He'll Have to Go

joe & audrey allison

 

Have you ever heard about Joe Marion Allison? In 1959 he made a phone call to his wife Audrey for something trivial. The line was disturbed. She had a low, tender voice, and he told her to put her lips closer to the phone ... and there we go. They wrote this song together a few days afterwards. After Billy Brown's first recording failed, Jim Reeves decided to give it a try. RCA meant that "In a Mansion Stands My Love" had better commercial potensial, but disc jockeys and the public had an another opinion. The rest is history: it became Reeves' best selling single ever, it changed his career from a mediocre country singer to a famous crooner - after following Chet Atkins' suggestion to sing baritone instead of tenor - and, for the better or the worse, introduced "The Nashville Sound" for real.

Allison did not pen too many songs, but he worked with music almost all his life, on radio and TV, producing and administrating. Notably, he signed Willie Nelson for the first time, and produced Tex Ritter's last album.

put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
and you can tell your friend there with you : he'll have to go

whisper to me : tell me do you love me true
or is he holding you the way I do
though love is blind • make up your mind : I've got to know
should I hang up or will you tell him : he'll have to go

you can't say the words I want to hear while you're with another man
do you want me ? answer yes or no • darlin' : I will understand

put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
and you can tell your friend there with you : he'll have to go

For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.

A                              D             A
put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
                           C#m          B7 ...E7
let's pretend that we're together all alone
               A               A7          D      ... Bdim
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
             A                      E7                    A
and you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go

A7         D               Bm                 A                   A7
you can't say the words I want to hear while you're with another man
        D              Bm                 A             E7
do you want me  answer yes or no  darlin' I will understand