Sixty Minute Tape, Song 14: Robert Ellis Orrall and Carlene Carter, “I Couldn’t Say No”

Late in 2016, I posted on Facebook about the contents of a mix tape I put together sometime in early 92.  It’s the only sixty-minute tape of its kind in my collection.  I’ll be re-upping modified versions of those sixteen posts over the coming weeks.

I heard this duet on WLAP-FM a number of times toward the end of my freshman year in college and immediately loved it (still do).  While I did get the Orrall EP that featured it somewhere along the way, I was glad the song eventually showed up on one of Barry Scott’s Lost 45s CDs.  It reached #32 in May 83.

Both Orrall and Carter had success in country music later on.  He had a couple of modest hits in the 90s but mostly prospered as a songwriter.  Carlene was married to Nick Lowe (she’s featured prominently in the “Cruel to Be Kind” video) for a number of years and tried her luck in the pop field prior to 83.  Eventually she chose to embrace her legacy as June’s daughter.  I picked up her country breakthrough I Fell in Love when it came out in 90, in part because I knew of her from today’s song; it’s a great disk.  I got the chance to meet and chat briefly with her after a show in Lexington 3.5 years ago.