If I Didn't Care

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If I Didn't Care is a song written by Jack Lawrence that was originally sung by The Ink Spots. According to Lawrence he mailed the song before showing it to some of his friends. His friends reaction to the song was almost universally negative, but he remained positive on it and later it became one of his biggest successes.^[1]

In the 1950s both The Hilltoppers and Connie Francis charted with the song and in 1974 a version was recorded by David Cassidy. Another notable cover came from The Platters.^[2] In more recent times the film The Shawshank Redemption had the song on its soundtrack as it played during the opening credits.^[3]

It was named to the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Award and was 271 on Songs of the Century.

On the sitcom Sanford and Son, Fred Sanford's favorite song was If I Didn't Care. The actor that played Fred, Redd Foxx, also paid the royalties for use of the song, and others by them, because he loved the group so much and because NBC wouldn't pay for it themselves, claiming the cost was too high. Fred sang the song (to growing audience enthusiasm) through the show's run, especially whenever he got in front of a television camera.