Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town explained

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
Type:single
Artist:Johnny Darrell
Album:Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
B-Side:"The Little Things I Love"[1]
Released:1967
Genre:Country
Length:2:16
Label:United Artists
Producer:Bob Montgomery[2]
Prev Title:She's Mighty Gone
Prev Year:1966
Next Title:My Elusive Dreams
Next Year:1967

"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" is a song written by Mel Tillis about a paralyzed veteran who lies helplessly as his wife "paints up" to go out for the evening without him; he believes that she is going in search of a lover. As he hears the door slam behind her, he claims that he would murder her if he could move to get his gun, and pleads for her to reconsider. A line in the song about a "crazy Asian war" and the time of the song's release led to the assumption that the song was about a veteran of the Vietnam War, though this was never stated in the lyrics. However, Tillis stated that the song was about a veteran of World War II.[3]

"Ruby" was first recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1966. Johnny Darrell reached number nine on the country charts with the song in 1967,[1] and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition released it in 1969.

The First Edition version

Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
Cover:Kenny Rogers & the First Edition - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town.jpg
Caption:Cover of the 1969 single
Type:single
Artist:Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
Album:Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town
B-Side:Girl Get Ahold Of Yourself
Released:1969
Recorded:June 1968 [4]
Genre:Country
Length:2:57
Label:Reprise
Producer:Jimmy Bowen[5]
Prev Title:Once Again, She's All Alone
Prev Year:1969
Next Title:Reuben James
Next Year:1969

Kenny Rogers and the First Edition enjoyed success with the hits "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "But You Know I Love You," and Rogers wanted to take his group more into a country music direction in 1969. They recorded their version of the song in a single take in June 1968, with Kenny Rogers singing the lead. The record became an international hit for them in 1969, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart and staying in the top ten for 12 weeks. In the United States, it reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the country chart.[6]

In 1977, Rogers was performing solo after the First Edition disbanded in early 1976. He made re-recordings of this and a number of other First Edition hits for his greatest hits package Ten Years of Gold. It was later issued in the UK as The Kenny Rogers Singles Album. Ten Years of Gold topped the US country charts under that title, and it was just as successful in the United Kingdom.

Weekly charts

Chart (1969)Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set)[7] 5
U.S. Billboard Hot 1006
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary6
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles39
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[8] 7
Canadian RPM Top Singles4
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks2
New Zealand (Listener)6
UK Singles Chart2
Dutch Top 404
Norway Singles Chart9
Austrian Top 4026

Year-end charts

Chart (1969)Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles[9] 71
UK [10] 22
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [11] 78
U.S. Cash Box [12] 71

Other versions

The song has been recorded many times by various artists.

Answer songs

Geraldine Stevens released an answer song entitled "Billy, I've Got to Go to Town" in 1969. She had previously recorded successfully under the name Dodie Stevens. It is sung to the same melody with an arrangement quite similar to the First Edition version. "Billy" peaked at number 117 pop, number 57 country. It reached number 83 in Canada.[13] In Stevens's song, Ruby affirms her love for her disabled husband. She pleads in turn for her man to have faith in her fidelity and her commitment to him even in his paralyzed condition.

In 1972, Bobby Womack released the album Understanding, which included the song "Ruby Dean." The lyrics and melody are similar to "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" but the story is told from the perspective of Ruby's son. The son urges his mother to respect his father and to stop seeing other men.

Video

A "social commentary" video consisting solely of a camera panning back and forth in a bedroom while the First Edition recording of the song played 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 made by U.S. servicemen and their families. Chet Huntley and David Brinkley paused after the video and then signed off in their usual fashion.[14] [15]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. 2008. 115. 978-0-89820-177-2.
  2. Web site: Johnny Darrell - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town / The Little Things I Love - United Artists - USA - UA 50126 . 45cat . 2015-11-23.
  3. Web site: Behind The Song. americansongwriter.com. 21 March 2020 .
  4. Praguefrank
  5. Web site: Kenny Rogers And the First Edition* - Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town (Vinyl) . 1969 . Discogs.com . 2015-11-23.
  6. Whitburn,p. 360
  7. Web site: Go-Set Australian charts - 13 September 1969. Poparchives.com.au.
  8. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 8/30/69. Tropicalglen.com.
  9. Web site: Archived copy . 2017-11-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305034851/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6104&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=mhe12pta2k83e08udtq66ot062 . 2016-03-05 . dead .
  10. Web site: Top 100 1969 - UK Music Charts. Uk-charts.top-source.info.
  11. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1969/Top 100 Songs of 1969 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2017-07-21.
  12. Web site: Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1969. Tropicalglen.com. 2019-07-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20190125055422/http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/60s_files/1969YESP.html. 2019-01-25. dead.
  13. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly. Library and Archives. Canada. July 17, 2013. Bac-lac.gc.ca.
  14. Web site: School of Advanced Airpower Studies : The Military/Media Clash and the New Principle of War : Media Spin . Lieutenant Colonel Marc D. Felman . Au.af.mil . 2015-11-23.
  15. Web site: » The Rise and Fall of Kenny Rogers. https://web.archive.org/web/20130725053055/http://billdeyoung.com/?page_id=563. dead. July 25, 2013. July 25, 2013.