At Churchill Downs this morning, heavy rain led organizers to cancel morning training for today’s 138th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race. Handicappers and others wondered how the muddy track and possible additional rain may affect the horses in the race. But the skies cleared and sun came through by the time of the race, which was won by I’ll Have Another, who with 14-1 odds overcame the favorite Bodemeister.
When I think of “Kentucky Rain,” one song comes to mind. “Kentucky Rain” was written by country star Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard, but made famous by Elvis Presley. While there are a ton of Elvis performances on YouTube, they do not appear to include any live footage of Elvis singing this hit. But here is a good video that someone put together with images from the King’s career.
According to Ernst Jorgensen’s Elvis Presley: A Life in Music – The Complete Recording Sessions (p. 275), Elvis first recorded “Kentucky Rain” during RCA sessions on February 19, 1969 at American Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis started the song around 7:30 p.m. in the evening, and the musicians found the song challenging as they worked to add a little edge and a little brightness to the sound. They worked on the song for three hours, took a short break, and returned to the song for several more hours at 11:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. The hard work paid off, and afterward everyone involved believed the song about a man searching for his lost love could be a potential single.
Additions that helped make the song a classic was the backing vocals and piano playing of a future star named Ronnie Milsap. During the recording session, Elvis turned to the young musician and asked, “Hey Milsap, can I get a little bit of thunder over there on the piano?” So, Milsap supplied the thunder for the song in a technique he would later use on his own 1980 rain song, “Smoky Mountain Rain.”
Jorgensen’s book says “Kentucky Rain” was released in February 1970 (but Wikipedia claims the song was released January 29, 1970). The song went to number sixteen on the pop charts. For Elvis, the song was his fiftieth gold record. For Ronnie Milsap, it was the beginning of a great career. Similarly, for songwriter Eddie Rabbitt, it signaled to his parents that maybe he would amount to something. For me, who was a young kid at the time, it is one of the new Elvis releases I remember hearing on the radio. I still love hearing it today.
[Thanks to @jonniebwalker for pointing out that Milsap played piano as well as sang on “Kentucky Rain.”]
What do you think of “Kentucky Rain”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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