John Wesley Ryles

Kay

1968 · Columbia 4-44682 · New York City, New York

Artist
John Wesley Ryles
Title
Kay
Release
Kay / Come On Home
Year
1968
Label
Columbia # 4-44682
Format
7" · Single
Language
English
Country
New York City, New York, USA
Songwriter
Hank Mills
Genre
Country · Country
Primary theme
Peace, Protest & Anti-War

Annotation

Country artist born on 2 December 1950 in Bastrop, Louisiana, USA, he scored a few hits in the late 1960s and 70s, with his most famous song being "Kay" (Columbia Records # 4-44682), an example of anti-war sentiment spreading into the traditionally conservative country genre. It was about a taxi driver in Nashville, who lost his girlfriend, Kay, to music stardom. It contained a single line reference to Vietnam, in which "two young soldiers" told the taxi driver that "they hate that war in Vietnam". It reached # 9 Billboard Country charts, and # 83 Billboard Hot 100. (1) An alternative version was released in 1978 - Kay - which had slightly different lyrics: "two young soldiers....told me how they fought a war they never won".

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

"two young soldiers" told the taxi driver that "they hate that war in Vietnam"

About the artist

born on 2 December 1950 in Bastrop, Louisiana, USA

Themes

Anti-War · Home Front Perspective

In collections

Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs