Lucille (Kenny Rogers song)

"Lucille"
Single by Kenny Rogers
from the album Kenny Rogers
B-side "Till I Get It Right"[1]
Released January 24, 1977
Format 7" single
Genre Country
Length 3:42
Label United Artists
Writer(s) Roger Bowling
Hal Bynum
Producer(s) Larry Butler
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Kenny Rogers singles chronology
"Laura (What's He Got That I Ain't Got)"
(1976)		 "Lucille"
(1977)		 "Daytime Friends"
(1977)

"Lucille" is a song written by Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum, and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Rogers. It was released in January 1977 as the second and final single from the album Kenny Rogers. The song is about a man in a bar who meets a woman who has left her husband. It became Rogers' first major hit as a solo artist after leaving the successful country/rock group The First Edition the previous year. An international hit, it reached number 1 on the Billboard Country Singles chart and number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Overseas, "Lucille" reached the top of the UK Singles Chart in June 1977,[3] the first of Rogers' two number one singles there.[4]

Content

The song, told by the narrator (Rogers), tells the story of a man in a bar in Toledo, Ohio, who acquaints himself with a downhearted married woman named Lucille. An inebriated Lucille admits her unhappiness in life and a longing for adventure. Her husband arrives and approaches her and the intimidated narrator. The brokenhearted husband, starting to shake, scorns her for her inconvenient timing in abandoning him "with four hungry children and a crop in the field," leaving him with a "hurtin'" that refuses to heal. After the husband leaves, Lucille and the narrator make their way to a hotel room. The beautiful woman comes to the narrator, but is blindsided by his odd, sudden change of heart. In his mind, he recalls the recurring haunting words of her husband and feels unable to respond to her advances.

Chart performance

Chart (1977) Peak
position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[5] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 5
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1
Canadian RPM Top Singles 1
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 1
UK Singles Chart[3] 1
Yugoslavian Singles Charts 1
Irish Singles Chart 2
New Zealand Singles Chart 2
Swiss Singles Chart 3
Australia Singles Chart 7
Austria Top 40 8
Dutch Top 40 17

Cover versions

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. pp. 360–361. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 537.
  3. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 340. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ "Kenny Rogers | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  5. ↑ "Kenny Rogers – Chart history" Billboard Hot Country Songs for Kenny Rogers.
  6. ↑ "Kenny Rogers – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Kenny Rogers.
  7. ↑ Ray Dylan (2009-03-01). "Ray Dylan, Goeie Ou Country - Op Aanvraag, CDs, Musica A World awaits - 6005298026996". Musica.co.za. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
Preceded by
"Southern Nights"
by Glen Campbell		 Billboard Hot Country Singles
number-one single
April 2-April 9, 1977 		Succeeded by
"It Couldn't Have Been Any Better"
by Johnny Duncan
Preceded by
"Heart Healer"
by Mel Tillis		 RPM Country Tracks
number-one single
April 16-April 23, 1977
Preceded by
"I Don't Want to Talk About It/The First Cut Is the Deepest" by Rod Stewart		 UK Singles Chart number one single
June 18, 1977 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Show You the Way to Go" by The Jacksons
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