Mendocino County Line

"Mendocino County Line"
Single by Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack
from the album The Great Divide
B-side	"Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)"[1]
Released	January 21, 2002
Format	CD Single
Genre	Country
Length	4:32
Label	Lost Highway
Writer(s)	Matt Serletic Bernie Taupin
Producer	Matt Serletic
Willie Nelson chronology
"I Never Cared For You" (1998) "Mendocino County Line" (2002) "Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me)" (2002)

"Mendocino County Line" is the title of a song written by Matt Serletic and Bernie Taupin, and recorded as a duet by American country artists Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Womack. The song was released in January 2002 as the lead-off single for Nelson's 2002 album, The Great Divide. It was a Top 40 hit on the U.S. country charts, peaking at number 22. The song was Nelson's first Top 40 hit on that chart since "Ain't Necessarily So" in 1990.^[1]

Content

The song is a ballad about a love that couldn't last. The song references Mendocino County, California.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that when Womack sings the chorus, "there's a tender, almost epic feeling to her heartache." Regarding Nelson, she states that he "imbues each line with the kind of emotional integrity that has become his trademark." She concludes her review by calling the song "absolutely magical."^[2] Mario Tarradel of The Dallas Morning News described the song and wrote, "They do sound good together; their voices complement each other like leather softened by lace."^[3]

Music video

A music video was released for the song, directed by Mark Seliger and premiered in early 2002.

Chart performance

"Mendocino County Line" debuted at number 53 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of January 26, 2002.

Chart (2002)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	22
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100	13

Refenerences

1. ^ ^{a b} Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 294–296. ISBN 0-89820-177-2. 
2. ^ Billboard, February 16, 2002
3. ^ Tarradel, Mario. The Dallas Morning News Womack is going places, but she has packed carefully (July 28, 2002)