Saturday, June 16, 2012

Featured Artist Of The Day - Eddie Rabbitt

From time to time, I would like to feature a singular artist, one who I admire.

This is a newly minted idea, so I don't have a list or anything.

But, as I was looking for videos today for a previous blog post, I happened to run across some videos from Eddie Rabbitt. I always really liked Eddie. Plus, he joins the pantheon of artists who nobody seems to remember anymore.

Eddie was born in Brooklyn in 1941, and was raised in New Jersey. An inauspicious beginning for a future country singer and songwriter (at least it was unusual back then).

His first success came as a songwriter, when Elvis recorded his song, "Kentucky Rain".



Then, in 1976, Eddie had his own big hit, "Drinkin' My Baby (Off My Mind)". Unfortunately, I can't find a video of this song, which I happen to love, but I did find a video of his next hit, "Two Dollars In The Jukebox"(along with "I Can't Help Myself).



1980 was really Eddie's year. He had two enormous hits in 1980. And the first one goes something like this (crank it up):





Then came "I Love A Rainy Night" (again, crank it up!)



Did you know that Eddie also wrote this hit for Ronnie Milsap (coincidentally my next featured artist)?



Eddie had other hits, of course. Videos are difficult to find, though.

Eddie died in 1998. Ten years ago.

I haven't forgotten him. Real connoisseurs of good country music haven't forgotten him. Maybe you've never even heard of Eddie. If that's the case, I hope these videos have served as a good introduction.

The things that drew me to Eddie were his understanding of honky tonk music on the one hand, and his melding of country music with a rock sensibility on the other.

So, here's to Eddie.  Miss you!


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