52 Years Ago Today, Anne Murray Was at No. 1 With a Gender-Swapped Cover of a George Jones Classic

On this day (July 6) in 1974, Anne Murray topped the Hot Country Songs chart with “He Thinks I Still Care.” She released the song as a B-side to her rendition of the Beatles’ “You Won’t See Me,” which was a pop and adult contemporary hit. George Jones was the first to record the country hit. His version, “She Thinks I Still Care,” spent six weeks at No. 1 in 1962.

Murray was initially a pop and easy listening singer. Then, in 1970, she found surprise success in the United States with “Snowbird.” It was a top 10 country hit and reached No. 1 on the Billboard adult contemporary chart. She settled into country success with a series of major hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Songs like “I Just Fall in Love Again,” “Shadows in the Moonlight,” and “Daydream Believer” topped the country chart and made the Canadian singer a bona fide country star. She started her climb to the top of the genre with this cover of Jones’ 1962 hit.

Initially, “He Thinks I Still Care” was the B-side to “You Won’t See Me.” The A-side reached No. 8 on the Hot 100 and No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart. While it was steadily climbing the chart, Murray’s label, Capitol, sent the B-side to country radio and it caught on like wildfire.

George Jones Tried to Avoid Recording the Future Anne Murray Hit

Dickey Lee and Steve Duffy, who were under contract with Cowboy Jack Clement’s publishing company, co-wrote “She Thinks I Still Care.” At the time, George Jones had topped the chart with “White Lightning,” and Clement hoped the rising star would shine some light on this song. Jones wasn’t having it.

[RELATED: Anne Murray Looks Back on Her Historic 40 Years as One of Music’s Most Legendary Artists]

He was unimpressed when Clement played it for him. “I don’t like it too much. It’s got too many damn ‘just becauses’ in it,” Jones said. Every time Clement pitched the song, Jones would change the subject. Finally, he relented.

“For years after I recorded it, the song was my most requested,” Jones recalled in his 1996 biography, I Lived to Tell It All. “It became what people in my business call a ‘career record,’ the song that firmly establishes you with the public.”

More than that, it became a hit for Jones, Connie Francis, and Anne Murray. It has since been recorded by hundreds of artists.

Featured Image by Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images

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