“Don’t Cry Joni” is Twitty’s duet with his then 16-year-old daughter, Joni Lee Jenkins. According to country music writer Tom Roland, Joni Lee had wanted — after years of resistance — to become an entertainer, and her father decided that allowing her to duet with him on the song (which he had written years earlier) might provide some encouragement.
Introduction Country music has always been about storytelling, and few songs tell a more personal,...