95 More Songs of Summer - "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town"

It's unlikely that I appreciated the lyrics of this song when it was released, since I was only 9 at the time.  I'm not sure about the rest of the country, but it was in heavy rotation on the station that I listened to (KROY, 1240 on your AM dial). 

Nor did I know that it was written by Mel Tillis, although I definitely knew who Mel Tillis was, because of his frequent appearances on the Mike Douglas Show, an afternoon staple of our household.

Note the introduction by Mr. Cash - it was just "The First Edition," not "Kenny Rogers and..." Little did we know at the time that Rogers would go on to become a superstar, about 10 years down the road.  I remember one time in the mid-seventies when he was playing in one of the small bars at Harrah's Tahoe, at the same time that the headliner was Mac Davis.  That tells you something about how he was able to turn things around.

"Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," from the summer of 1969.