Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

Album

Red Headed Stranger

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

Fred Rose

Entered Chart

Aug 30, 1975

Peak Date

Nov 22, 1975

Released

July 1975

Recorded

February 9–12, 1975

Catalog #

Columbia 10176 A

B-Side

Bandera

Even by the standards of sorrowful country songs, "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is one somber tune. The singer kisses his love goodbye, knowing he'll never see her again. As he sings it, he's now an old man who never found true love again and looks forward to meeting her in heaven. Singing the song night after night took an emotional toll on Nelson, who was a notorious drinker in the late '70s. He explained in a Hot Press interview: "It's really difficult to sing 'Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain' or 'Always On My Mind' without getting emotionally involved, especially when the audience gets emotionally involved and you feel their feelings. You can only wallow in your own misery for so long without saying, 'Wait a minute, I want a drink!'" Nelson is acclaimed as a songwriter, but he didn't write this one. It was composed by Fred Rose, whose country hits include "Crazy Heart," "Don't Bring Me Posies," "Take These Chains From My Heart" and "Kaw-Liga." Roy Acuff, who was Rose's partner in the music publishing company Acuff-Rose Music, was the first to record the song, releasing it as a single in 1947 credited to Roy Acuff And His Smoky Mountain Boys. In ensuing years, many other artists recorded the song, including Roger Whittaker, Gene Vincent and Slim Whitman. Willie Nelson recorded the song for his concept album Red Headed Stranger, which is based on a song of the same name written by Carl Stutz and Edith Lindeman and recorded by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith. In that song, a mysterious rider comes through town leading a horse that belonged to his dead lover. Nelson revised the tale to make the stranger a preacher who killed his lover because she was cheating on him. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" fit the concept of the album, as it finds the stranger thinking back to his lost love. Willie Nelson first made the Hot 100 as a songwriter in 1961 with "Crazy" (#9, recorded by Patsy Cline) and "Hello Walls" (#12, recorded by Faron Young), but this was his first trip to the chart as an artist. It was also his first #1 country hit, and it earned him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. Nelson's singing career took off, and he soon became a household name. This was the last song Elvis Presley played before he died. In the early morning of August 16, 1977, he played it on his piano in Graceland. Later that day, he died from an overdose of prescription drugs. >> Red Headed Stranger was Nelson's first album with Columbia Records. As part of the deal, Nelson was allowed to choose who played on his albums, and he used his own band instead of session musicians. This bucked Nashville standards, but gave the album a distinctive sound that proved very successful. Nelson also tweaked his image after the album was released, positioning himself as more of an outlaw type. The creative control Nelson was granted on this album didn't last long - a few years later he found himself at odds with the label when they rejected some of his work. Nelson has performed this song with many esteemed singers. He played it with Vince Gill and Albert Lee at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival; with Shania Twain for his Lost Highway album; and with Ashley Monroe for a CMT Crossroads special. In 2002, Nelson appeared on the TV series Monk and sang this with the show's star, Tony Shalhoub. In the episode, titled "Mr. Monk And The Red-Headed Stranger," the singer is accused of murdering his tour manager. This was a #1 hit on the Country chart.

In the twilight glow I see her
Blue eyes crying in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted
I knew we'd never meet again

Love is like a dying ember
And only memories remain
And through the ages I'll remember
Blue eyes crying in the rain

Some day when we meet up yonder
We'll stroll hand in hand again
In a land that knows no parting
Blue eyes crying in the rain