The song ‘Fool Hearted Memory’ was written in 1981 in a small, upstairs, southwest corner room at 1217 16th Avenue South in Nashville, which is the building where Byron’s publisher… ATV Music’s offices were. Byron recalls… “I had recently written and produced a track for a movie called ‘The Exterminator’, and the same production company came back to me for another song for another movie called ‘The Soldier’. Thanks to ATV Music’s Gerry Teifer, MCA Records’ Jim Foglesong, and producer Blake Mevis, a deal was done to give a young new MCA recording artist a cameo role in the movie singing a song that was specially written for the movie, and would hopefully be a hit single. That new MCA artist was George Strait. I co-wrote the song with Blake Mevis, whose masterful vision as a producer on this song began from the moment we finished it. Blake went home that night and did a killer little 4-Track demo on the song, creating the signature riff that is so recognizable today as classic Strait. On August 28, 1982, the song became my first #1 as a songwriter and Strait’s first #1 as an artist”.
George’s recording of the song went on to be on at least twelve albums, including several box sets, earning numerous RIAA Gold and Platinum awards, and was honored with an ASCAP Award for being one of the most performed songs of 1982.
