In 1960 Ray Sanders cut "A Little Bitty Tear" with the Anita Kerr Singers as the B side of "A World So Full of Love" for Liberty Records. He was signed after an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. It's been said that composer Hank Cochrane wrote the third and final verse in the bathroom at the recording studio just before the session.

Burl Ives covered the tune a year later and took "A Little Bitty Tear" into the top ten. The release was nominated for a Grammy but lost to "Moon River".