She Thinks I Still Care

"She Thinks I Still Care" is a country song written by Dickey Lee and Steve Duffy. The song was recorded by multiple artists, including George Jones, Connie Francis, Anne Murray, Elvis Presley and Patty Loveless.

"He Thinks I Still Care"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album Danny's Song
A-side"You Won't See Me"
ReleasedApril 1974
RecordedSeptember 1972
GenreCountry, pop
LabelCapitol 3867
Songwriter(s)Dickey Lee, Steve Duffy
Producer(s)Brian Ahern
Anne Murray singles chronology
"A Love Song"
(1974)
"He Thinks I Still Care" / "You Won't See Me"
(1974)
"Son of a Rotten Gambler"
(1974)

"She Thinks I Still Care"
Single by George Jones
from the album Hits by George
B-side"Sometimes You Just Can't Win"
ReleasedApril 14, 1962
RecordedJanuary 4, 1962
StudioBradley Film and Recording Studio, 804 16th Ave. South, Nashville, Tennessee
GenreCountry
Length2:34
LabelUnited Artists
Songwriter(s)Dickey Lee, Steve Duffy
Producer(s)Pappy Daily
George Jones singles discography singles chronology
"Achin', Breakin' Heart"
(1962)
"She Thinks I Still Care"
(1962)
"Beacon In the Night"
(1962)
"He Thinks I Still Care"
Single by Connie Francis
A-side"I Was Such a Fool (To Fall in Love with You)"
ReleasedSeptember 1962
RecordedJune 18, 1962
StudioColumbia Recording Studio, 804 16th Ave. South, Nashville, Tennessee
GenreCountry
Length3:17
LabelMGM
Songwriter(s)Dickey Lee, Steve Duffy
Producer(s)Danny Davis, Jim Vienneau
Connie Francis US singles chronology
"Vacation" / "The Biggest Sin of All"
(1962)
"I Was Such a Fool (To Fall in Love with You)" / "He Thinks I Still Care"
(1962)
"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter/ Al di là"
(1962)

George Jones version

According to Bob Allen's book George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend, Jones first heard the song when Jack Clement played it for him at Gulf Coast Studio in Beaumont, which Clement owned with Bill Hall. The song had been written by Dickie Lee Lipscomb and Steve Duffy, two professional songwriters under contract to Clement's publishing company, so Clement was eager for Jones to record it. According to Allen, Jones had little interest, responding, "I don't like it too much. It's got too many damn 'just becauses' in it. I don't think nobody really wants to hear that shit, do you?"[1] Undeterred, both Clement and Hall continued to pitch the song to Jones. Raymond Nalley, brother of Gulf Coast session musician Luther Nalley, later recalled:

"They had this ole, wornout, rinky-dink tape recorder layin' around the studio...Everytime they'd try to lay that song on George, he'd just look at that damn tape recorder and ask 'em, 'How much you sell me that thing for?' One day, Bill Hall finally told him, 'Hell, George, if you'll record the song, I'll give ya the damn tape recorder!'"[1]

In his essay for 1994 Sony retrospective The Essential George Jones: The Spirit of Country, Rich Kienzle also states that Jones was underwhelmed by the song after Clement had "decided not to play George the tape but to sing him the song, altering the melody as he sang it to give it a stronger country feel." Jones himself always insisted he had no doubts about the song. Recalling his first impression of the tune, he insisted in the 1989 documentary Same Ole Me, "Boy, I just flipped! I said, 'Golly, lemme have this thing.'" In the 1994 video retrospective Golden Hits, he added, "It knocked me out. I couldn't wait to get into the studio." The song was released in April 1962, his first single release on United Artists after leaving Mercury, and it remained on the Billboard survey for twenty-three weeks, six of them at #1. In his autobiography I Lived to Tell It All, the singer wrote, "For years after I recorded it, the song was my most requested, and it became what people in my business call a 'career record,' the song that firmly establishes your identity with the public."[2] The B-side, "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", reached No. 17 on the C&W chart.[3] "She Thinks I Still Care" was one of seven records George would chart in 1962, and in the fall of 1963 he would travel to New York City and perform the song on Jimmy Dean's ABC network show.

Cover versions

Chart performance

George Jones

Chart (1962) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[6] 1

Connie Francis

Chart (1962) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening 18
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[7] 57

Anne Murray

Chart (1974) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 11

References

  1. Allen, Bob (1996). George Jones: The Life and Times of a Honky Tonk Legend. St Martin's Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0312956981.
  2. Jones, George; Carter, Tom (1996). I Lived to Tell it All. Villard. p. 67. ISBN 978-0679438694.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 180.
  4. "Praguefrank's Country Music Discographies: Connie Francis - part I". Countrydiscography.blogspot.com. May 13, 2009. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 242.
  6. "George Jones Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  7. "Connie Francis Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  8. "Anne Murray Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
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