Twitty's version was released in January 1974 as the first single from the albumHonky Tonk Angel. The single became Twitty's 10th number one on the U.S. country singles chart as a solo artist and 13th overall. It stayed at number one for one week and spent 12 weeks on the chart in all.
One of Cliff Richard's producers, Bruce Welch, heard the song and considered that it would make a good 'comeback' single after disappointing chart performances in 1973 and 1974. A version was then arranged for Cliff Richard by John Farrar, with a string arrangement by Nick Ingman. British singer Cliff Richard released a version as a single in 1975, however after being on sale for a short time in the UK and promoting it with TV appearances, it was withdrawn from the UK market after Richard found out that 'honky-tonk angel' is an Americanslang term for a prostitute. While recording the song, Cliff Richard incorrectly assumed that the song's lyrics were about a piano player, unaware that the phrase 'honky-tonk angel' was used in America as a synonym for 'prostitute'. Some of his fans and friends, aware of the true meaning of the song's title, expressed surprise that he had chosen to cover the song, given his Christian beliefs. When the singer himself learnt the meaning of the slang term, he decided to make a television announcement about the withdrawal of the record and refused to promote it, even though the single was expected to perform well. Richard's longtime label EMI eventually agreed to withdraw the single at his request. The single was originally released in September 1975 with the B-side " Got Myself a Girl". Since its withdrawal, "Honky Tonk Angel" has appeared as a bonus track on the CD release of I'm Nearly Famous and on two official compilations: The Singles Collection and Lost & Found .
Elvis Presley version
covered the track in 1975 and first released it on his Promised Land album, however it was released as the B-side of the posthumous single "I Got a Feelin' in My Body": a posthumous single in 1979, which peaked at number 6 on the Hot Country Singles chart. Along the way, the song titles on the cover sleeve were reversed accordingly. The track was recorded at Stax Records, 15 December 1973.
