Psychedelic Skeletons In the Closet–Kenny Rogers
Psychedelic Skeletons In the Closet–Kenny Rogers
Everybody who made a record before 1967 has a bad psychedelic moment. This week, I give you star of stage, screen and rotisseries— Kenny Rogers! Most people think of Kenny as the play-it-safe sentinel of slowpoke, Driving-Miss-Daisy styled country music. Few remember the risks the Gambler took early on in his career with (insert shudder) psychedelic music!
Suspect Record:
“Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” by The First Edition.
Release Date In Relation to Sgt. Pepper LP:
Six months later, the better to incorporate a spooky “Strawberry Fields” false ending.
Suspicious Psychedelic Instrumentation:
Backwards acoustic guitars, fuzzy molten lava lamp leads and heavily phased vocals
Psychedelia Enabler:
It was co-produced and arranged by Mike Post, who’d later be renown for his reality altering TV themes like “The Rockford Files” and “Magnum PI”! And it was written by Mickey Newbury who’d later counter the counter-culture and pen “An American Trilogy.”
It hardly seems possible but Kenny once bent people’s minds as the bearded beacon behind The First Edition.
Backhistory:
Kenny Rogers—acid rock avatar? It hardly seems possible but Kenny once bent people’s minds as the bearded beacon behind The First Edition. The group’s very first hit was a most credible hallucinogenic hit which soared all the way to number 5 in the US in the spring of ‘68, besting the highest chart positions of such worthy wasted adversaries as Blue Cheer’s “Summertime Blues” (#14), Bubble Puppy’s “Hot Smoke and Sassafrass” (also #14) and even the Balloon Farm’s flowery “A Question of Temperature” (#37).
Until “Just Dropped In” started turning up in movie soundtracks like The Big Lebowski and radio playlists. this groovy gem seemed pretty well buried in pop culture, out of time and woefully out of print. Once Rogers achieved solo success with the tearjerkin’ “Lucille,” Liberty Records released a Kenny Rogers “Ten Years of Gold” collection that rewrote history by including re-recordings of all his First Edition hits, most notably a slightly discofied, less mind-blowing “Just Dropped In.” No doubt Kenny’s newly-won old biddy following would’ve gone spiraling into cardiac arrest had the hair-raising original version been included! Coward of the County—no fooling!
Psychedelic Crutch Word:
Four mentions of “mind” as either tore up, broke, blown or located in the vicinity of a brown paper bag. There’s also three references to “eight miles”, a tip of the hat to those high-flying, drugged-out Byrds.
Worst Bad Trip Moment:
The whole song is about a bad trip so take your pick. Probably the part about blowing out either his mind or tire eight miles out of Memphis without a spare. It’s hard to hear the song with out imagining a groggy, Nehru jacketed Kenny wandering through a house cursed with flashing colored lights and April Fools signs, looking for all the world like he could use a coupla Anacin! Let that be a lesson for us all —pharmaceuticals and Memphis don’t mix!
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) Genius Lyrics
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1 thought on “Psychedelic Skeletons In the Closet–Kenny Rogers”
Right on! Thank you.