The Race Is On
"The Race Is On" is a song written by Don Rollins (not to be confused with the Don Rollins who co-wrote "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" for Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett) and made a hit on the country music charts by George Jones and on the pop and easy listening charts by the unrelated Jack Jones. George's version was the first single released from his 1965 album of the same name. Released as a single in September 1964, it peaked at number three on the "Billboard" Hot Country Singles chart and at number  96 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in January 1965. Jack's version topped "Billboard's" Easy Listening chart and reached number 15 on the Hot 100 the same year. The two recordings combined to reach number 12 on the "Cashbox" charts, which combined all covers of the same song in one listing and thus gave George Jones his only top-40 hit. The song uses thoroughbred horse racing as the metaphor for the singer's romantic relationships. George Jones version. Jones had recorded "The Race Is On" in June 1963 but it was not released until September 1964 on the album  I Get Lonely in a Hurry. The single reached #3 on the "Billboard" country chart. It also climbed to number 96 on the pop charts, a rarity for a Jones single, and United Artists capitalized on its success by making it the title of his next 1965 LP. According to the Bob Allen book "George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend", Don Rollins wrote the song one day after visiting Turf Paradise Race Course in Phoenix, Arizona. Allen observes: In the 1994 retrospective "Golden Hits", Jones recalled that Dewey Groom first played him the song in  his office at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. Jones was unimpressed with all the demo tapes Groom played for him and had started to leave when Groom played the Rollins song; Jones heard the opening line and exclaimed, "I'll take it!" The singer on that 1961 demo recording was Jimmie Gray, for whom Don Rollins wrote the song. Gray's version is one whole step higher than Jones' version, and prompted George to seek him out. The two became friends, Jimmie eventually roading in George's band, on bass and high harmony, and Jimmie was in the studio when  George cut his hit. According to the liner notes for the 1994 Sony compilation "The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country", the throbbing, echoey six-string bass guitar solo was played by Kelso Herston, who went on to write hit songs for Jones and produce one of his later MCA albums. Jones was extremely fond of the tune, recording it again with Musicor, Epic, and as a duet with Travis Tritt for "The Bradley Barn Sessions" in 1994. He almost always performed it live in concert as well.