Walkaway Joe

"Walkaway Joe"
Single by Trisha Yearwood
from the album Hearts in Armor
Released 1993
Format CD single, cassette single
Genre Country
Length 4:19
Label MCA Nashville
Writer(s) Vince Melamed, Greg Barnhill
Producer Garth Fundis
Trisha Yearwood chronology
"Wrong Side of Memphis"
(1992)		 "Walkaway Joe"
(1993)		 "You Say You Will"
(1993)

"Walkaway Joe" is the title of a country music song written by Vince Melamed and Greg Barnhill. It was recorded by American singer Trisha Yearwood on her 1992 album Hearts in Armor, with background vocals from Don Henley of the Eagles. Yearwood released it in early 1993 as the second single from the album, reaching #2 on the U.S. Billboard country charts with it. A young Matthew McConaughey appears as the male lead in the music video.

Contents

Content

"Walkaway Joe" is a mid-tempo ballad describing a failed relationship initiated by an over-eager 17-year-old girl ("Such are the dreams of an average Jane / Ninety miles an hour down lovers' lane") and an uninterested male (presumably embarking on a life of crime, as evidenced in the song's second verse), or "Walkaway Joe."

After a performance on The Tonight Show, Yearwood met Don Henley of the Eagles and, after being invited to sing on her second album, he traveled to Nashville, Tennessee and recorded background vocals for the song.[1]

Matthew McConaughey appears in the music video.

The song appeared in the CBS show Touched By An Angel. Episode 512 of the show entitled "Fool For Love" was based on the song.

Critical reception

Thom Jurek described the song favorably in his review of Hearts in Armor,saying, "Yearwood's telling the story she tells best, working-class love gone bad."[2] In a review of Yearwood's 1997 greatest-hits package (Songbook) A Collection of Hits, Gordon Ely of the Richmond Times said, "It's not just a great song. It's memorable and only a shade shy of pure poetry. And it will be with us for a long time."[3]

The song was nominated for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female at the 1994 Grammy Awards.[4]

Chart performance

Chart (1992-1993) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks 2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 2
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 30

References

  1. ^ Brown, John (January-February 1999). "Save the Last Dance for Me". American Cowboy: 26–27. http://books.google.com/?id=1-oCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27&dq=%22walkaway+joe%22#v=onepage&q=%22walkaway%20joe%22. Retrieved 26 August 2009. 
  2. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Hearts in Armor review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r123573. Retrieved 26 August 2009. 
  3. ^ Ely, Gordon (7 December 1997). "Some hits packages do deliver". Richmond Times: p. H5. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/timesdispatch/access/23546567.html?dids=23546567:23546567&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+07%2C+1997&author=Gordon+Ely&pub=Richmond+Times+-+Dispatch&desc=SOME+HITS+PACKAGES+DO+DELIVER&pqatl=google. Retrieved 26 August 2009. 
  4. ^ "A selection of the Grammy nominations". Boston Globe. 7 January 1994. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EADE0A85D3FF53A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 26 August 2009. 
Trisha Yearwood
Hearts in Armor
"Wrong Side of Memphis" · "Walkaway Joe" (w/ Don Henley) · "You Say You Will" · "Down on My Knees"
The Song Remembers When
"The Song Remembers When" · "Better Your Heart Than Mine"
The Sweetest Gift
"It Wasn't His Child" · "Reindeer Boogie"
Thinkin' About You
"XXX's and OOO's (An American Girl)" · "Thinkin' About You" · "You Can Sleep While I Drive" · "I Wanna Go Too Far" · "On a Bus to St. Cloud"
Everybody Knows
"Believe Me Baby (I Lied)" · "Everybody Knows" · "I Need You"
(Songbook) A Collection of Hits
Where Your Road Leads
"There Goes My Baby" · "Where Your Road Leads" (w/ Garth Brooks) · "Powerful Thing" · "I'll Still Love You More"
Real Live Woman
"Real Live Woman" · "Where Are You Now"
Inside Out
"I Would've Loved You Anyway" · "Inside Out" (w/ Don Henley) · "I Don't Paint Myself in Corners"
Jasper County
"Georgia Rain" · "Trying to Love You"
Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love
"Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love" · "This Is Me You're Talking To" · "They Call It Falling for a Reason"
Guest singles
"Hope" · "Squeeze Me In" (w/ Garth Brooks) · "Love Will Always Win" (w/ Garth Brooks) · "Another Try" (w/ Josh Turner) · "Breaking Apart" (w/ Chris Isaak)
Other singles
"I Fall to Pieces" (w/ Aaron Neville) · "Wild as the Wind" (w/ Garth Brooks) · "You're Where I Belong" · "Santa on the Rooftop" (w/ Rosie O'Donnell)