You never know when inspiration will strike. A quick burst of creativity during a lunch break gave birth to this 1979 classic, which went on to become a hit a second time, almost thirty years later.
Eddie Rabbitt scored a country crossover hit with the tune “Suspicions.” In a July 1985 interview for the Star News, he admitted that the song came to him quickly, stating, “Sometimes the lyrics just fall out of my mouth.”
Rabbitt co-wrote the song with Even Stevens. The songwriter told The Tennessean he and Rabbitt were at Wally Heider’s Los Angeles studio when the magic moment occurred.
“We had flown out the Swampers, the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, to do an album (for) Eddie out there. It was the last day, and we were on break for lunch,” he began.
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“We’d already cut the whole album pretty much. David (Malloy), Eddie and I stayed back and didn’t go (to lunch), and Randy McCormick, the great piano player from Muscle Shoals and Nashville. There was a Rhodes (piano) out in the middle of the studio.”
Stevens concluded, “[Eddie] started doodling on this thing, and we started writing this song. In about 20 minutes, I’d say, we had ‘Suspicions’ written.
The country song soon became a crossover hit. The tune would land at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Country Charts in August 1979 and peak at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September.
“Suspicions” ranked at No. 39 of the Top 50 Yacht Rock Songs in a list compiled by Ultimate Classic Rock. The song landed between Poco‘s “Crazy Love” and “Moonlight Feels Right” by Starbuck.
In 2007, country superstar Tim McGraw put his own spin on “Suspicions,” nearly three decades after the song first became a hit. His version climbed to No. 12 on the country charts, narrowly missing the Top 10.
Stevens explained, “For years, musicians would come up to me and say, ‘You know, I was doing a Tim McGraw record the other day, and before we started, he was sitting around playing ‘Suspicions’ and said ‘Someday I’m going to record this song.’”
“That went on for three or four years. And people would say that he would play it for them backstage. I kept going, ‘Well, tell him to (record) it!’”
Not bad for a song that took just five minutes to write. “Suspicions” has enjoyed a lasting legacy, becoming a hit in two genres across two generations, and remaining a fan favorite today.
