"I Never Cared For You" is a song written by country music singer

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album '' Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (1 ...

. Nelson recorded the song during his stint with

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

, and eventually became his only single released by the label. While the release failed to achieve national success, it was well received in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Nelson re-recorded the song and included it in several album releases.

Background and recording

By early 1964, Nelson left Liberty Records after the release of his debut album, '' ...And Then I Wrote''. At the time, Nelson was approached by

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, who talked to him about the possibility of being signed by the label. Ultimately, Nelson decided instead to join

. The first session with the label, on July 6 produced by

Fred Foster Fred Luther Foster (July 26, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was an American record producer, songwriter, and music business executive who founded Monument Records. As a record producer he was most closely associated with Roy Orbison, and was also ...

resulted in a failure. Foster's initial idea for the three-song session included French horns, trumpets and xylophones. For the following session in the third week of July that produced "I Never Cared For You", Foster stripped the band down to a guitar, bass, drums and a saxophone. The musicians included classical guitar player David Parker, bassist Bob Moore, drummer Jack Greubel and saxophonist

Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...

. During the recording, Moore complained that Nelson broke

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

constantly, and that he was impossible to follow. Foster, meanwhile instructed him to stop playing, and told him that he would later overdub the bass.

Release and reception

Backed with "You Left Me (A long Time Ago)" on the B-side, "I Never Cared For You" was released in October 1964. It became the only single that Nelson released on Monument Records. The complex nature of the lyrics at the time did not favor its reception on the Country and Western market. The single flopped on the national market, while it became a local hit in

, enjoying major success in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. Nelson soon after resumed talks with Chet Atkins, and left Monument to join RCA Records. The song became a recurrent track in Nelson's albums. He released new versions of the song with his albums ''

Me & Paul ''Me & Paul'' is the 32nd studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. The titular Paul, refers to his long-term drummer, Paul English. Track listing All songs written by Willie Nelson except where noted. #" I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train" ( ...

'', ''

A Horse Called Music ''A Horse Called Music'' is a studio album by the country music, country singer Willie Nelson, released in 1989. The album includes Nelson's last number 1 single, "Nothing I Can Do About It Now". "There You Are" peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard' ...

'', '' Teatro'' and '' December Day''.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{authority control 1964 singles Willie Nelson songs Monument Records singles Songs written by Willie Nelson Song recordings produced by Fred Foster 1964 songs