Featured Unknown/Underrated Song: "Kentucky Rain" by Elvis Presley

Some things in music are an absolute mystery.  How radio could recognize Elvis for all his great #1 songs, and then totally blow it on this one, for example.

Eddie Rabbitt was an aspiring songwriter in 1970.  Can you imagine wanting to do that for a living, then writing a song that the King wanted to sing?  Needless to say, that got Eddie a lot of attention, and of course he later went on to have a great career himself.

But getting back to the burning question--why did radio stations not jump all over this song.  Many Elvis Presley fans consider it one of his best.  Yet it only made it to #16:

 

 

"Kentucky Rain"

Elvis Presley

 

Written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard

Seven lonely days
And a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night
And you were gone
Don't know why you'd run,
What you're running to or from
All I know is I want to bring you home

So I'm walking in the rain,
Thumbing for a ride
On this lonely Kentucky backroad
I've loved you much too long
And my love's too strong
To let you go, never knowing
What went wrong

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up ahead's another town
That I'll go walking thru
With the rain in my shoes,
Searchin for you
In the cold Kentucky rain,
In the cold Kentucky rain

Showed your photograph
To some old gray bearded man
Sitting on a bench
Outside a gen'ral store
They said "Yes, she's been here"
But their memory wasn't clear
Was it yesterday,
No, wait the day before

So I fin'ly got a ride
With a preacher man who asked
"Where you bound on such a dark afternoon?"
As we drove on thru the rain
As he listened I explained
And he left me with a prayer
That I'd find you