"Fifteen Years Ago" is a song written by Raymond Smith, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

. It was released in September 1970 as the first single and title track from the album ''Fifteen Years Ago''. The song was Twitty's fifth number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of 16 weeks on the chart.

Content

The song is about a man who still thinks about a former girlfriend, with whom he had broken up 15 years earlier after a deep, emotional relationship. His memories of the past are triggered when he runs into an old friend who mentions the ex-girlfriend's name, and despite his best efforts to make his wife happy he is troubled by his persisting thoughts of the past relationship.

Personnel

*Conway Twitty — vocals *Joe E. Lewis,

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocal ...

— background vocals *

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

— electric 6-string bass guitar *

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " Coal ...

— electric guitar * Larry Butler — piano *

Ray Edenton Ray Quarles Edenton (November 3, 1926 – September 21, 2022) was an American guitar player and country music session musician. Early life Ray Edenton was born into a musical family on November 3, 1926, and grew up near Mineral, Virginia. His f ...

— acoustic guitar *

John Hughey John Hughey (December 27, 1933 – November 18, 2007) was an American musician. He was known for his work as a session pedal steel guitar player for various country music acts, most notably Vince Gill and Conway Twitty. A member of the Steel Guit ...

— steel guitar *Tommy Markham — drums and percussion *

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

— bass

Covers and parodies

"Fifteen Years Ago" was also recorded by other country music artists including: *

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Reco ...

on his 1971 album ''

From Me to You "From Me to You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released in April 1963 as their third single. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. The song was the Beatles' first number 1 hit on what became the official ...

'' *

The Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers fo ...

for their ''

Bed of Rose's "Bed of Rose's" is a song written by Harold Reid, and recorded by American country music group The Statler Brothers. It was released in October 1970 as the first single and title track from the album ''Bed of Rose's''. The song reached its popula ...

'' album in 1970. *In 1971, comedian Sheb Wooley, recording under his alias Ben Colder, recorded a parody of the song called "Fifteen Beers Ago." *John Prine and Lee Ann Womack recorded a duet version of Fifteen Years Ago for Prine's 2016 album, ''For Better, Or Worse.''

Chart performance

References

1970 singles 1970 songs Conway Twitty songs The Statler Brothers songs Charley Pride songs John Prine songs CAtegory:Lee Ann Womack songs Decca Records singles Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley {{1970s-country-song-stub