Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
| "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "The Little Things I Love"[1] |
| "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran of a "crazy Asian war" (actually the Korean War, not, as many assumed given the time of its release, the Vietnam War) who lies helplessly in bed as his wife "paint[s herself] up" to go out for the evening without him; he believes she is going in search of a lover, and as he hears the door slam behind her, he pleads for her to reconsider. The song was made famous by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in 1969. "Ruby" was originally recorded in 1967 by Johnny Darrell, who scored a number nine country hit with it that year.[1]
Chart performance
| Chart (1967) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 9 |
| UK Singles Chart | 2[2] |
The First Edition version
In 1969, after Kenny Rogers and the First Edition's success with the hits "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "But You Know I Love You", Rogers wanted to take his group more into a country music direction. They recorded their version of the song (with Rogers singing the lead) in one take. The record was a major hit for them. It made #1 in the UK on the New Musical Express (#2 on the BBC chart) staying in the top twenty for 15 weeks and selling over a million copies by the end of 1970. In the United States it reached number six on the Hot 100 and number thirty-nine on the country chart[3] and also sold more than 1 million copies by 1979. Worldwide, the single sold more than 7 million copies.
In 1977, now a solo act following the First Edition's split in early-1976, Rogers made re-recordings of this and a number of other First Edition hits for his 1977 greatest hits package Ten Years Of Gold (later issued in the British Isles as The Kenny Rogers Singles Album), which topped the US country charts and was just as successful in the United Kingdom.
Chart performance
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 39 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 4 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 2 |
| UK Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 4 |
| Norway Singles Chart | 9 |
| Austrian Top 40 | 26 |
Covers
The song has been recorded many times by various artists. The Statler Brothers had perhaps the first cover in 1967 on their album, Big Country Hits. Other artists who have recorded versions cover the modern pop-music gamut, including Roger Miller, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Dale Hawkins, Carl Perkins, Cake, Leonard Nimoy, Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, Sort Sol, Wolfsheim, The Killers and Right Said Fred.
Several foreign-language versions have been recorded: Greek singer Nana Mouskouri recorded a French version entitled "Ruby, garde ton cœur ici" for her 1970 album Dans le soleil et dans le vent; Pavel Bobek, Czech country singer, recorded "Oh Ruby, nechtěj mi lásku brát" in 1981; Gary Holton and Casino Steel's English-language version was a number one hit in Norway at the beginning of 1982. French singer Eddy Mitchell recorded a French version entitled "Ruby tu reviens au pays" for his 1974 album Rocking in Nashville. His lyrics are much softer than the original ones, though sad. Ruby is the girl he has always loved. She left her home town to go to college. He always dreamed he would marry her but when she comes back, he understands there is now a gap between them. "Elle a changé, elle a appris; moi je n' ai jamais lu" ( translation : She changed, she learned, I never read anything ). He ends the song with a prayer "Ruby, you are coming back home; Ruby, just stay home a while". The only sentence of the original song he keeps is "Les ombres sur le mur me disent que le soleil rougit" ( translation : The shadows on the wall tell me the sun is turning red )
Answer song
An answer song to "Ruby," entitled "Billy, I've Got To Go To Town," was released in 1969 by Geraldine Stevens who had previously recorded successfully under the name Dodie Stevens. Sung to the same melody with an arrangement quite similar to the First Edition version, "Billy" peaked at #117 pop, #57 country. In Stevens' song, Ruby affirms her love for her disabled husband ("Billy" in her song; in "Ruby," he is not named) and pleads in turn for her man to have faith in her fidelity and her commitment to him, even in his crippled condition.
Music video
A music video consisting solely of a camera panning back and forth in a bedroom was shown at the end of a Huntley-Brinkley Report during 1969. Chet Huntley set up the video by linking it to the controversial Vietnam War and the sacrifices by U.S. servicemen and their families. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley paused after the video and then signed off in their usual fashion. [4][5]
Further reading
- Rule, Ann (1999), "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town". A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases. Simon and Schuster p. 291. ISBN 0-7434-2404-2
Footnotes
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 115. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
- ^ Kenny Rogers UK Charts history, The Official Charts. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
- ^ Whitburn,p. 360
- ^ http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/saas/felman.pdf
- ^ http://billdeyoung.com/?page_id=563