It was first released in 1962 by Don Cherry, as a country song[1] and again as a doo-wop in 1967 by the group The Casinos on its album of the same name, and was a number 6 pop hit that year.

The Casinos version of "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" - which became the title track of the group's debut album - reached number 6 on the U.S.

Casinos' frontman Gene Hughes would recall that he'd heard the 1964 Johnny Nash recording of "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" on the John R. Show broadcast on WLAC out of Nashville and that the Casinos had been performing it in their club act for several years (Gene Hughes quote:)"So, while we were in the studio in the King Studios in Cincinnati, cutting this instrumental [King Curtis’] ‘Soul Serenade’ for a disk jockey, we used the time to [also] cut ‘Then You Can Tell Me'.

[6] In 1968, country music artist Eddy Arnold covered "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" on his album Walkin' in Love Land.

Pat Kelly, sound engineer and vocalist with The Techniques released a Reggae version of the tune in 1969 to great acclaim, with Bunny Lee on production duties.

Glen Campbell recorded the song as a medley with Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds' "Don't Pull Your Love".

[21] Joss Stone recorded a version of the song for her 2012 album The Soul Sessions Vol.

The Tallest Man on Earth recorded a version for his 2022 album of covers, Too Late for Edelweiss.