Tear-Stained Letter

"Tear-Stained Letter"
Single by Richard Thompson
from the album Hand of Kindness
B-side	"Where the Wind Don't Whine"
Released	May 1984
Format	7" single
Genre	Folk rock, zydeco
Length	4:40
Label	Hannibal Records
Writer(s)	Richard Thompson
Producer(s)	Joe Boyd
Richard Thompson singles chronology
"The Wrong Heartbeat" (1983) "Tear-Stained Letter" (1988) "When the Spell is Broken" (1985)

"Tear-Stained Letter" is the opening track from Richard Thompson's 1983 album Hand of Kindness.

Content

Its length is 4 minutes and 44 seconds. The main riff is performed on saxophones by Pete Thomas and Pete Zorn, who also performs the background vocals, and on accordion by John Kirkpatrick. The coda features a duet between a sax solo, accordion solo, and guitar solo by Richard Thompson.

The song is in the key of G major, with a fast tempo in 4/4 time. It uses a chord pattern of E7-A-E7-A-D-G on the verses, and B7-C-D-G twice on the chorus.

Jo-El Sonnier version

"Tear-Stained Letter"
Single by Jo-El Sonnier
from the album Come On Joe
B-side	"Say You Love Me"
Released	July 1988
Format	7" single
Genre	Country
Length	4:17
Label	RCA Nashville
Writer(s)	Richard Thompson
Producer(s)	Richard Bennett, Bill Halverson
Jo-El Sonnier singles chronology
"No More One More Time" (1988) "Tear-Stained Letter" (1988) "Rainin' in My Heart" (1988)

Country music singer Jo-El Sonnier covered the song on his 1988 album Come On Joe. His version was released as a single in 1988, reaching number nine on the Hot Country Songs charts. Kenny Greenberg plays lead guitar on Sonnier's version. Actor Judge Reinhold appears in the music video for the song.

Chart performance

Chart (1988)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	9
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	6

Other versions

Patty Loveless covered the song on her 1996 album The Trouble with the Truth.

Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes covered the song on their 2005 album 'Into the Harbour'