Y’all Come

“Y’all Come” was written by Arlie Duff, a Texan born Arleigh Elton Duff in 1924, who taught English and was known as “The Singing School Teacher.” A disc-jockey friend, Gordon Baxter, urged him to try music, and he joined Blackie Crawford’s band, the Western Cherokees. He recorded the song, then titled “You All Come,” in May 1953 at the Floyd Tillman Studio in Houston, with Pappy Daily producing; Crawford and Luther Nalley played guitar, Bobby Black steel guitar, Buck Crawford bass, Bob Heppler fiddle and Burney Arnett piano, and the Western Cherokees sang the chorus. Starday issued it as a single in the summer of 1953, and it rose to number seven on the Billboard country chart. The title later changed to “Y’all Come,” and Duff received a BMI award for the song in 1953.