She's All I Got

"She's All I Got" is a song written by Gary U.S. Bonds and Jerry Williams, Jr. in which the male narrator pleads to someone else not to take away his lover. It has been recorded by several artists. The first version, released in 1971 by Freddie North, was a Top 40 U.S. pop hit, and a version by Johnny Paycheck was a number 2 U.S. country hit that same year. A second country music version was released on Conway Twitty's 1972 Decca LP I Can't See Me Without You. There was also a version titled "He's All I Got" that was on Tanya Tucker's 1972 album Delta Dawn. Yet another cover titled "Don't Take Her She's All I've Got" was released by Tracy Byrd, whose version reached number 4 on the U.S. and Canadian country singles charts.

Freddie North version

Freddie North was the first artist to record the song, doing so on his album Friend. The only single from this album, it peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on Black Singles (now Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs). It was the only chart single of North's career.

Chart positions

Johnny Paycheck version

Johnny Paycheck's version was released in October 1971 from his album of the same name. The song spent nineteen weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Chart, reaching a peak of number 2. It was also a number 91 single on the Billboard Hot 100, his only entry there.^[2]

Chart positions

Tracy Byrd version

Tracy Byrd's version, retitled "Don't Take Her She's All I Got", is the second single released from his 1996 album Big Love. It peaked at number 4 on both the U.S. and Canadian country singles charts in 1997.

Critical reception

The single received a positive review in Billboard which praised Byrd's vocal similarities to Paycheck, and said that "Longtime fans will love hearing it again, and younger listeners will welcome Byrd's introducing them to this country classic."^[6]

Chart positions

Year-end charts

References