48 years ago: ‘I Don't Want To Talk About It’ conquers the top of the charts

This song is one of the classics - not only in Sir Rod Stewart's extensive song repertoire, but in the entire history of music.
‘I Don't Want To Talk About It’ - originally written by the American guitarist Danny Whitten and first recorded by the American rock band “Crazy Horse” and released on their album of the same name in February 1971. However, ‘IDWTTAI’ only really became famous in the version by Sir Rod Stewart, which was released in May of the same year.
Stewart recorded the song in 1975 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, for his album ‘Atlantic Crossing’. When it was released as a single in 1977, it reached the top of the singles charts in the UK as a double A-side with ‘The First Cut Is the Deepest’. The single was also quite successful in New Zealand (number 2), the Netherlands (3) and Ireland (4). In other countries such as Germany, Belgium, Canada and the USA, however, ‘I Don't Want To Talk About It’ was only in the middle of the charts. However, this never detracted from the immense success of the fan favourite. ‘IDWTTAI’ is still an integral part of a Rod Stewart set list today and continues to inspire concertgoers all over the world to sing along.
In 1989, Stewart recorded a new version of the song for ‘Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964-1990’. It was later released on ‘Downtown Train - Selections from the Storyteller Anthology’. The song was played on many radio stations in the United States as an album release and reached number two in the Billboard charts. Stewart also sang this song as a duet with Amy Belle during his 2004 tour and this version of the song is included on his concert DVD ‘One Night Only’, which was recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall. The official Rod Stewart video of the performance has been viewed 1,137,332,701 times on YouTube to date.
You can also read our story ‘We Want To Talk About It: Rod Stewart's 2004 live video breaks the billion-click barrier’ from August 2024.