Red Headed Stranger - Willie Nelson - MP3 instrumental karaoke

Originally intended for easy-listening crooner Perry Como, "Red Headed Stranger" was written by Edith Lindeman – the entertainment editor of Virginia's Richmond Times-Dispatch – and composed by high school maths teacher Carl Stutz. It was published in 1953 and taken on by Willie Nelson in 1974, who scored a signature tune. Drawing inspiration from his then-wife Connie Koepke, the outlaw country star ended up basing a whole concept album on the track, Red Headed Stranger, which was released in 1975 and tells the story of a former preacher on the run after killing his wife and her lover. Not only did the album give Willie Nelson a string of much-loved country hits, including his cover of Fred Rose's 1945 song "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," and a Billboard Top Country Album, but it also earned him the lasting nickname of "Red Headed Stranger." What's more, it even led to an acting gig for Willie Nelson, who in 1986 starred as the Red Headed Stranger in a movie of the same name.