"Karl [Davis] and Harry Harty [Taylor] recorded the song ["Kentucky"] first in January 1941 for the Columbia label, and the record was especially popular with lonely southern servicemen who found themsleves thousands of miles from the land they loved. But in 1947 the Blue Sky Boys (the Bolick Brothers) recorded the song, and it really became a bestseller, reportedly running up sales of almost half a million copies; it has since been recorded by dozens of country singers, including later Kentucky groups like the Osborne Brothers and the Everly Brothers. On the strength of its beauty, and its popularity, Karl Davis was made a Kentucky Colonel in 1970. It was one of the few tokens of recognition he received in later life for his immense contributions to country music." (Charles Wolfe, Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky, University Press of Kentucky, 1982, p. 56)