Co-written but never released by the late Keith Whitley, “She Never Got Me Over You” is a tasteful, timeless slice of classic country. Chesnutt delivers a solid performance of the bare-bones ballad, effortlessly inhabiting the heartache as he sings of a broken relationship that he can’t seem to shake:
She almost had me where you have me
She almost did what you still do
She got me thinking straight again
But I don’t think she understands
She never got me over you.
It’s the purest form of country music – the kind of country ballad that moves the soul with untainted emotion and a simple, stirring melody. It’s also the kind of unassuming song that stands little chance of success in today’s mainstream country market, which is quite a shame, as “She Never Got Me Over You” is not only a breath of fresh air, but a beautiful tribute to Whitley.
Written by Hank Cochran, Dean Dillon and Keith Whitley
Grade: B+
Listen: She Never Got Me Over You
Buy:
That’s beautiful. And, you’re right, it stands little chance of getting radio airplay for seveal reasons….it’s pure country and Mark Chestnutt, unfortunately doesn’t get played on radio anymore. I would have loved to hear Keith singing this…it’s so him.
There used to be a bootlegged version of Keith Whitley’s original demo floating around the internet. When Mark Chesnutt appeared on Ralph Emery’s new RFD-TV show a few months ago, I was lucky enough to get through during the call-in segment and I asked him how he came to record this song. He told me Hank Cochran suggested he record the song and played it for him on his guitar. Mark added that he was blown away by the tune and didn’t found out until later that it was a Keith Whitley co-write.
Great song and nice review.
It’s a lovely song and recording.
It’s a very good song off a very good CD. Chesnutt is not a great singer but he has his moments and this is one of them
I think Chesnutt is a pretty great singer.
I agree. One of the best traditional male vocalists of his generation.
Kevin – I was not denigrating Chesnutt, but I think you are grading on a curve – he’s not one of the all-time great vocalist.
I do agree with your comment and I have all of Mark’s CDs (I’ve also seen him live on several occasions) but he came to the forefront as the “New Traditionalist” movement was beginning to run out of steam. I would rank him behind Tracy Lawrence and Wade Hayes and just ahead of Tracy Byrd and Joe Diffie among the post 1990-group
I regard Chesnutt as good-to-very good and I have liked most of his recordings
Speaking of Wade Hayes, he’s just released a new album. If the track samples are any indication, it’s a good one. Patty Loveless sings harmony
Available at http://www.wadehayes-woww.com/index.html
I’ve actually felt Tracy Lawrence’s voice has lost some spark from his stint in the nineties. To me, Mark Chesnutt has suffered most from choosing weak songs. He’s had a lot of great songs, but many misses as well. I think Hayes has a very good voice, but I feel the same about his songs, though Chesnutt’s much longer career has netted him many more good songs, of course. I have Hayes first album and can’t say that I was impressed by it, over all.
Thanks to Paul for that information – I always liked Wade Hayes.
I once loved Chesnut. I owned every CD he released from 1990 to 2002. But looking back, I think Chesnutt made some entertaining music, but very little of his music stands the test of time.
The first half of the “Too Cold at Home” CD is strong (the second half is filler) and the entire “Longnecks and Short Stories” CD is very good.
After 1993, his music went downhill. At the time, I still enjoyed it. But today I believe that only his first two albums stand the test of time.