On Friday 27 November 2020, Gene Watson remembered Eddie Rabbitt (Thursday 27 November 1941 – Thursday 7 May 1998).
‘It would be Eddie Rabbitt’s 79th birthday today, but sadly, he passed from lung cancer at age 56.
He was a great singer, but equally great songwriter.
One of his big songs was recorded by Elvis Presley, ‘Kentucky Rain’
Source
• Gene Watson on Facebook
‘Kentucky Rain’, which was written by Eddie Rabbitt (Thursday 27 November 1941 – Thursday 7 May 1998) and Dick Heard (1937 – Tuesday 8 September 1998), was originally recorded by Elvis Presley (Tuesday 8 January 1935 – Tuesday 16 August 1977) at American Sound Studio, and the backing musicians included pianist Ronnie Milsap.
Elvis Presley’s recording of ‘Kentucky Rain’ was produced by Felton Jarvis (Friday 16 November 1934 – Saturday 3 January 1981) (RCA Victor Records) and Lincoln Wayne ‘Chips’ Moman (Saturday 12 June 1937 – Monday 13 June 2016) (American Sound Studio, Memphis), and was certified ‘Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying United States sales of more than a million copies.
Elvis Presley’s recording of ‘Kentucky Rain’ reached No.12 on the Cash Box Top 100 Chart in 1970, No.16 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop music singles chart in 1970, No.6 on the Canadian RPM Chart in 1970, No.21 on the United Kingdom Chart in 1970, and No.7 on the Australian Chart in 1970.
Released as a single on Thursday 29 January 1970, featuring ‘My Little Friend’ as the B side, ‘Kentucky Rain’ was one of the decade’s first hit singles for Elvis Presley (Tuesday 8 January 1935 – Tuesday 16 August 1977), and was subsequently included on ‘Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits, Volume 1’ (RCA Records, 1970), the 2000 re-release of ‘From Elvis In Memphis’ (RCA Records, 2000) (the track was not included on the original 1969 album), ‘Elvis Aaron Presley’ (RCA Records, 1980), ‘Live In Las Vegas’ (RCA Records, 2001) and ‘Elvis With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: The Wonder of You’ (RCA Records / Legacy Recordings, 2016).
