Sometimes, even a song that a songwriter is proud of gets passed over by potential recording artists. As a result, some songs eventually get abandoned or given up on. And, in very rare instances, those songs end up getting picked up later to become massive country hits. Let’s look at just a few country songs that became hits after their writers had already given up on them.
“I Wanna Talk About Me” by Toby Keith (2001)
It was definitely a surprise to learn that Bobby Braddock, the writer behind George Jones’ absolute heartbreaker, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, also penned the somewhat silly country pop track “I Wanna Talk About Me”. And originally, the iconic songwriter wanted to give the song to Blake Shelton for his debut album. However, when performed for test audiences, the song was a flop. Ready to give up on the song, Braddock pitched it to Toby Keith, who took the tune in 2001 and turned it into a hit. Released as a single off Pull My Chain, “I Wanna Talk About Me” made it all the way to No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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“He Stopped Loving Her Today” by George Jones (1980)
Speaking of “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, this very beloved and well-known country song also didn’t get recorded at all because George Jones gave up on it from the start. According to lore, Jones thought the melody was a bit too sad for his taste and expected no radio station would play it because of how much of a bummer it was. While the song is a massive tearjerker, Jones ended up being wrong. After his producer pushed him to record it, Jones had a No. 1 hit on his hands; one that would revive his career in a big way.
“The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers (1979)
“The Gambler” is definitely Kenny Rogers’ signature hit. And its writer, Don Schlitz, sat with the song for a while before Bobby Bare decided to record it. Which was unfortunate, as Bare’s version didn’t quite resonate with audiences and didn’t get released as a single. Schlitz believed in the song, which took several months to completely write, and so did several other musicians, apparently. Johnny Cash and a few others recorded the song. But it didn’t take off until 1978, when Rogers recorded his version. Naturally, I’m sure Schlitz was surprised at how quickly his song would blow up. Rogers’ version would become a No. 1 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart and a No. 16 hit on the Hot 100.
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