Asleep at the Wheel – The Letter That Johnny Walker Read, is a song written and recorded by the American country music band Asleep at the Wheel. It was released in August 1975 as the lead single from their album Texas Gold. The song’s title is a reference to the Johnnie Walker «Red Label» Scotch whiskey. It was their highest-charting single, reaching number 10 on the Hot Country Singles charts in 1975. It was featured on the country radio station K-Rose in the 2004 cross-platform video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The band re-recorded the song with Lee Ann Womack for their 2021 album Half a Hundred Years.

Asleep at the Wheel – The Letter That Johnny Walker Read
From the album Texas Gold
B-side “Part Two”
Released August 4, 1975
Genre Country swing
Length 3:15
Songwriter(s) Ray Benson LeRoy Preston Chris Frayne
Producer(s) Tommy Allsup

COUNTRYPEDIA

Asleep at the Wheel – The Letter That Johnny Walker Read Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Johnny Walker sat at a table in a bar
Minding his own affairs
Drinking his namesake over the rocks
He was drunk, too drunk to care
When a girl in the bar walked up beside him
And this is what she said
She said, «A woman came by with a letter for you
And this is what the letter said»

[Chorus]
Dear, John, please, Johnny, please come home
I need your love and the kids, they’ve gotta be fed
And John, if you don’t hurry back, I’ll be gone
Yes, that’s what the letter said, the letter that Johnny Walker read

[Verse 2]
Then John, he got up from the table
Slowly, so slowly, he walked outside
He was thinking of his wife and little children back at home
And how his drinking had ruined their lives
Then John, he stared off, off into that street light
And a vision filled his poor, poor heart with dread
For you see, folks, it was him lying drunk there in the gutter, clutching in his little ol’ hand
The letter that Johnny Walker read, and this is what it said

[Chorus]
Dear, John, please, Johnny, please come home
Mm, I need your love and the kids, they’ve gotta be fed
And John, if you don’t hurry back, I’ll be gone
Yes, that’s what the letter said, the letter that Johnny Walker read
Dear, John, please, Johnny, please come home
I need your love and the kids, they’ve gotta be fed
And John, if you don’t hurry back, I’ll be gone
Yes, that’s what the letter said, the letter that Johnny Walker read

[Outro]
Yes, that’s what the letter said, the letter that Johnny Walker read
Yes, that’s what the letter said, the letter that Johnny Walker read

GENIUS