Statue of a Fool

"Statue of a Fool" is a song, whose authorship is surrounded in controversy. According to Genna Sapia-Ruffin, the wife of David Ruffin, former member of The Temptations' son, on page 251 of her book A Memoir: David Ruffin -- My Temptation (1993-2003, 1st Books Library), David Ruffin wrote and originally released the song on a 78 RPM in 1958, when he was recording under the name "Little Eddie Bush.' However, as he was only seventeen years old at that time, later covers of the song gave writing credits to Jan Crutchfield. It was recorded by a number of country artists. In 1969, it was recorded by country music artist Jack Greene, released as a single and became a number 1 hit. Brian Collins recorded and released it in 1974 from his second album, This Is Brian Collins. It peaked at number 10 on the country charts. David Ruffin, formerly of The Temptations, rerecorded the song in 1975, with his name unchallenged as the sole writer. Bill Medley, formerly of The Righteous Brothers, also released a rendition in 1979 that went to number 91 on the same chart. In 1989, it was recorded by country music artist Ricky Van Shelton, who released it as a single from the album, RVS III. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and hit #1 on the Canadian RPM country singles chart.

Chart performance

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