by Kevin Burton
Before he was a cultural icon, Elvis Presley was a truck driver. Good reason to let Elvis drive part of our Coast To Coast rock and roll road trip.
“Blue Hawaii” is out, as that would require a plane or a boat. Our next travel destination: Kentucky.
Kentucky Rain is my favorite Presley song so we’ll look into that tune, written by Eddie Rabbit with help from Dick Heard.
We need to acknowledge Blue Moon of Kentucky as well because that was the B side of “That’s All Right,” the song that launched Elvis into the music stratosphere.
“Rabbitt was working at Hill and Range Publishers when he wrote Kentucky Rain, and it nearly scored him a record deal when a major producer heard it and gave him the go-ahead to record it,” according to SongFacts.
“Then Lamar Fike, who worked at the publishing company and was one of Elvis’ best friends, heard the demo and brought it to Elvis.”
“Rabbitt recalled in a 1987 interview, ‘He took the song to Elvis and Elvis wanted to record it as the A side of his new single. I said, ‘That’s great and not so great.’ Ultimately, he realized it was a smarter move to give up the song. ‘I thought if this is the only hit song I ever write, then it is better that Elvis does it because he’s the King.’”
In this sentimental soft-rock ballad, the narrator goes on a cold and rainy search “on these cold Kentucky backroads” for the woman who left him without explanation.
“Elvis recorded the song during his landmark two-week sessions at American Sound Studio in Memphis, which provided material for two hit albums in 1969: From Elvis In Memphis and From Memphis to Vegas / From Vegas to Memphis,” according to SongFacts. “Kentucky Rain didn’t make the cut for either album, but was added to the 2000 re-release of From Elvis In Memphis.
“The song features Ronnie Milsap on piano (he recalled Presley telling him, ‘More thunder on the piano, Milsap!’). Eddie Rabbitt went on to write the hit “Pure Love” for Milsap in 1974
Presley’s version of Kentucky Rain peaked at number 16 on the Hot 100 in 1970. Rabbitt released his own version in 1978, the year Presley died.
You could say Blue Moon of Kentucky was present at the creation of Elvis as we know him.
“Elvis Presley recorded this as the B-side to “That’s All Right (Mama)” in 1954. It was his first single with Sun Records, recorded during his second Sun session on July 6, 1954,” according to SongFacts.
“Presley’s recording became the best-known version of the song, and is an early example of what was to become known as rockabilly, a combination of blues and country together with an up-tempo beat.
“Bill Monroe wrote Blue Moon of Kentucky in 1946, and recorded the first version of the song playing mandolin and backed by his band the Blue Grass Boys.
“Monroe, who died in 1996, was one of the most famous bluegrass musicians of all time (the name bluegrass is derived from his backing band – “The Blue Grass Boys”). Kentucky is his home state, and in this song he is heartbroken over a girl who left him, but wishes her well.
The state of Kentucky made this their official bluegrass song.
On a road trip there are featured stops but also places where you pause just long enough to go to the bathroom. Let’s add Elvis’ “Viva Las Vegas” as a bathroom stop.
The song is a waste of two minutes, 24 seconds, unless you’re using the bathroom while it plays. Also Vegas Elvis is everything I don’t want to remember about the King, so the song is doubly objectionable.
But here’s to the moon and the rain and Presley’s two musical Kentucky souvenirs.
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