Remember psychedelic Kenny?

RIP Kenny Rogers, who passed away of natural causes on Friday.  John Calhoun posted an excellent tribute to him yesterday.

So many of us know him for his great country/crossover songs, like “Lucille” and of course “The Gambler”.  But do you remember one of the great psychedelic rock tunes of 1970, “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition?  Yep, it’s that Kenny Rogers.  Once you know it’s him, you can’t help but recognize the voice.

That was really my first exposure to Kenny Rogers and I loved that song!  So when I later heard “Lucille” and “Coward of the County”, I thought, That’s the “Just Dropped In” guy??  The songs were so different!  Actually, a couple of Kenny’s solo hits were originally hits he had with the First Edition — “Something’s Burnin'” and “Ruby”.

Another thing that surprised me about Kenny was when I found out that he wasn’t a songwriter.  He didn’t write any of those songs!  But he had a wonderful ability to make them his.

So go ahead and Google “First Edition Just Dropped In” or look it up on YouTube or see the link to it on our Facebook page — and remember a short-lived but groovy other side of Kenny Rogers.