Susan When She Tried

[MikeFromHolland]

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Susan When She Tried was written in 1974 by Don Reid of the Statler Brothers.

The Statler Brothers - Susan When She Tried
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Uploaded on Youtube by John1948TwelveA on January 30, 2011
Named after a brand of tissues, the four members of the Statler Brothers did not in fact share a fraternal bond; what they did share, however, was the distinction of being one of the most successful vocal harmony groups in the history of country music. Formed in the group's home base of Staunton, VA, in 1955, the Statlers were originally a church trio comprised of bass vocalist Harold Reid (born August 21, 1939), baritone Phil Balsley (August 8, 1939), and tenor Lew DeWitt (March 8, 1938). In 1960, Reid's younger brother Don (born June 5, 1945) signed on to take the lead vocal reins, and the quartet performed gospel music under the name the Kingsmen.



After arranging a meeting with the promotional department for a local Johnny Cash concert, the Kingsmen were asked to open the performance. Cash was so impressed that he invited the group to join the tour, and after changing their name to the Statler Brothers, they remained on the road with Cash from 1963 to 1971. The Statlers signed to Columbia Records in 1964 and a year later scored a huge country and pop hit with DeWitt's "Flowers on the Wall," which also lent its name to their 1966 debut album. 1967's The Statler Brothers Sing the Big Hits held true to its title's promise, generating a pair of Top Ten singles in "Ruthless" and "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too."

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In 1969, the quartet moved to Mercury Records, where they remained for over two decades; their first single for the label, 1970's "Bed of Rose's," was a Top Ten hit. In the same year, they held their first Fourth of July picnic; for decades, the celebration remained an annual holiday staple, drawing tens of thousands of fans each summer. Throughout the first half of the 1970s, the Statlers remained fixtures on the Top 40 charts thanks to a string of nostalgic singles like 1972's "Do You Remember These" and "The Class of '57," 1973's "Carry Me Back," and 1974's "Whatever Happened to Randolph Scott." Their LPs of the period were often concept records: 1972's The Statler Brothers Sing Country Symphonies in E Major was whimsically formatted like an orchestral performance (complete with side-break "intermission"), while 1975's joint release Holy Bible/Old Testament and Holy Bible/New Testament fulfilled a long-standing dream to record a gospel project. 1973's Alive at the Johnny Mack Brown High School, on the other hand, was a tongue-in-cheek effort recorded under the group's comic alias Lester "Roadhog" Moran & the Cadillac Cowboys.

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The sentimental "I'll Go to My Grave Loving You" was a Top Five hit in 1975 and was included on the Statlers' first best-of compilation, released later in the same year. After a series of Top Ten hits that included 1977's "The Movies" (another recurring Statler theme) and "I Was There," they earned their first chart-topper in 1978 with "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine," from the album Entertainers...on & off the Record. In 1980 the Statler Brothers celebrated their first decade on Mercury with 10th Anniversary, which featured the smash "Charlotte's Web," taken from the film Smokey and the Bandit, Pt. 2, in which the group also co-starred.

After 1982's The Legend Goes On, DeWitt was forced to leave the group as a result of Crohn's disease; the illness ultimately killed him on August 15, 1990. The remaining Statlers tapped Jimmy Fortune as his successor, and immediately Fortune earned the group its second number one with his "Elizabeth" (an homage to actress Elizabeth Taylor), from the album Today. Their next two LPs, 1984's Atlanta Blue and 1985's Pardners in Rhyme, were credited to simply the Statlers; each record generated a number one hit -- "My Only Love" and "Too Much on My Heart," respectively -- again composed by Fortune. They returned as the Statler Brothers for the 1986 inspirational release Radio Gospel Favorites, followed later in the year by Four for the Show. 1987's Maple Street Memories produced the Top Ten single "Forever"; 1989's "More Than a Name on the Wall," which peaked at number six, was their last significant hit. They continued releasing albums, however, and in addition to remaining a popular touring act in the 1990s, the Statler Brothers also hosted a long-running variety show on TNN.

In 2002, the Statler Brothers announced their retirement from the road. On October 26, they played their last concert at the 10,000-seat Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA, not far from Staunton, where they'd started and where they continued to maintain their headquarters.

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~Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPKLpWjBc2g


"Susan When She Tried"

I got over Charlotte Thompson, Goldie Johnson,
Lord they done me wrong
I took it hard with Peggy Harper
She hurt me bad, but not for long
There's just one I remember
Makes me feel funny down inside
I'd trade 'em all for just one hour
Of Susan when she tried

No there's never been a woman
Who could make me weak inside
And give me what I needed
Like Susan when she tried

It gets worse in the summer
When the nights are hot and long
And it's bad in December
When they play those Christmas songs
So if you ask me and I don't tell you
Bet your sweet bottom dollar I lied
'Cause there's never been one better
Than Susan when she tried


Elvis recorded Susan When She Tried on March 11/12, 1975 for the album Today. It took him 6 takes. Take 6 became the master. Here we'll hear takes 1 and 2:

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OTHER VERSIONS

Susan When She Tried · Rockin' Rocket 88
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Susan When She Tried - Dailey and Vincent
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[Juan Luis]

Thanks! One of the better tracks of "Elvis Today".

[Domino]

Nice surprise when I first heard "Elvis Today". I think Elvis should have concentrated more on the Country Music market.By the 70's the Rock music scene changed. They took what Elvis started in the 50's and made it into something too far removed from what he was all about.Country was the next best place to go.New fan base and Country fans are more appreciative of the music they like.
Thanks for this great topic on a rarely heard track.

[Fabbe]

Good post! To be sincere I just can't stand the sound, melody and words of this song.


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[Ciscoking]

I love country music and this song has always been a hidden gem for me...I love this guitar pickin by James Burton and I think its a catchy tune..one of the best country tune Elvis cut..thanks Mike for bringing it up..GREAT !

[fn2drive]

Awful track-one of the worst on Elvis Today. Elvis can barely carry the tune as he lurches from the attempted subtlety that he could no longer do to bombast. The band also had a very somphmoric quality to it as well though i could never out my finger on why that was. That ignores the track is boring. Elvis had wrecked his voice by 75. The evident improvements from Stax are because of reduced quantities of downers. A giant head fake followed up by the downer(pun intended)Jungle Room sessions. As Elvis sang later, these Hollywood sessions were a little hope (very little) gone up in smoke.

[r&b]

Better left to the Statler Bros. I like country, but the Today album was mostly bland country. Much preferred the stuff Merle, Willie & Waylon was doing than to songs like this.

[Ciscoking]

Susan When She Tried is the kind of toe-tapping country song that's easy to like, and it's a good recording, in my opinion. Elvis sings well and, as mentioned, is accompanied by some fine guitar playing. Great drumming, too.

It may have been a good addition to his concert setlists in 1975. Elvis could sing this type of song with ease and audiences may have responded well to something so light and good natured.

Yep...you explained it better than me...thank you..

[Fabbe]

Susan When She Tried is the kind of toe-tapping country song that's easy to like, and it's a good recording, in my opinion. Elvis sings well and, as mentioned, is accompanied by some fine guitar playing. Great drumming, too.

It may have been a good addition to his concert setlists in 1975. Elvis could sing this type of song with ease and audiences may have responded well to something so light and good natured.

I also think Elvis well here - he comes out better on the alternate takes, masters may had too much compression on the vocals. He is in another world compared to those other singers / performers that were displayed there on the first post.


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[Davelee]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

[Ciscoking]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf.

Thank you for the nice words....I like the song anyway..great country music.

[Fabbe]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

thanks for calling me deaf


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[Rtn 2 Sndr]

I am a long-time Statler Brothers fan, and I thought Elvis did a nice job covering the song. Of Elvis' later albums, I enjoy "Today" because of its overall country sound. That is one thing great about being an Elvis fan--there are so many eras and styles to choose.

In my hometown, Elvis' releases routinely did well on the local country charts. I don't know whether Elvis' music could have been successfully marketed nationwide as country music.

[fn2drive]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

[Ciscoking]

It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds.

Who is "they"..? Who are you ? God ?

[drjohncarpenter]

"Susan When She Tried" is one of the highlights from the 1975 RCA Hollywood sessions, especially for those who do not know the original country hit. Elvis is free and easy on this one.

[Juan Luis]

I am a long-time Statler Brothers fan, and I thought Elvis did a nice job covering the song. Of Elvis' later albums, I enjoy "Today" because of its overall country sound. That is one thing great about being an Elvis fan--there are so many eras and styles to choose.

In my hometown, Elvis' releases routinely did well on the local country charts. I don't know whether Elvis' music could have been successfully marketed nationwide as country music.

Nice to hear from a Statler Brothers fan. As previously mentioned. I enjoyed "Susan When She Tried" by Elvis without knowing, or having heard, the original release.

[SteamrollerBlues]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

[Davelee]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

One can hear that Elvis is not in top vocal form, unless your ears are playing up.

[SteamrollerBlues]

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

One can hear that Elvis is not in top vocal form, unless your ears are playing up.

Well yea, but no one is saying "Elvis sounds like it's 1968 all over again!" They're just saying he's in good form, not top form.

[Davelee]

Code: Select all

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

One can hear that Elvis is not in top vocal form, unless your ears are playing up.

Well yea, but no one is saying "Elvis sounds like it's 1968 all over again!" They're just saying he's in good form, not top form.

There you go, even you admit hes not in top form and i pointed this out in my original post in this topic which was my opinion.

[SteamrollerBlues]

Code: Select all

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

One can hear that Elvis is not in top vocal form, unless your ears are playing up.

Well yea, but no one is saying "Elvis sounds like it's 1968 all over again!" They're just saying he's in good form, not top form.

There you go, even you admit hes not in top form and i pointed this out in my original post in this topic which was my opinion.

The difference is you're saying people who think Elvis sings this well are deaf, while I'm just simply saying Elvis wasn't at the top of his game when he cut this song. That doesn't make it a bad song.

[Elfan]

Susan When She Tried is the kind of toe-tapping country song that's easy to like, and it's a good recording, in my opinion. Elvis sings well and, as mentioned, is accompanied by some fine guitar playing. Great drumming, too.

It may have been a good addition to his concert setlists in 1975. Elvis could sing this type of song with ease and audiences may have responded well to something so light and good natured.

Yep...you explained it better than me...thank you..

That's exactly how I feel about the song too.
Obviously davelee and fn2drive don't particularly like it...and that's fine by me.

[Fabbe]

Davelee and steamroller - I have a favor to ask you: I know you don't agree with my opinion, it's ok. I respect your different views even if I don't agree. But let's exchange opinions on the song - i don't like you judging my personal earing or critical abilities - it's out of topic and offensive. Can you please stop!


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[Davelee]

Code: Select all

Anyone who says Elvis sings well on this track must be a bit deaf. He sounds like a 90 yr old man struggling and he does nothing to enhance the song but rather just sings it straight and adding nothing, and the band just pretty much plods along with him.

Fear not. It is not that they are deaf but merely not listening with a critical ear. You are right to call them out. That is why they can champion every post 70s monstrosity and elevate it to Suspicious Minds. Like the song for what it is is different than not acknowleding the very very obvious shortcomings. If Elvis sang it then it belongs in a Hall Of Fame somewhere. That should be the FEEC tag line.

Don't persecute me, gentlemen, but I believe you two are simply being way over the top with this one. First of all, if someone thinks Elvis sings well on this track they're deaf?! Pfffffffft. And "critical ear"? I'm sorry but this isn't the For Elvis Critics Only Forum. We're fans. Why does everything have to be listened to like we're supposed to be reviewing a record for Rolling Stone? And for the record, as a fan and a critic, this is a damn good song. No deaf ears here. And oh, who's elevating the song here? Someone calling it "good"? How's that elevating it? No one is claiming it's the second-coming of Mystery Train. No one's calling it a 5 star song. Just enjoyable music.

One can hear that Elvis is not in top vocal form, unless your ears are playing up.

Well yea, but no one is saying "Elvis sounds like it's 1968 all over again!" They're just saying he's in good form, not top form.

There you go, even you admit hes not in top form and i pointed this out in my original post in this topic which was my opinion.

The difference is you're saying people who think Elvis sings this well are deaf, while I'm just simply saying Elvis wasn't at the top of his game when he cut this song. That doesn't make it a bad song.

I didn't say the song was bad just that Elvis' performance was not top drawer stuff. So, if someone says hes singing well on this track they are obviously wrong, as you and i both agree hes not, whether or not they like the performance is down to them, but at the end of the day its not top performance, and i never said it should be a 68 performance. Besides this is a dicussion forum and i'm entitled to voice my opinion on any topic i want to.