"Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends" is a song written by

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

and first recorded by Bobby Bare, who included it on his ''Where Have All the Seasons Gone'' album in January 1971. Kristofferson recorded the song with

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and the ...

for their final duet album, '' Natural Act'', and later with

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

for '' The Austin Sessions''.

Ronnie Milsap version

In 1974, the song was 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 Ronnie Milsap. It was released in July, as the second single from the album '' Pure Love''. The song was his fourth country hit and second number one on the country chart. With this song Milsap won his first Grammy award for Best Country Vocal Performance. The single stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of nine weeks on the country chart. Milsap himself recorded an earlier version of the song, released on his 1971 self-titled album while recording for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

Charts

References

1971 songs 1974 singles Bobby Bare songs Ronnie Milsap songs Rita Coolidge songs Kris Kristofferson songs Songs written by Kris Kristofferson Song recordings produced by Tom Collins (record producer) RCA Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub