About The Song
The Statler Brothers released “Susan When She Tried” in the fall of 1974 as a single from their album Sons of the Motherland. The record came out on Mercury, produced by Jerry Kennedy. Chart action began in early November, and the song climbed to number 15 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles list. In Canada it reached number 18 on the country chart.
Don Reid wrote the song. It sits among the original material the group was cutting in the mid-1970s, a period when they balanced memory songs, story pieces, and the occasional light-hearted track. The single followed “Thank You World” and preceded “All American Girl,” another cut from the same album.
The story is simple and direct. The singer has moved past several women who treated him poorly. Charlotte Thompson and Goldie Johnson did him wrong. Peggy Harper hurt him badly, but the pain did not last. One woman remains different. Susan is the name that still gets under his skin. He would trade every other relationship for a single hour of the way she was when she tried. No other woman ever made him weak inside or gave him exactly what he needed the way she did.
The feeling grows stronger at certain times of year. Summer nights that stretch long make it worse. December is hard when the Christmas songs start playing. If anyone asks and he claims he has forgotten, he is lying. There has never been one better than Susan when she tried.
The track later appeared on the 1975 compilation The Best of the Statler Brothers, which became one of the group’s strongest-selling collections. Over the years it has shown up on other greatest-hits packages and remains a steady part of their catalog. Later artists, including Dailey & Vincent, have recorded their own versions, keeping the song in circulation.
Sons of the Motherland itself reached the country album charts and reflected the group’s steady output during those years. Reid’s writing on the album often leaned toward personal observation and everyday detail. “Susan When She Tried” fits that approach. It does not over-explain. It simply names the women who came and went, then circles back to the one who still occupies the quiet corners of memory.
The single ran about three minutes. Its placement on the Best of collection helped it reach listeners who may have missed the original album. For many fans it became one of those mid-tempo tracks that stayed with them after the bigger hits of the era had their moment. The song never climbed into the top ten, yet it held its place as a clear example of the kind of plain-spoken country story the Statlers handled so well in the mid-1970s.
Video
Lyric
I got over Charlotte Thompson, Goldie Johnson,
Lord they done me wrong
I took it hard with Peggy Harper
She hurt me bad, but not for long
There’s just one I remember
Makes me feel funny down inside
I’d trade ’em all for just one hour
Of Susan when she tried
No there’s never been a woman
Who could make me weak inside
And give me what I needed
Like Susan when she tried
It gets worse in the summer
When the nights are hot and long
And it’s bad in December
When they play those Christmas songs
So if you ask me and I don’t tell you
Bet your sweet bottom dollar I lied
Cause there’s never been one better
Than Susan when she tried