Pop-country owes a debt of gratitude to the late singer and his debut hit Lucille.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
He skated across country, folk, pop, jazz, disco, and psych with unnatural ease.
What in the worldwere you thinking, Kenneth Ray?
My mom was on the phone.
It was in the early months of 1977 and she had tracked me down on the road.
I couldnt get a word in edgewise.
My mom was on a roll.
And how dare you write about me having four hungry kids?
The song was, of course, Lucille.
And as a matter of pure coincidence, my mothers name was Lucille.
Mom, Mom, I said.
First of all, you have eight kids.
Secondly, its not about you.
And thirdly, I didnt write it.
I paused for a moment, and my mom jumped back in.
Imagine what your father would say!
My dad, if hed still been living, wouldve been having a good time with this one.
He really loved to watch my mom squirm.
And she wasnt the only doubter.
For that guy to make it in country, hed have to beat some big odds.
Butler, being something of an outrageous character himself, said, Read my contract, Al.
I can sign anyone I want to.
There was dead silence on the phone.
You better be right, Teller snapped, and slammed down the phone.
But over a year later, we still hadnt found the breakout song.
Two singlesLove Lifted Me and Laura (Whats He Got That I Aint Got?
I agreed with Larry Butler that Lucille could be big.
I did question the original ending, thinking it was a downer.
When my manager, Ken Kragen, first heard the song, he burst out laughing.
They thought it was too country for what they considered my middle-of-the-road image.
Of course, when Id walked in the door, I wasnt country enough.
This time it was Kragen who stepped in.
Release it, he said.
You heard rightten thousand.
Butler called me and said, Its exploding.
Now the venues had overflow crowds of ten thousand.
It went to No.
1 and stayed there for two weeks.
It was listeners like that who grabbed ahold of Lucille and made it a monster hit.
It didnt have to be about a real person just because Ruby was.
My mom was nothing if not pragmatic.
More important, she wanted me to be happy and to succeed at whatever I tried.
You just had to be open to opportunity when it showed up.
My mom saw lessons in almost every experience.
My other boys had jobs Kenneth probably couldnt do … All that boy ever did was sing.
