nothing to do with the scene in Nashville but country radio loved that music, so there was a certain co-existence that had to go on." This rivalry extended to Jones and Owens; although they would always remain friends, during the occasions in which they toured together in the early days they often argued about who would close the show, with Jones recalling in his autobiography I Lived to Tell It All that he "was resentful because Buck's home in Bakersfield did not make him part of the Nashville family."^[2]

Recording and composition

"Love Bug" was written by Wayne Kemp and Curtis Wayne. Lyrically, the song celebrates the giddiness of new love that's "got the whole world shook up." Musically, the song is an unmistakable nod to the Bakersfield sound, from the treble on the guitars to George's elongated delivery at the start, "Oh...that...little bitty teeny weeny thing they call the love bug," which is reminiscent of Owens hits like "Love's Gonna Live Here" and "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail". Several alternate takes of the song can be heard on the Jones box set Walk Through This World with Me: The Complete Musicor Recordings 1965-1971, including a version with an overdriven electric guitar solo and harmonica that makes it sound more like a Rolling Stones record of the time than either Nashville or Bakersfield. Jones later recorded the song as a duet with Vince Gill on the 1994 album The Bradley Barn Sessions.

George Strait version

George Strait released a cover of the song in February 1994 as the third single from his album Easy Come, Easy Go. Strait's version reached #8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in May 1994.^[3]

Chart performance

George Jones version

Chart (1965)	Peak position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[4]	6

George Strait version

"Love Bug" re-entered the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart at number 74 as an official single for the week of March 5, 1994.

Chart (1994)	Peak position
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)^[5]	9
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)^[6]	14
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)^[7]	8

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 213. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
↑ Jones, George; Carter, Tom 1995, pp. 43.
↑ Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks
↑ "George Jones – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for George Jones.
↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2496." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. June 6, 1994. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
↑ "George Strait – Chart history" Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 for George Strait.
↑ "George Strait – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for George Strait.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

George Jones songs

Singles	"No Money in This Deal" "Why Baby Why" "Achin', Breakin' Heart" "Seasons of My Heart" "Too Much Water" "Just One More" "Don't Stop the Music" "Color of the Blues" "White Lightning" "Window Up Above" "Tender Years" "She Thinks I Still Care" "I'll Share My World with You "The Race Is On" "Love Bug" "Walk Through This World with Me" "If My Heart Had Windows" "Good Year for the Roses" "Loving You Could Never Be Better" "A Picture of Me (Without You)" "The Grand Tour" "The Door" "He Stopped Loving Her Today" "I'm Not Ready Yet" "If Drinkin' Don't Kill Me (Her Memory Will)" "Still Doin' Time" "Same Ole Me" "Shine On (Shine All Your Sweet Love on Me)" "I Always Get Lucky with You" "Tennessee Whiskey" "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart" "She's My Rock" "Hallelujah, I Love You So" "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes" "The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)" "Somebody Wants Me Out of the Way" "Wine Colored Roses" "The Right Left Hand" "I Turn to You" "The Bird" "I'm a One Woman Man" "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair" "Choices" "Funny How Time Slips Away"

Collaborative singles	"We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds" (w/ Melba Montgomery) "Let's Invite Them Over" (w/ Melba Montgomery) "What's in Our Heart" (w/ Melba Montgomery) "Blue Moon of Kentucky" (w/ Melba Montgomery) "We're Gonna Hold On" (w/ Tammy Wynette) "Golden Ring" (w/ Tammy Wynette) "Near You" (w/ Tammy Wynette) "Maybellene" (w/ Johnny Paycheck) "Two Story House" (w/ Tammy Wynette) "You Better Move On" (w/ Johnny Paycheck) "Yesterday's Wine" (w/ Merle Haggard) "C.C. Waterback" (w/ Merle Haggard)

Guest singles	"A Few Ole Country Boys" (w/ Randy Travis) "You Don't Seem to Miss Me" (w/ Patty Loveless) "A Country Boy Can Survive (Y2K version)" (w/ Chad Brock and Hank Williams, Jr.) "Murder on Music Row" (w/ Dierks Bentley)

Related articles	Albums discography Singles discography Discography with Tammy Wynette Awards

George Strait 1990s singles

Livin' It Up	"Love Without End, Amen" "Drinking Champagne" "I've Come to Expect It from You"

Chill of an Early Fall	"If I Know Me" "You Know Me Better Than That" "The Chill of an Early Fall" "Lovesick Blues"

Holding My Own	"Gone as a Girl Can Get" "So Much Like My Dad"

Pure Country	"I Cross My Heart" "Heartland" "When Did You Stop Loving Me"

Easy Come, Easy Go	"Easy Come, Easy Go" "I'd Like to Have That One Back" "Lovebug" "The Man in Love with You"

Lead On	"The Big One" "You Can't Make a Heart Love Somebody" "Adalida" "Lead On"

Strait Out of the Box	"Check Yes or No" "I Know She Still Loves Me"

Blue Clear Sky	"Blue Clear Sky" "Carried Away" "I Can Still Make Cheyenne" "King of the Mountain"

Carrying Your Love with Me	"One Night at a Time" "Carrying Your Love with Me" "Today My World Slipped Away" "Round About Way"

One Step at a Time	"I Just Want to Dance with You" "True" "We Really Shouldn't Be Doing This"

Always Never the Same	"Meanwhile" "Write This Down" "What Do You Say to That"

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