Eddie Rabbitt Performs the Song He Penned for Elvis Presley

Before becoming a well-known singer with his hits “I Love a Rainy Night” and “Drivin’ My Life Away,” Eddie Rabbit was already a successful and established songwriter. In fact, he has penned songs for some of the greatest artists. Just to name a couple, he wrote Ronnie Milsap’s “Pure Love” and Elvis Presley’s “Kentucky Rain.”

To have a review, Rabbitt started releasing his own music in 1977. Interestingly, he went home with the Top New Male Vocalist Award at the ACM in that year. In his career as a performer, he included “Kentucky Rain” in some of his live shows up until his passing in 1998. As a matter of fact, he was not the only sole songwriter to have written the song. He co-wrote “Kentucky Rain” with fellow Dick Heard.

In one of his live performances, Rabbitt was caught introducing the song saying:

“Another song that I’m really proud of was a song recorded by a guy who’s not around anymore, but I’m sure we all remember Elvis. This song made my mommy and dad real proud. They finally thought that maybe something gonna become of and it became his 50^th Gold Record, and it goes like this …”

After he said these words, a thunderous round of cheers and applause came in.

While Rabbitt renders it differently from Presley’s familiar version, it is definitely a treat to hear that the writer of the tune sings it himself. “Kentucky Rain” was all about a man walking, driving, and hitchhiking through the rain in Kentucky searching for his missing lover.

Kentucky Rain: Presley’s 50^th Gold Record

A massive hit for Elvis Presley in 1970, “Kentucky Rain” was just released as a single. Actually, it was not included on an album until his compilation album Worldwide 50 Gold Award Hits Vol. 1 was out.

In addition, this hit was then included in the re-release of the album From Elvis in Memphis in 2000. Even though it did not originally appear on Presley’s 1969 album, as what Rabbitt said introducing the song, it became Presley’s 50^th Gold Record.

Watch Eddie Rabbitt perform “Kentucky Rain,” a hit he wrote for the King of Rock & Roll:

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