"I Love You Because" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Leon Payne in 1949. The song has been covered by several artists throughout the years, including hit cover versions by Al Martino in 1963 and Jim Reeves in 1964.

Leon Payne version

In 1949, Leon Payne's original version of the song went to number four on the Billboard Country & Western Best Seller lists and spent two weeks at number one on the Country & Western Disk Jockey List, spending a total of thirty-two weeks on the chart.^[1] "I Love You Because" was Payne's only song to make the country charts.

Elvis Presley version

"I Love You Because" was first recorded by Elvis Presley in 1954, at SUN Studio, Memphis, Tennessee. The session started on July 4 and ended early on the morning of July 5, the day that he recorded "That's All Right". Producer Sam Phillips did not think "I Love You Because" was the right song for Elvis's first single, but it was instead used as the B-side of "Tryin' to Get to You", both of which can be found on his 1956 debut album Elvis Presley.

Johnny Cash version

The song was also notably covered by Johnny Cash. His version was released by Sun Records as a single (Sun 334, with "Straight A's in Love" on the opposite side)^{[2][3][4][5][6]} in December 1959,^[7][8] when Cash had already left the label for Columbia.

Charts

Al Martino version

In 1963, Al Martino recorded the most successful version of the song, which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart^[10] and number one on the Middle-Road (Adult Contemporary) chart for two weeks in May that year.^[11]

Jim Reeves version

In 1963, American country singer Jim Reeves recorded a version of the song for his album Gentleman Jim. Released as a single in 1964, the song peaked at number five in the UK. The song became his most successful single in Norway, topping the VG-Lista chart for 13 weeks.^[12] In 1976, the song was the title track of a posthumous Jim Reeves album that peaked at number 24 on the US Country LP chart.^[13] Released as a single, it reached number 54 in the US Billboard Country singles chart in that year.

Charts

Other versions

• In 1950, Ernest Tubb and Clyde Moody each recorded their own version, both making the top 10 on the Country & Western charts.
• Carl Smith recorded a cover for his album I Love You Because (1969). The song peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 1969.^[17]
• In 1983, Roger Whittaker's version peaked at number 91 on the Hot Country Singles chart.^[18]