Sometimes your destiny is to make other people famous.

Let’s return to John D. Loudermilk. I wrote about the song “Tobacco Road” a few weeks ago, not only because it’s a great song, but in order to introduce you to the man who wrote it. And I wanted to make that introduction so I could then write about this song.

John D. Loudermilk was one of those singer-songwriters cursed, if you can call it that, never to score hits when recording his own songs. A couple of his early singles managed to crack the Top 40 (barely), but these were closer to novelty tunes and are little remembered today. His serious work didn’t get played or purchased at all — except when other artists covered his songs, and then it was #1 singles here, and gold records there. Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Everly Brothers, Lou Rawls, Glen Campbell…..you know their names. John D. Loudermilk? You’d have to read the fine print on the record label to find it.

The Casinos aren’t a big name, but they still got the big hit. They began as a doo-wop group in Ohio during the early 60’s whose musical style would soon fall out of fashion nation-wide, but they remained popular as a live act in their home state. In 1966, a local radio DJ asked them to record a backing track for him to sing over. In exchange, he would give the group studio time to cut a song which they’d been singing on stage for years. The band’s lead singer had heard Johnny Nash’s version of “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” back in 1964 (Loudermilk wrote it a few years before that), and when The Casinos added the song to their repertoire the arrangement became a highlight of their show.

Released as a single in December of 1966, “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” said hello to the US Top 10 three months later. The spotlight faded quickly for The Casinos (except in Ohio), but Eddy Arnold kept the song alive by taking it to #1 on the country chart in 1968, and it has since been covered by a host of other artists, including James Brown, Frankie Valli, and Joss Stone.

So sweeten your coffee … with The Casinos (and John D. Loudermilk).

I love this song. A little schmaltzy? Sure. Does it sound like it could be the closing song at prom? Yup. Y’all are still getting multiple versions. Here’s John D. Loudermilk with his stripped-down acoustic original:

Lastly, here’s the first version I ever heard. Having no idea at the time, I just assumed it was an original by the countryish, yacht rock band known as Toby Beau: