Years before Clint Eastwood hit the big screen in Westerns by the late 1960s, he was a musical apprentice, playing piano and immersed in jazz while studying country, blues, classical, and other genres.
Before acting took off, Eastwood wanted to study music theory and released the album Cowboy Favorites in 1959, which included covers of Bob Wills’ “San Antonio Rose” and Cole Porter’s “Don’t Fence Me In.” Eastwood continued composing music for more of his films in the decades that followed, including The Bridges of Madison County, Flags of Our Fathers, Million Dollar Baby, Changeling, Hereafter, J. Edgar, and Mystic River, among others, along with playing the piano compositions for In the Line of Fire.
In 1996, Eastwood released a concert album, Eastwood After Hours, Live at Carnegie Hall, which features the actor performing songs pulled from his scores with a jazz ensemble.
Along with collaborating with Merle Haggard on his film Bronco Billy and Ray Charles on Any Which Way You Can, both from 1980, Eastwood also co-wrote songs with Jamie Callum for his 2007 drama, Grace is Gone, and Gran Torino in 2008, and penned more for jazz musician Lennie Neuhaus and his longtime collaborator, jazz singer and musician Diana Krall.
“Why Should I Care?
By the late ’90s, Krall and Eastwood started collaborating on several of his films, first when she contributed “Midnight Sun” to the soundtrack of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1997 and again for his 1999 thriller True Crime.
For True Crime, Eastwood returned the favor and co-wrote Krall’s “Why Should I Care?” with Linda Thompson and legendary songwriter Carole Bayer Sager and directed the music video.
Was there something more I could have done
Or was I not meant to be the one
Where’s the life I thought we would share
And should I care
And will someone else get more of you
Will she go to sleep more sure of you
Will she wake up knowing you’re still there
Why should I care
There’s always one to turn and walk away
And one who just wants to stay
But who said that love is always fair
And why should I care
Should I leave you alone here in the dark
Holding my broken heart
While a promise still hangs in the air
Why should I care
“Why Should I Care?” appeared on Krall’s fifth album, When I Look in Your Eyes, as a hidden track. The jazz-fused album won two Grammys for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.