The Reason Why — 3 versions: Dale Hawkins, Linda Burns, and The Dolls

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page originally published on 28 December 2012;  latest edit: 17 November 2023

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The Reason Why (Dale Hawkins, Jerry Strickland, Don Griffin) —  copyright, 1 July 1965

In its description of the Dale Hawkins demo recording of “The Reason Why,” a Dale Hawkins sessionography at ryono.net refers to the 1966 recording of the song by The Dolls as a hit record. Perhaps it was a local or regional hit, but I’ve seen no evidence that it entered national charts. Co-songwriter Jerry Strickland’s name is misspelled on the labels of all single releases displayed at discography links (see below), including a promotional release, and Don Griffin is credited only by his first name in each case.

In a 27 March 2022 comment, visitor “Anonymous” provided the video below containing the original demo of “The Reason Why” recorded by Dale Hawkins. Thanks again, Anon! Our friend “Anonymous” dates the recording 1965, which is also the date given at the Dale Hawkins sessions listing at Praguefrank’s Country Discography 2. However, the Dale Hawkins sessionography at ryono.net provides only the date range “1964/1965/1966,” further noting that it was recorded in Tyler, Texas, with unknown musicians.

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The Reason Why (Dale Hawkins, Jerry Strickland, Don Griffin)
Dale Hawkins 1965 demo lyric, transcribed by doc, 4/1/2023; edit 4/2/2023

You say you found love better than mine
You say he treats you good — so did I
I can see right through his lies
That ain’t lovelight in his eyes
And all I wanna know babe is
The reason why

You threw away the only chance you had to love me
‘Cause you broke every vow you ever made
All I know is that I was true
You took my heart and broke it in two
And all I wanna know babe is
The reason why
All I wanna know babe is
The reason why

Say you’ll never change your mind
Can’t you see you’re wasting time
Love will die if left too long
And time waits for no one
It don’t wait for no one

So wait until you’re lonely, late at night
Tears will fall from your eyes like rain
You’ll want me to take you back again
But let me tell you, baby, I just can’t
No, I won’t take you back
It’s gonna hurt me so bad, but I still can’t take you back, baby
The spark’s still there, but I can’t take you back…no more, no Lord

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Linda Burns — issued in October 1965 on the single Ty Tex ‎TT-121, b/w “And That Reminds Me” — produced by Dale Hawkins

Discogs.com indicates that “The Reason Why” is the A-side of the single, and “And That Reminds Me” is the B-side, while 45cat.com has the sides in reverse order. Neither Discogs nor 45cat lists any other released recordings by Linda Burns, but Discogs incorrectly gives “The Dolls” (of Waco, Texas) as an alias of Linda Burns. This error is likely at least in part due to the following:

• Linda Burns and The Dolls each released only one single that I’m aware of.
• The two sides that I know of by each of these two artists feature recordings of the same two songs, “The Reason Why” and “And That Reminds Me.”
• Very similar, if not identical, backing tracks (not including the backing vocals) are heard on the recordings of both “The Reason Why” and “And That Reminds Me” by each of the two.

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The Reason Why (Hawkins, Strickland, Griffin) — Linda Burns version

You said you found a love better than mine
You say she treats you good — so did I
But I can see right through your lies
And go shine lovelight in her eyes (?)
And all I want to know, baby
The reason why

You threw away the only chance you had to love me
You broke every vow you ever made
All I know is that I was true
You took my heart and you broke it in two
And all I want to know, baby
The reason why

You said you’d never change your mind
But you were only wasting time
That love will drag this love along
And time waits for no one
No, it don’t wait for no one

Wait until you’re lonely, late at night
 Just wait until you want me to hold you tight
Tears will flow from your eyes like rain
And then you’ll want me back again
And then you’ll know, baby, the reason why
I can’t take you back
I’ll let you know that I still can’t take you, baby, yeah

— transcribed  by James “doc” Radcliff c. 2020; backing vocals omitted; latest edit: 8 January 2024

The Dolls — issued in February 1966 on the Toy label on Toy T-707, as the B-side of “And That Reminds Me” — later issued in March or April 1966 on the 45 rpm single Loma 2036¹, as the B-side of “And That Reminds Me”

Toy T-707, B-side of “And That Reminds Me”

discography links:

• 45cat.com — release date: February 1966
• Discogs.com

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Loma 2036, B-side of “And That Reminds Me” — longer fade out?

discography links:

• LomaRecords.com — March 1966
• 45cat.com — April 1966
• Discogs.com — April 1966

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The Reason Why (Hawkins, Strickland, Griffin) – The Dolls version

You said you found a love better than mine
You said she treats you good — so did I
But I can see that you were mine
And then you shined lovelight in her eyes
And all I want to know, baby
The reason why

You threw away the only chance you had to love me
You broke every vow you ever made
All I know is that I was true
You took my heart and you broke it in two
And all I want to know, baby
The reason why

You said you’d never change your mind
But you were only wasting time
That love will drag this love along
And time waits for no one
No, it don’t wait for no one

Wait until you’re lonely, late at night
Wait until you want me to hold you tight
Tears will come flowing out like rain
Until you want me back again
And then you’ll know, baby, the reason why
I can’t take you back
I’ll let you know that I still can’t take you, baby, baby
Can’t take you back baby

— originally transcribed from the Dolls version by James “doc” Radcliff on 6 December 2012; backing vocals omitted; later added differing Linda Burns lines; latest edit: 1 September 2023

The words sung by Linda Burns and the lead singer of the Dolls in the two respective recordings of “The Reason Why” are often identical, but at some points there are either significant or minor differences between corresponding lines in the two versions. Differences in the final section include the following:

• Re: the third and fourth lines:
  • The line that goes “Tears will flow from your eyes like rain” in the Linda Burns recording, goes “Tears will come flowing out like rain” in the version by the Dolls.
  • The line that goes “And then you’ll want me back again” in the Linda Burns recording, goes “Until you want me back again” in the Dolls version.
• The end of the last (lead vocal) line of the Linda Burns version comes during the fade out, making it difficult to discern the last words heard. To me the line sounds like, “I’ll let you know that I still can’t take you, baby, yeah,” with the last syllable sustained until the fade out is complete.
• The corresponding lead vocal line in the Dolls version is somewhat different. The line seems to go “I’ll let you know that I still can’t take you, baby, baby,” but the “baby, baby” is somewhat obscured under backing vocals and echo. After this line in the Dolls version, on Loma 2036, the backing vocalists continue singing for a couple more lines, repeating the chant that they’ve been singing, “No take you back, baby.” They sing it four times in all at the end of Loma 2036 before the fade cuts the vocal track off, although the lead singer sings “Can’t take you back, baby” over the third of the four reps, obscuring the word “No” on that rep. However, on the above Toy T-707 side the ending fades out sooner, so that the “No take you back, baby” line by the back vocalists is heard only three times before the fade out is complete.

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The Dolls perform “The Reason Why” (lip synch) on a 1966 syndicated TV show called The !!!! Beat, which was hosted by Nashville DJ Bill “Hoss” Allen, and filmed at the Dallas/Fort Worth television station WFAA because “Nashville had no color TV facilities.”

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(below) The full episode, identified by the video provider as Vol. 3, show 12 [Episode 12]

After the performance of “The Reason Why” by the Dolls, which begins at about 14:06, host Hoss Allen mentions that the group is from Waco, Texas, and briefly talks with the members, asking them their names, and predicting a big hit record. According to my ears, the girls introduce themselves as, from left to right, Paula Hardin, Samantha Harry, and (lead singer) Annie Johnson.

video presently unavailable

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AND THAT REMINDS ME

And That Reminds Me (Camillo Bargoni, Al Stillman and Paul Siegel)²

Linda Burns — issued in October 1965 on the single Ty Tex ‎TT-121, as the B-side of “The Reason Why”

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The Dolls

issued in February 1966 on the Toy label on Toy T-707, b/w “The Reason Why” — later issued in March or April 1966 on the single Loma 2036¹,  b/w “The Reason Why”

Toy T-707 discography link:

• 45cat.com — release date: February 1966
• Discogs.com

Loma 2036 discography links:

• LomaRecords.com — March 1966
• 45cat.com — April 1966
• Discogs.com — April 1966

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lip-sync performance on The !!!! Beat, 1966

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¹ At lomarecords.com, Loma 2036 is included in part 1 of the 1966 section of a “Complete discography of Loma Records.” While the lomarecords.com discography dates the release of Loma 2036 March 1966, Discogs.com and 45cat.com each date the release April 1966.

² “And That Reminds Me” (aka “My Heart Reminds Me”) — According to SecondHandSongs.com, this 1957 pop song was adapted from the Italian song, “Concerto d’autunno,” by Camillo Bargoni (music) and Danpa (lyric). Posts by jojo in a forum thread at SecondHandSongs.com indicate that “Concerto d’autunno” was published in Italy on 23 January 1956.

The adapted version “And That Reminds Me” (aka “My Heart Reminds Me”) features an English lyric by Al Stillman. Della Reese and the Honey Dreamers were first to record “And That Reminds Me.” They and Kay Starr each had 1957 hits with separate recordings of the song, though Starr used the alternate title “My Heart Reminds Me.” In each case the songwriters credited on the single label are Bargoni and Stillman.

Early US recordings of “And That Reminds Me” / “My Heart Reminds Me”:

• Della Reese and the Honey Dreamers —  recorded as “And That Reminds Me,” and issued in July 1957 on the 45 rpm single Jubilee 45-5292, b/w “I Cried For You”

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• Kay Starr, with orchestra conducted by Pete King and chorus — “My Heart Reminds Me” — issued in July 1957 on the single RCA Victor 47-6981 (Discogs, 45cat) b/w “Flim Flam Floo”

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In addition to Camillo Bargoni and Al Stillman, ASCAP also credits Paul Siegel for songwriting on “And That Reminds Me” (“My Heart Reminds Me”). Siegel’s contribution is unclear to me, but it may be for something new included in a George Melachrino instrumental adaptation of Bargoni’s “Concerto d’autunno.” A recording of the song, as “Autumn Concerto,” by the Melachrino Orchestra conducted by George Melachrino, became a 1956 hit in the UK. I don’t know if this recording was originally released in the UK, but the US release, RCA Victor 47-6671, credits Bargoni and Siegel on its label.

Vera Lynn and Joan Small recorded vocal versions of “Autumn Concerto” in 1956, featuring an English language lyric, different from the Al Stillman lyric, evidently credited to Geoffrey Parsons and John Turner (James Phillips).

Early recordings of  “Autumn Concerto” include the following:

UK

• George Melachrino  — #18 UK pop hit, 9 weeks on the chart, 1956
• Vera Lynn
• Joan Small — single Parlophone R4211, c/w “Love Is a Stranger,” 1956

US

• Richard Hayman, His Harmonica and His Orchestra, featuring Martin Gold on piano — recorded in 1956; issued in 1956 on the singles Mercury 70884 (78 rpm) and Mercury 70884X45 (45 rpm), in each case c/w “Street of Tears”

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Selected pages with information regarding the Dolls and/or The !!!! Beat:

• The Dolls – The Reason Why page at Derek’s Daily 45
• Dale Hawkins sessionography and discography at ryono.net
• Dallas Observer article titled “For 26 Episodes in 1966, WFAA Played Host to the Funkiest, Most Soulful TV Show in America,” by Robert Wilonsky, dated January 29, 2012
• The !!!! Beat – Vol. 3: Legendary R&B and Soul shows from 1966 at BluesReviews (bluesreviews.it) — The article confuses the group with an earlier group called the Dolls that recorded for Kangaroo Records.