Robert Ellis Orrall and Carlene Carter - I Couldn't Say No

It was the early 1980s, and I was on my way home from work at Ben Williamson Supply Company, a big hardware store in Ashland, KY where I worked in retail sales. At the time the retail floor sales staff still were segregated by department: if you were assigned to paint and building supply, you didn't sell hand tools and small accessories; if you sold tools, you didn't sell electrical supplies. The plumbing supply section had its own building across the back parking lot and alley, so there was very little crossover. I worked in the paint and building department, and there I remained all day. It was a pain in the ass for the sales folks, but an even bigger pain for the customers, and the days could get stressful. A little music on that drive home was not just nice, it often was necessary.

On the trip in question, a song came on the radio, "I Couldn't Say No" by Robert Ellis Orrall and Carlene Carter. Written by Orrall, it was about as perfect a pop song as I'd ever heard to that point. The rhythm was rolling and a bit insistent, with a spare, single-note style bass line. The acoustic piano repeated a simple motif as an electric guitar came in with an equally simple rhythm. And those voices. It was a classic old call-and-response boy/girl duet, telling a somewhat teenaged-type story (it's actually a pretty smart and well-crafted lyric). Yeah, perhaps a little hokey, but it was so nicely done, and Orrall and Carter's voices worked together beautifully.

And I only heard that song one time. One single time. I never managed to catch it again on local radio.

All I caught were the artist's names. No song title. Nothing. After searching the bins at National Record Mart (anyone old enough to remember those?) numerous times, I gave up. But I remembered.

Years later, the Internet happened, and finally I found that song I'd been looking for. It was just as good as I remembered.

It's still a joy to hear all these years later. So, play it again? I couldn't say no...