Shocking Blue – I Ain’t Never

This was a cover by Shocking Blue of the Mel Tillis and  Webb Pierce song. Mel Tillis claims he wrote the song by himself but gave Pierce credit in trade of some boots that Webb Pierce owned. Mel Tillis later said that “Them old boots cost me over eight hundred thousand dollars in royalties.”

Web Pierce took the song to #2 in the Billboard Country Charts and #24 in the Billboard 100 in 1959. Mel Tillis took the song to #1 in the Billboard Country Charts and #1 in the Candian Country Charts in 1972.

Shocking Blue did a good job of the cover. A Dutch group doing country…pretty interesting.

Shocking Blue covered the song in 1972 and it was on the Inkpot album. The album has three cover songs included because guitarist and main songwriter Robbie van Leeuwen had written 3 albums in two years.

The Mel Tillis version

I Ain’t Never

Well, I ain’t never, I ain’t never
Seen nobody like you,
No, no, no, never, ever, ever
Seen nobody like you.

You call me up and say you’ll meet me at nine,
I have to hurry, hurry but I’m fair on time.
I walk right up and knock on your door,
The landlord said he ain’t here no more.

But I never, oh darling, never
See nobody like you,
But I love you, yeah, I love you,
I love you just the same.

Well, I ain’t never, I ain’t never
Seen nobody like you,
No, no, no, never, ever, ever
Seen nobody like you.

You tell me sweet things that you don’t mean,
You got me a-living in a horny dream.
You make me do things I don’t wanna do,
All friends are saying what’s a-wrong with you?

I ain’t never, oh darling, never
Seen nobody like you,
Oh, but I’ve loved you, yeah, I’ve loved you,
I’ve loved you just the same.

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

17 thoughts on “Shocking Blue – I Ain’t Never”

  1. Interesting. I haven’t heard this before. I like it. I can tell it’s one of those the more I listen to it the more I’ll like it. The Shocking Blue version. I don’t like the Tillis version. I might like the Webb Pierce version. I can hear it in my head.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. When I first heard this version I recognized the song but wasn’t sure who did it first.
      I like Webb’s version also.
      Tomorrow I’ll wrap up the Shocking Blue songs with the obvious one.

      I love finding new/old music… I’ve got good responses to these unknown songs.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. I hadn’t heard the Shocking Blue version of the song- who would have ever thought- a Dutch band doing a Mel Tillis tune? Not bad.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I know…That was a new one to me. I started to listen to it and thought…wow…that is the Mel Tillis song!
      It surprised me but I’ve gotten positive feedback on them this weekend. “Never Marry a Railroad Man” as strange as the title is…is really catchy. They didn’t capitalize on Venus like they should have.

      Like

      Reply

    1. Oh I remember her! I forgot all about her.
      All the other songs I knew but this one I just heard Friday and I knew I heard it before… What a story about the boots…those were some expensive boots lol.

      Mel lived around 3 miles from me. He had a big metal donkey in the front yard… I do like their version better.

      Like

      Reply

      2. Wow…I was looking up someone yesterday and I read about their master recordings being lost in this fire…I just read about it yesterday.

        Like

  5. Pingback: Shocking Blue – Out of Sight Out of Mind – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Leave a comment