The Judds’ “Mama He’s Crazy” Was Inspired By A Day Time Soap Opera

The country vocal duo, The Judds, earned their second career hit and the first of their 14 number-ones with “Mama He’s Crazy.” The song was written by Kenny O’Deill and was released as the second single from their 1984 debut EP Wynonna & Naomi. Then, it was re-released in their full-length album Why Not Me. 

It was very successful and even ended at number 3 on the year-end chart of the Billboard Hot Country Singles. It was also officially certified Gold. What was really the most interesting part was that it was only the second country song sung by a female duo that reached number one. The Davis Sisters’ “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” took it first. 

Meaning Behind The Song

In his interview with Bart Herbison of the Nashville Songwriters Association, O’Deill shared the whole story of how he came up with the song. 

According to him, he used to work out of his home, and he would take a break around 11 or 12 o’clock. His wife would fix him a quick lunch, and then he would work out a poem. One day, there happened to be a soap opera. 

His wife got him to watch, and they kind of got locked into it. In the story, there was a mama and her daughter, and the daughter was telling her mother how she was worried about her boyfriend’s short fuse. 

She said he was a passionate rancher who disdained oil wells and development. He also threatened that he was going to blow up everything if anyone dared build oil wells in his. She expressed, “It scares me. He’s nuts. He’ll go ballistic. Mama, he’s crazy.”

Then, they happened upon a mother-and-daughter duo while watching a local morning show with Ralph Emery on WSMV Channel 4. His wife saw them, found them awfully good, and suggested that he connect with them. He worked on a little tape of the song about the soap opera’s mama and daughter that he was inspired to write and sent it through the channels. 

After some time, he received a call from a friend named Brent Maher, who was working with The Judds at the time. He told him they played them a tape of his song. The duo then recorded and decided to release the song as their next single.

Listen to The Judds’ “Mama He’s Crazy” in the video below. If this is your first time with them, we’re sure you won’t be able to resist listening to more of The Judds’ songs!