The country song "Red Headed Stranger," the title track of Willie Nelson's landmark 1975 album, was originally intended for crooner Perry Como but never reached him because of a publishing dispute. Written by Carl Stutz and Edith Lindeman, the song instead became one of the defining recordings of Nelson's career, a fact revealed in Lindeman's 1984 obituary, and it helped set Nelson on a path to major commercial success as a country artist.

Red Headed Stranger, Nelson's 18th album and his first for Columbia Records, gave him complete creative control for the first time, resulting in a stripped-back, concept-album sound about a fugitive on the run that initially unsettled his label. The record also produced "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," his first number one single, and "Remember Me," a top five hit, while becoming Nelson's first album to top the charts and later inspiring a 1987 film starring him. Other artists, including Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith, Eddy Arnold and Jack White, also recorded versions of "Red Headed Stranger" over the years.