Kay (song)

"Kay"
Single by John Wesley Ryles
from the album Kay
B-side	"Come On Home" (1968 version); "Next Time" (re-release)[1];
Released	1968
Genre	Country
Length	3:41
Label	Columbia (1968); Dot (1978)
Songwriter(s)	Hank Mills
Producer(s)	George Richey (1968); Johnny Morris (1978)
John Wesley Ryles singles chronology

"Kay" is a song written by Hank Mills and recorded by John Wesley Ryles. It was released in late 1968 by Columbia Records as Ryles' debut single. "Kay," recorded and released while Ryles was still a teenager, began a string of country music hits for him that would continue into the 1980s.

Content

"Kay" is about a taxicab driver in Nashville, Tennessee. He sold everything he owned to bring the woman he has loved and been with for years from Houston to Nashville, where she is becoming a star and moving beyond needing him. It is a song full of feelings and sadness. The song describes some of the people that he carries. Among them are soldiers from Fort Campbell who tell him that they "hate that war in Vietnam". This line has been cited as an example of the anti-war movement's presence in country music in the late 1960s.[2][3][4]

Chart performance

Ryles' original version of "Kay" spent 17 weeks on the Hot Country Songs charts, peaking at number 9. It also reached number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100. Ryles re-recorded it for ABC Records in 1978, including this version on his album Shine on Me.[1]

Original version

Chart (1968–69)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[1]	9
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[1]	83
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	6
Canadian RPM Top Singles	88

Re-release

Chart (1978)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[1]	50
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	55

Other versions

Billy Lee Riley also recorded the song in 1969, although his version did not chart.[5]

Daryle Singletary covered the song as a duet with Ryles on his 2002 album That's Why I Sing This Way.[6]

References

Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
Andresen, Lee (May 1, 2003). Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War. Savage Press. p. 129. ISBN 9781886028593.
Cusic, Don (July 30, 2008). Discovering Country Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 97. ISBN 9780313352461.
Brummer, Justin. "The Vietnam War: A History in Song". History Today. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. Open Road Media. March 1, 2011. ISBN 9781453213148.
Dinoia, Maria Konicki. "That's Why I Sing This Way review". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 July 2012.

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[whitburn-1] Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 367. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.

[2] Andresen, Lee (May 1, 2003). Battle Notes: Music of the Vietnam War. Savage Press. p. 129. ISBN 9781886028593.

[3] Cusic, Don (July 30, 2008). Discovering Country Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 97. ISBN 9780313352461.

[4] Brummer, Justin. "The Vietnam War: A History in Song". History Today. Retrieved 2 June 2020.

[5] Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. Open Road Media. March 1, 2011. ISBN 9781453213148.

[6] Dinoia, Maria Konicki. "That's Why I Sing This Way review". Allmusic. Retrieved 14 July 2012.