"Blue Kentucky Girl" is a song written by Johnny Mullins, and originally recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

. It was released in May 1965 as the first single and title track from the album '' Blue Kentucky Girl''. The song reached number 7 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Loretta Lynn version

Chart performance

Emmylou Harris version

"Blue Kentucky Girl" was also a single for American country music artist

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including ...

. Harris' version released in September 1979 as the second single and title track from her album '' Blue Kentucky Girl''. The song reached number 6 on the ''

chart. Based on this version, the song was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Country Song The Grammy Award for Best Country Song (sometimes known as the Country Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1965. The award is given to the songwriter(s) of the song, not to the artist, except if the artist is also the songwriter. There ha ...

in 1980.

Chart performance

Other versions

Skeeter Davis Skeeter Davis (born Mary Frances Penick; December 30, 1931September 19, 2004) was an American country music singer and songwriter who sang crossover pop music songs including 1962's " The End of the World". She started out as part of the Davis S ...

recorded the song for her 1982 album ''Live Wire''.

References

1965 singles 1979 singles Loretta Lynn songs Emmylou Harris songs Skeeter Davis songs Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley Song recordings produced by Brian Ahern (producer) Decca Records singles Warner Records singles 1965 songs Songs about Kentucky Songs written by Johnny Mullins (songwriter) {{1970s-country-song-stub