Jack Greene – Statue Of A Fool, Song written by Jan Crutchfield, was recorded by Jack Greene, for the Decca label, was recorded on April 15, 1968, in Bradley’s Barn, Bender’s Ferry Road, Mount Juliet, TN, with Owen Bradley’s production, was released on 10 On May 1969, on July 5, it reached number # 1 on the US lists. Billboard Hot Country Songs, for two weeks in a row, and stayed 18 weeks on the charts. On the Canadian RPM Country Tracks charts, it reached number # 3. It was the fifth number one of Jack’s career, and the last.
The song was included in Jack’s tenth studio album, Statue of a Fool (Decca 1969), the album came to # 3 on the lists of US Top Country Albums.
In 1976, he recorded the song again at Gusto Recording Studio, 3557 Dickerson Road, Nashville, TN / Doc’s Place, Hendersonville, TN.
“Statue of a Fool” is a song whose authorship is surrounded by controversy. According to Genna Sapia-Ruffin, the wife of David Ruffin, former member of The Temptations’ son, David Ruffin wrote and originally released the song at a 78 RPM in 1958, when he was recording under the name “Little Eddie Bush”. However, since he was only seventeen at the time, later versions of the song gave writing credits to Jan Crutchfield.
Some Versions:
Johnny Bush 1970 (Stop Records)
Nat Stuckey 1971 (RCA)
Brian Collins 1974 (ABC Dot)
Ricky Van Shelton 1989 (Columbia)
Jack Greene – Statue Of A Fool Lyrics
Somewhere there should be for all the world to see
A statue of a fool made of stone
An image of a man who let love slip through his hands
And then just let him stand there all alone
And there on his face, a gold tear should be placed
To honor the million tears he’s cried
And the hurt in his eyes would show, so everyone would know
Concealed is a broken heart inside
So, build a statue and oh build it high so that all can see
Then inscribe: The World’s Greatest Fool, and name it after me
