In Memoriam: Kenny Rankin

Kenny Rankin: Haven't We Met?

[purchase]

Kenny Rankin's album Silver Morning was released in 1974 - my then-boyfriend, now-husband and I were segueing to the next step of our college relationship, me still in school (my junior year) in Carrollton, Georgia and him in a post-graduate job with the Red Cross at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He would drive down to see me or I would take the bus up to see him... a 10+ hour round-trip journey of emotion: anticipation there... and heartbreak returning - we would alternate visits every three months... for two very long years...

We each had a copy of the album in our respective homes, and it was "our" music during that period of our courtship - for making love, for cuddling afterwards, for those special times when no words were required... Kenny's smooth voice and syncopated rhythms would serenade and soothe us. I knew nothing about him other than he had the power to make time stand still - he made us believe everything would be okay and we would eventually be together for life (and here we are 33 years later, but that's a whole other song... :-)

I never bothered to learn Kenny Rankin's backstory... and we didn't even invest in another one of his recordings (could it get any more magical?) - I only just found out about his June passing, because I was immersed in my mother's life transition this summer, and it feels as if I've lost a friend...