I NEVER CARED FOR YOU
After Homer started getting some better gigs, they pressed a 45 in mid-1968, with a Willie Nelson song “I Never Cared for You” backed with an original composition called “Dandelion Wine”. In a happy coincidence, Galen Niles’ father knew one of the morning DJ’s in San Antonio, on radio station KONO; goaded by copious donations of prime beef from the supermarket that he managed, “I Never Cared for You” started getting extensive radio play and peaked at #2 on the station’s playlist.
Before long, Columbia Records came calling and expressed interest in a national release. The A&R man’s request to know what was going to be on their next single caught Homer flat-footed. After quickly cutting two more songs, “On the Wall” and “Texas Lights”, Columbia blew them off and passed on the whole deal. They were released locally as the next two singles by the band but did not perform as well as “I Never Cared for You”.
(September 2011)
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After numerous gigs in the dance circuit in and around San Antonio, Homer decided to put out one of their best received songs, Willie Nelson’s “I Never Cared for You” as their first single, backed with a Homer original called “Dandelion Wine” (written by Frank Coy). Galen Niles’ dad knew Howard Edwards, the morning DJ at KONO, and he got their single on the radio in San Antonio. Later, another local station, KTSA began playing the song as well, and they sold about 5,000 copies before they were even approached by a manager, never mind a record company. Galen Niles revealed in a 2002 interview given on lysergia.com: “The record peaked at number 2 in San Antonio on KONO’s Top 40.”
Homer secured a record deal with Columbia Records – but then their A&R man asked about the other songs they had recorded. Well, there weren’t any, so the band hurried back to Tyler and recorded “On the Wall” b/w “Texas Lights”; both songs were written by Galen Niles. By the time they got the songs in the mail, "I Never Cared for You" was beginning to slip in the local charts, so the Columbia deal went away. An independent release of “On the Wall” failed to chart.
(April 2014)
