No. 96

Smoky Mountain Rain - Ronnie Milsap (1980) Video - Ray Charles once said that he loved country music because of the stories it told. Ronnie Milsap, also blind, lists Ray Charles as one of his earliest influences. It might be more apt to say that Ronnie Milsap influenced Ray Charles as he wrote the Ray Charles hit Let's Go Get Stoned. Music gave Milsap solace as his vision rapidly deteriorated throughout his adolescence. Lost love with a burning desire to reconnect is the subject of this tune that takes me back to my childhood in Kansas. Hardly the twangy sound for which country music has become synonymous, the rock and pop influences are very evident in his music. In fact, Milsap's first gig was playing in J.J. Cale's band.

J.J. Cale is the artist who influenced the artists you love. Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Tom Petty. Clapton took Cale's After Midnight (Video) and Cocaine (Video) and made them hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd took They Call Me The Breeze (Video) and I Got The Same Old Blues (Video) . With this level of mentorship, one can understand how Ronnie Milsap's style surpassed the same 'ol country and made him a gigantic crossover success. Smoky Mountain Rain was the pinnacle of that success.