Ten Favorite Country State Names Songs: Kentucky (#2)

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I'm sure people are going to cry "foul" here, but I'm staying home yet again for another song that's on my list of ten favorite country songs with a state's name in the title. This is one of the state songs, and one of the most enduring songs in country music. So sue me. Kentucky - Whitstein Brothers This song goes way, way, WAY back. As with yesterday's song, also about Kentucky (hey, I live here! I was born here! And the state will show up again, promise!), the list of people who've covered this song is long enough to circle the globe...or at least stretch the 191 miles across I-64 from Louisville to the West Virginia border. Written by Kentucky native Karl Davis and originally recorded in 1941 by Karl and his duet partner, Harty Taylor (they were Karl & Harty), the song became an instant classic. It's also an official state song of Kentucky (mind you, not the official state song, but one that has been deemed to be representative of the state). There are great versions (the Louvins' rendition, the Blue Sky Boys, even Homer & Jethro's doo-wop version [no kidding!]) and awful versions (the Osborne Brothers -- fingernails on a chalkboard time! And I generally like their music!) of this lovely song paying homage to a state that's twice as beautiful. For my selected version, however, I'm going with some friends of mine, Robert and Charles Whitstein, who did the song on their debut album in 1984. Kentucky Written by Karl Davis Recorded by the Whitstein Brothers From Rose of My Heart, 1984 Your laurel and your redbud trees: