jomel77 - Smoky Mountain Rain
jomel77
May 10, 2024 05:06pm
<p>"<strong>Smoky Mountain Rain</strong>" is a song written by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kye_Fleming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kye Fleming</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Morgan_(songwriter)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dennis Morgan</a>, and recorded by American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">country music</a> singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Milsap" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ronnie Milsap</a>. It was released in September 1980 as the first and only single from his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_(Ronnie_Milsap_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Greatest Hits</em></a> compilation album. The single became one of his best-known songs.</p><p>In 2010, "Smoky Mountain Rain" became <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tennessee</a>'s eighth <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_songs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">state song</a> as a result of action by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_General_Assembly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tennessee General Assembly</a> on June 3, 2010.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[2]</sup></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-HumphreyRain-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[3]</sup></a> In 2014, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Rolling Stone</em></a> magazine ranked "Smoky Mountain Rain" number 96 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[4]</sup></a></p><p>The song is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_narrative" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first-person narrative</a> of a man who has left <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a> and returned to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knoxville,_Tennessee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Knoxville, Tennessee</a>, due to "a change of dreams." He attempts to call a woman from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_booth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">phone booth</a>, but learns that she is gone. Attempting to find her, he then gets a ride from a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_driver" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">truck driver</a> who is going to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatlinburg,_Tennessee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gatlinburg, Tennessee</a>. Although he "can't blame her for letting go," he vows to find her "no matter what it takes." Rain is mentioned in the opening verse, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bridge</a>, and three times in the chorus. Milsap liked the lyrics of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elvis Presley</a>'s "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Rain" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kentucky Rain</a>" so much that "Smoky Mountain Rain" was written for him similarly, albeit with a slightly different flavor:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[5]</sup></a> Millsap had played piano on the recording of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Presley</a>'s "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Rain" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kentucky Rain</a>" in 1969.</p><p>The song was Milsap's 16th number one hit on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_(magazine)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Billboard</em></a> magazine's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Country_Songs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hot Country Singles</a> chart where it stayed at the top for one week in December 1980.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[6]</sup></a> "Smoky Mountain Rain" also fared well as a crossover hit and was the first of his two number one hits on the <em>Billboard</em> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_Contemporary_(chart)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adult Contemporary</a> chart (the other being "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_Day_Now_(Chuck_Jackson_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Any Day Now</a>"), as well as number 24 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Hot_100" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Billboard</em> Hot 100</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Mountain_Rain#cite_note-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[7]</sup></a></p>