"(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I" is a popular song written by Bill Trader and was published in 1952. Recorded as a single by

Hank Snow Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow (May 9, 1914 – December 20, 1999) was a Canadian-American country music artist. Most popular in the 1950s, he had a career that spanned more than 50 years, he recorded 140 albums and charted more than 85 singles on t ...

it peaked at number four on the US country charts early in 1953. Since the original Snow version, "Fool Such as I"—as the song is sometimes known—has been recorded and released as singles several times, by artists as diverse as

Jo Stafford Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, and

Baillie & the Boys Baillie & the Boys were an American country music group. They were founded in 1987 by Kathie Baillie (lead vocals, guitar) and her husband, Michael Bonagura (background vocals, guitar), along with Alan LeBoeuf (bass guitar, background vocals). Not ...

Other versions

Tommy Edwards

The

Tommy Edwards Thomas Jefferson Edwards (October 15, 1922 – October 23, 1969) was an American singer and songwriter. His most successful record was the multi-million-selling song " It's All in the Game", becoming the first African-American to reach No. 1 on ...

version reached number 13 on the '' Cash Box'' survey. Listed a co-best-seller with the Jo Stafford version, it lasted 11 weeks in their chart.

Jo Stafford

The recording by

was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

as catalog number 39930. It reached the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Best Seller chart on February 28, 1953, at number twenty, its only week on the chart.

Elvis Presley

A recording by

was a

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Initially released as B-side to " I Need Your Love Tonight", it reached number one in the UK as an A-side single. Presley's recording reached number two in the United States. The song was recorded on June 10, 1958, at RCA's Studio B,

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, while Presley was on leave from the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. The recording featured guitar by Hank Garland,

Chet Atkins Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as "Mr. Guitar" and "The Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nashville sound, the country music ...

and Presley, bass by

Bob Moore Bob Loyce Moore (November 30, 1932 – September 22, 2021) was an American session musician, orchestra leader, and double bassist who was a member of the Nashville A-Team during the 1950s and 1960s. He performed on over 17,000 documented record ...

, drums by D. J. Fontana and

Buddy Harman Murrey Mizell "Buddy" Harman, Jr. (December 23, 1928 – August 21, 2008) was an American country music session musician. Career Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Harman played drums on over 18,000 sessions for artists such as Elvis Presley, Jerry ...

and piano by

Floyd Cramer Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American pianist who became famous for his use of melodic "half step" attacks. He was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His signatur ...

and backing vocal by the

Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Voca ...

, with the bass voice provided by Ray Walker. It reached number sixteen on the R&B charts.

Petula Clark

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during th ...

's French language version titled "Prends mon Coeur", was more successful in France (number 9, 1960) than Presley's version.

Bob Dylan

In 1967,

recorded the song during the '' Basement Tape'' sessions. For many years never officially released, the recording had been widely bootlegged, and was finally released November 4, 2014, on '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete''. Dylan recorded the song again in April 1969; that version was released in 1973 by Columbia on the '' Dylan'' album. On the 1973 '' Dylan'' album and several associated Columbia 1973 singles, the song is wrongly credited to "B. Abner" and "LeFevre Sing Pub Co (BMI)". This is a different song with the same title, written by Buford Abner of the Swanee River Boys. This mistake has not been corrected, and on www.bobdylan.com the song is still credited to "B. Abner".

Rodney Crowell

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album ''Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

covered the song in 1979. The release was not a success, peaking at No. 90 in the Billboard country charts. It was his second charting single after " Elvira" in the previous year which barely scraped the bottom of the charts as well. Both songs were included in his debut album '' Ain't Living Long Like This''.

Baillie & the Boys

In 1990,

released the song from the band's album ''

The Lights of Home ''The Lights of Home'' is the third studio album by American country music group Baillie & the Boys. It rose to the number 35 position in the Billboard Country Albums chart in 1990. The singles hits were the number 23 "Perfect," the number 5 "(No ...

''. This version, released under the title "Fool Such as I", peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart. It was the trio's last Top 10 hit on the country charts.

Slim Whitman

Whitman also recorded his own country version on the

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to ...

label in 1959.

Chart performance

Elvis Presley

Baillie & the Boys

Year-end charts

References

External links

I Need Your Love Tonight / (Now and Then There's) A Fool Such As I Guide
part o
The Elvis Presley Record Research Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fool Such As I, A 1952 songs 1953 singles 1959 singles 1969 singles 1990 singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Scotland UK Singles Chart number-one singles Hank Snow songs Elvis Presley songs Bob Dylan songs Jo Stafford songs Rodney Crowell songs Baillie & the Boys songs Tommy Edwards songs Petula Clark songs Song recordings produced by Kyle Lehning RCA Records singles