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Kay (song)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Kay
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = John Wesley Ryles
| album = Kay
| B-side =
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Country
| length =
| label = Columbia (1968)
Dot (1978)
| writer = Hank Mills
| producer = George Richey (1968)
Johnny Morris (1978)
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Heaven Below
| next_year = 1969
}}
'"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.
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'.
Original version
Re-release
Other versions
Daryle Singletary covered the song as a duet with Ryles on his 2002 album 'That's Why I Sing This Way'.
See also
*List of anti-war songs
References
Category:1968 debut singles
Category:1978 singles
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:John Wesley Ryles songs
Category:Songs written by Hank Mills
Category:ABC Records singles
Category:1968 songs
Category:Dot Records singles
Category:Song recordings produced by George Richey
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