A beloved George Strait hit carried Conway Twitty’s name on every label, yet the true heart of the song belonged to Mickey Jaco, who built it away from the spotlight.
When George Strait recorded “I’ve Come to Expect It from You” for his 1990 album “Livin’ It Up”, the song connected with country listeners and reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Listeners heard Strait’s smooth vocal and the track’s traditional swing, while the credit on vinyl, cassette inserts, and commercial release sheets named Conway Twitty as the songwriter.
Archival notes, studio records, and handwritten manuscripts tell a different story.
The music came from Temple Maxine Jaco, known to listeners as Mickey. She worked at a home piano during quiet hours, shaping the melody and refining the lyrics line by line.
When the composition moved into the publishing world, Mickey made a private and selfless choice. She did not seek a public co-write or make a formal copyright claim in her own name.
Instead, she let Conway carry the songwriter credit, hoping to strengthen his catalog and protect the family’s creative path.
Years later, George Strait found the piece through Nashville publishing circles while gathering material for his tenth studio album. With producer Jimmy Bowen, he cut the song and gave it a place among his signature hits of the 1990s.
“The validation came through national airwaves, not through a public credit.”
Her decision preserved a shared family legacy and revealed the unseen work behind Nashville’s biggest hits. Conway Twitty remains an enduring country icon, while Mickey’s quiet artistry lives inside a song millions still remember.