The Judds: Naomi and Wynonna’s 10 Essential Songs
The mother-and-daughter duo of Naomi and Wynonna Judd provided country music in the Eighties with a crucial counterpoint to their male peers like Alabama and George Strait, effortlessly balancing toughness and vulnerability like no one else. Thanks to their family vocal chemistry and a staggering run of hits including “Mama He’s Crazy,” “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain,” and “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days),” the Judds stand as one of country’s most successful duos. These are their 10 must-hear tracks.
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“Have Mercy” (1985)
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Archive Photos A fiery belter on record and a moment of ecstatic solidarity in the Judds’ stage show, “Have Mercy” was written by Englishman Paul Kennerley, who eventually teamed both musically and romantically with Emmylou Harris. Producer Brent Maher played the song for Wynonna and Naomi on their bus in Jackson, Mississippi, where they were set to perform. “The first time they heard it they just jumped up and down,” he recalled. “I think the line that really grabbed Wynonna was ‘I could hear you was playin’ Haggard and Jones.’” S.B.
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“Mama He’s Crazy” (1984)
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/GettyImages Romantic yet tentative, with just a hint of drama — it’s fitting that “Mama He’s Crazy” songwriter Kenny O’Dell was inspired by a line he heard in a daytime soap opera. O’Dell, who also wrote the country-pop classic “Behind Closed Doors,” was working with the Judds to develop them into a full-fledged recording act. He tailored what would become their first Number One specifically for Naomi and Wynonna, at the same time affording listeners a subtle reminder of the mother-daughter relationship. Wynonna, still in high school, wearing braces and going out with her first boyfriend, would later continue the habit of poignantly expressing her emotions to her mom in song. Naomi’s strong-yet-subtle harmony provided support for her daughter that came straight from, and went straight to, the heart. S.B.
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“Maybe Your Baby’s Got the Blues” (1987)
Image Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/GettyImages While the Judds’ sound often reflected their hardscrabble Kentucky roots, here’s one that captures the sultry Deep South with easygoing romanticism. A year after experiencing major success with Tina Turner’s recording of “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” that song’s co-author Graham Lyle teamed with CMA-nominated tunesmith Troy Seals to offer a bit of advice to their fellow men when it comes to anticipating and meeting a woman’s emotional needs. As sweet as it is heartbreaking, with a vibrant yet gentle melody, the duo’s life lesson was delivered with more than just a little of their own hard-won experience. S.B.
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“Why Not Me” (1984)
Image Credit: Walt Disney Television Photo Archives Among the most powerful elements in the Judds’ distinct acoustic sound was guitarist Don Potter, whose slippery notes throughout this Grammy-winning tune emphasized the duo’s penchant for playfulness while underlining their steely determination. Written by Judds producer Brent Maher with songwriting titans Harlan Howard and Sonny Throckmorton, it originated with a melody from the latter, whose only protest to his co-authors was that he would rather have been fishing that Sunday. And although inspired to craft the lyrics to the duo’s unique personalities, Howard was convinced “Why Not Me” was a weak title. His solution: Repeat the title phrase so frequently it would become impossible to forget. It spent two weeks at Number One and became an undeniable smash for a duo hitting their creative stride. S.B.
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“Girls Night Out” (1984)
Image Credit: Nick Elgar/Corbis Historical/Getty This lively, two-stepping number from the Judds’ debut album Why Not Me was actually written by a couple of dudes — producer Brent Maher and Jeffrey Bullock. But no matter, Naomi and Wy understood the assignment as always and turned the composition into a rowdy anthem of working-class, single life that twirls around the dance floor thanks to the nimble guitar licks of Don Potter and Eddie Bayers’ sprightly drums. “There are a lot of women who don’t have a date on Friday night,” Wynonna said in the Billboard Book of #1 Country Hits. “I’ve been there. So what do you do? You get together with your girlfriends. You sit and talk about how ornery and trouble-making men are, and you forget about your troubles and you go out and you have a ball.” Millions of women (as well as men) could relate. J.F.
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“Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days)” (1986)
Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Country music doesn’t want for songs pining for better times. Unfortunately, many of those “good ol’ days” lyrics celebrate an era that wasn’t all that hospitable to some folks — or one that didn’t exist at all. The Judds’ gentle 1986 ballad, off their LP Rockin’ With the Rhythm, mostly avoided that problem, choosing instead to focus on promises kept and the family bond. Naomi and Wynonna knew a lot about both at the time; they’re pictured holding each other tight on the album’s cover. “Grandpa, everything is changing fast / We call it progress, but I just don’t know,” the mother-daughter sing at one point, questioning the lightning-quick speed of the decade. But even then, the Judds resisted passing judgment. Instead, they’re happy to settle for a story about days gone by rather than try to change an unwritten future. J.H.
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“Love Can Build a Bridge” (1990)
Image Credit: Ebet Roberts/GettyImages Naomi Judd co-wrote this tearjerker title track to the Judds’ final album shortly before she announced her retirement. In her 1993 memoir, she recalled writing the beginning of the song after witnessing an argument between two men. “I’d finally come to the realization that the only way I ever got through to Wy and Ashley is when I stayed calm, rational and loving,” Judd wrote. Referring to the song’s lyric “The first step is to realize that it all begins with you and me,” she explained that she was “suggesting, in essence, ‘It’s better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness.'” The song became a symbol of the group’s bond in ensuing decades: It was the last song Naomi and the Judds ever sang together when the Judds reunited at the CMT Awards just a few weeks before her death. J.B.
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“Cry Myself to Sleep” (1985)
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/Archive Photos Paul Kennerley initially pitched “Cry Myself to Sleep” to then-wife Emmylou Harris, who felt like it didn’t fit her and suggested he see if the Judds wanted it instead. Naomi and Wynonna recorded it for their second album Rockin’ With the Rhythm with producer Brent Maher at the helm, and eventually it became the duo’s eighth Number One. Their signature acoustic country sound is present here in the blues-influenced guitar work, but it’s also spiked with a taut New Wave pulse and bursts of classic-rock bombast like a Kentucky-fried version of Heart. Wynonna’s range as a singer is also on full display — cool and restrained as she coos, “You know I can’t do more,” then heartbroken, then frustrated as she gives an Elvis Presley-like growl, with Naomi providing the sultry low harmonies. J.F.
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“Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” (1985)
Image Credit: Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives The Judds’ seventh Number One was a grooving, throwback rock & roll number that featured as always their signature harmonies. “I would sort of back her up on her lines,” Naomi Judd said of the vocal interplay between her and Wynonna on this 1985 barnburner. The song also marked the first time songwriters Brent Maher and Don Schlitz ever wrote together. “I started playing a shuffle rhythm on my guitar, and Don said, ‘I like that groove,” Maher recalled in 2001. But according to Naomi, the song could be traced back to talks that longtime collaborator Brent Maher had with the group on the front porch of their country home. “Brent and I were talking about how could we come up with our own unique sound, just swinging back and forth, and it started raining a little bit,” she said in 2017. “And I said here we are, just rocking with the rhythm of the rain.” J.B.
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“Young Love (Strong Love)” (1989)
Image Credit: Paul Natkin/WireImages On May 6th, 1989, 10 years after they first met, Naomi Judd married singer Larry Strickland. That same day, the Judds celebrated another milestone as this tender and resolute ballad became their 13th chart-topping single. Another contribution from Paul Kennerley, who wrote it in collaboration with Kent Robbins, the song combines vivid, Springsteen-esque imagery and one of Wy’s most assured and lovely vocal performances. That the song’s aspiring couple Billy and Bonnie would wed, have a child, and “make it through the hard times” would offer the gift of hope to countless others, something mother and daughter would need to call upon when Naomi was diagnosed with Hepatitis C and forced to retire in the early Nineties. S.B.