"Don't Look Back" was never a hit, but it's an important song for Wynonna Judd, and it was almost released as a single at a time when she was one of the hottest artists in country music. John Keller told Songfacts the story:
"'Don't Look Back,' recorded by Wynonna, has an unusual origin. Usually songs are sent to managers, producers, or A&R representatives, but rarely directly to the artist. In this case however, Warner Music's Judy Stakee decided to invite Wynonna Judd to come to Warner's offices and listen in person to the LA staff writers' songs. Every songwriter dreams of playing their song for the artist in person. That it only happened once in my 30 years as a staff songwriter shows how rarely it occurs.
One day in 1995, Wynonna, with baby in tow, sat down with the LA writers at Warner Music in Los Angeles. The prospect of playing songs for Wynonna was exciting but intimidating, especially being in the company of fellow songwriters. After speaking of her recent experiences as a solo artist, Wynonna asked us to share our thoughts about the music business and songwriting. Then, each songwriter of a group of about 20 played demos of two songs. After each song, Wynonna offered thoughtful and encouraging responses to the songs.
By the time it was my turn I was nervous, but I felt I had one good song that might have a shot. I had recently written 'Don't Look Back' with Tonio K, and I knew it was one of our better songs. I recorded a demo of it with Billy Valentine singing. It was an inspired vocal by Valentine, a favorite singer of LA songwriters' demos. As I was about to play my songs I realized that my collaborator Tonio K was not in the room. I excused myself and ran into another office and told him to get back in the room because it was our turn. We played the first song and there was a polite but unenthusiastic response.
Then we played 'Don't Look Back.' Wynonna listened with her eyes closed and head bowed. I could tell she was listening intently. After it concluded, she replied, 'Amen. I'm not leaving this office without this song.' She went on to rave about Valentine's vocal and the lyric and doubted she could do justice to the vocal. It was the kind of dream-come-true response you wish for in your career. Though a couple of songwriters offered their congratulations, the rest sat in stony silence. I found out later that the song had so resonated with Wynonna that she considered making it the title cut of her album.
A few months later I was in Tony Brown's office in Nashville. He had produced the song and album and he informed me that it was going to be the next single. He asked me if I wanted to hear it with an edit he had made to shorten the song. Originally it was five minutes and eight seconds, too long for Country radio at the time. Brown played the song, which now consisted of verse chorus verse chorus and no bridge. I was crestfallen. The bridge was powerful, and without it the song lost its magic. Despite this I nodded my assent, not wanting to lose the next single. As if on cue, the phone rang and Brown picked up. It was promotion, and they had passed on the song as the next single. It was a brutal way to learn that single releases need to be no more than three minutes and 40 seconds in Country radio.
In the end, the song was neither the album title nor single, but it was on the album, with the bridge intact.
A humorous coda to the song. Mike Curb, the president of the label on which the album was released, was a patient of my doctor's. My doctor had mentioned I had written 'Don't Look Back,' and Curb remarked, 'That's a '#1 song.' A few months later I ran into Curb, and I recounted the story. He smiled and said it was true."
