If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) - Wikipedia If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' Single by George Jones from the album I Am What I Am B - side `` Brother to the Blues '' Released January 1981 Genre Country Length 3 : 13 Label Epic Songwriter ( s ) Harlan Sanders Rick Beresford Producer ( s ) Billy Sherrill George Jones singles chronology `` I 'm Not Ready Yet '' ( 1980 ) `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' ( 1981 ) `` Still Doin ' Time '' ( 1981 ) `` I 'm Not Ready Yet '' ( 1980 ) `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' ( 1981 ) `` Still Doin ' Time '' ( 1981 ) `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' is a song written by Harlan Sanders and Rick Beresford, and recorded by American country music artist George Jones. It was released in January 1981 as the third single from his album I Am What I Am. The song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. Contents 1 Background 2 Chart performance 3 References 4 External links Background By 1981, Jones career continued to thrive after the remarkable success of his # 1 hit single `` He Stopped Loving Her Today. '' After experiencing a lull in his career in the late seventies, the song reignited the singer 's career on the charts ; in 1980 he scored a # 2 hit with `` Two Story House, '' a duet with his ex-wife Tammy Wynette, and reached # 2 again with his rendition of the Tom T. Hall composition `` I 'm Not Ready Yet. '' However, the upswing in his professional life brought little peace to his personal one ; dogged by a years - old cocaine addiction and a near thirty year drinking problem, he continued to miss shows, engage the police in high - speed chases, and show up at award shows obviously inebriated to accept honors for `` He Stopped Loving Her Today. '' The despairingly hopeless `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' verged on topicality as Jones sang about falling out of cars at four in the morning and drinking `` twenty bottles. '' As he often had, Jones played up to his demolished reputation with a mixture of sheepish bravado and showbiz practicality, writing in his 1995 memoir I Lived to Tell It All, `` Knowing what people thought about Tammy and me, I often changed the words of ' If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ' when I sang it publicly, particularly on national television : If drinkin ' do n't kill me, Tammy 's memory will... If folks bought my records because they thought I was breaking down, which I happened to be, so be it. '' Chart performance Chart ( 1981 ) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles 8 Canadian RPM Country Tracks 25 References Jump up ^ `` George Jones singles ''. Allmusic. Retrieved November 25, 2011. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics George Jones songs Singles `` No Money in This Deal '' `` Why Baby Why '' `` Achin ', Breakin ' Heart '' `` Seasons of My Heart '' `` Too Much Water '' `` Just One More '' `` Do n't Stop the Music '' `` Color of the Blues '' `` White Lightning '' `` Window Up Above '' `` Tender Years '' `` She Thinks I Still Care '' `` I 'll Share My World with You `` The Race Is On '' `` Love Bug '' `` Walk Through This World with Me '' `` If My Heart Had Windows '' `` Good Year for the Roses '' `` Loving You Could Never Be Better '' `` A Picture of Me ( Without You ) '' `` The Grand Tour '' `` The Door '' `` He Stopped Loving Her Today '' `` I 'm Not Ready Yet '' `` If Drinkin ' Do n't Kill Me ( Her Memory Will ) '' `` Still Doin ' Time '' `` Same Ole Me '' `` Shine On ( Shine All Your Sweet Love on Me ) '' `` I Always Get Lucky with You '' `` Tennessee Whiskey '' `` You 've Still Got a Place in My Heart '' `` She 's My Rock '' `` Hallelujah, I Love You So '' `` Who 's Gonna Fill Their Shoes '' `` The One I Loved Back Then ( The Corvette Song ) '' `` Somebody Wants Me Out of the Way '' `` Wine Colored Roses '' `` The Right Left Hand '' `` I Turn to You '' `` The Bird '' `` I 'm a One Woman Man '' `` I Do n't Need Your Rockin ' Chair '' `` Choices '' `` Funny How Time Slips Away '' Collaborative singles `` We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds '' ( w / Melba Montgomery ) `` Let 's Invite Them Over '' ( w / Melba Montgomery ) `` What 's in Our Heart '' ( w / Melba Montgomery ) `` Blue Moon of Kentucky '' ( w / Melba Montgomery ) `` We 're Gonna Hold On '' ( w / Tammy Wynette ) `` Golden Ring '' ( w / Tammy Wynette ) `` Near You '' ( w / Tammy Wynette ) `` Maybellene '' ( w / Johnny Paycheck ) `` Two Story House '' ( w / Tammy Wynette ) `` You Better Move On '' ( w / Johnny Paycheck ) `` Yesterday 's Wine '' ( w / Merle Haggard ) `` C.C. Waterback '' ( w / Merle Haggard ) Guest singles `` A Few Ole Country Boys '' ( w / Randy Travis ) `` You Do n't Seem to Miss Me '' ( w / Patty Loveless ) `` A Country Boy Can Survive ( Y2K version ) '' ( w / Chad Brock and Hank Williams, Jr. ) `` Murder on Music Row '' ( w / Dierks Bentley ) Related articles Albums discography Singles discography Discography with Tammy Wynette Awards This 1980 country song - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=If_Drinkin%27_Don%27t_Kill_Me_(Her_Memory_Will)&oldid=785530930 '' Categories : 1981 singles George Jones songs Epic Records singles Song recordings produced by Billy Sherrill 1980 songs 1980 country song stubs Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats All stub articles Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Edit links This page was last edited on 14 June 2017, at 01 : 49. 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Question: who wrote if drinkin don't kill me
Answer: Harlan Sanders