Anyone remember Kenny from his southern rock group, The First Edition? Maybe 1968’s psychedelic “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”. Or 1969’s "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" Or 1970’s suggestive “Something's Burning"?
The story behind this is that Kenny and his Wife were at a parent teachers confrence for their boys and the teacher was talking music with Kenny and told him about home free. Kenny looked them up and was amazed by them. Can you image the boys reaction when someone of Kenny Rogers calls and says Id like to sing with you
Thanks for your reaction. MN Home Fry here. Rob is a Minnesota boy through & through but he can throw down a southern accent (Man of Constant Sorrow) when needed. As others have said, Rob is a chameleon, indeed.
They've collaborated with other legends such as the Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Alabama, Don McLean & Lee Greenwood. As an homage to Kenny Rogers after his passing, they made a video of "The Gambler". Of course the singing, harmonies & beatboxing are terrific - it's Home Free AND Kenny Rogers!
There is a great story about this song. Kenny asked them to appear on the tonight show with him to sing this song. Long story, but the flights from Nashville to NYC got totally missed up, they ended up getting a private jet and still missed the show. 😢 telling the frys how much that plane cost, started a gofundme page and got the requested amount in hours, then frys kept adding to it. They were overwhelmed!
They were too late when they got there but they were able to sit around after the show with Kenny & he talked to them for a long time! He gave them some advice too.
I didn't think of it as a Christmas song. It's an old song. Kenny passed away and he was a legend. I loved the way they arranged this song. No more walker. I'm truckin' on my own. Sorry about it being a Christmas song. They were great!
Technically, this is Kenny Rogers featuring Home Free since it was on Kenny's album. It's definitely one of my favorites. Another one with a great gospel feel is O, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. Austin goes full gospel on that one. They do it with The Oak Ridge Boys and Jeffrey East. You can save it for December if you want to. ;-)
Thanks so much for reacting to this song with the guys and Kenny Rogers. Kenny was always a great singer and one of my favorites. Of course, the guys are amazing. Thanks again.
I love it that you went back to listen to the fine part that Rob sang. We don’t mind if you need to rewind. This was a great collaboration. I always enjoy listening to it. Thanks for your time and input today. I love Home Free FrYday! ❤
Thanks for doing this one. Not too many people react to it and Kenny sounds so good for 75! (I think that’s how old he was at the time). RIP Kenny. It’s an old spiritual that I wasn’t familiar with either. It’s so good and all the boys were good. Good reaction Jeremy!😍🥰
I had never heard this song before but I know that I cannot sit still when I hear it sung by these amazing gentlemen. Your head just immediately starts to bob along. They did such an fantastic job and it was their last chance to collaborate with the great Kenny Rodgers. RIP.❤ Thanks for the HomeFree Fridays.😊
An excellent example of Tim's running bass. They obviously double tracked him when he was also doing melody because Chris just doesn't have the deep sound. All of the guys have amazing breath control and when one of them holds an extended note, it is wonderful. Not one of my favorite songs, but I love the way they do it.
I have to tell you that I laughed out loud when you said you had just figured out the song was about Jesus!! I was brought up in a fundamentalist church and have forgotten more Bible than most have ever known, and I still can’t figure out all of the verses. Thanks, Jeremy!
This was the song that came up during the Christmas season in 2015, that got me started following Home Free very closely. Our family already had been singing that song together, forever (I grew up singing it, and it comes up every year, as a favorite). Also, Kenny Rogers was one of my ALL-TIME singers, and I still listen to his lovely voice quite often. So wonderful! Great reaction, Jeremy. THANK YOU! 😀 NOTE & REQUEST...Listening to you talking about listening for certain things, and why, I agreed with you, because that's the way I think, also. If I want to learn the lyrics to sing a song myself, or get more in depth with the whole song by RELATING to the lyrics, I will look them up ahead of time to have them handy. I've been doing a LOT of that when listening to Dan Vasc. He sings words very clearly and distinctly, but I get busy watching how he emotes, and then I need the lyrics to better understand those emotions. Anyway...all of THAT reminded me that I've been watching Davi (Dah-vee' ) Vasc (Dan's brother, who plays the bass guitar and sings harmony, in their Fearless band) do reactions to game music. He's actually a WONDERFUL game music COMPOSER! I'm now hoping you will look him up and perhaps do some reactions of him reacting. He's really amazing, and it's so much fun to watch him educate people about what music DOES, and why it's important to KNOW some music structure and how it affects people, so that you'll understand what's happening in the background with the games you play. So much fun! www.youtube.com/@DaviVasc
ILOVE this song!!!! Thanks for reacting to it! You cannot believe how much I look forward to Home Fridays. Was fun to see sweet Ninja in Man of Constant Sorrow take 2 earlier today. She's a gem.
I missed Ninja! When Christmas, and Christmas music, comes, I highly recommend you AND Jillian react to Do You Hear What I Hear. Arranged by Adam Rupp. Nothing else like it.
That's one thing I love about Home Free, they don't try to push their religion on others. They do sing a lot of beautiful christian hymns, but correct me if I'm wrong, none of them are originals. The only time I remember any of them mentioning god outside of song lyrics is Austin saying being able to stay at home after years on the road, and fish and commune with the natural beauty on his land made him feel closer to god. This was during the quarantine, when I think all of them grew and healed and just became stronger people. And I gotta say their voices are perfect for the wonderful music that came out of christianity.
Thanks for the reaction and yea this one falls under X-Mas, but great any time of the year, The guys have several co labs , Elvira with the Oak Ridge boys, and a X-Mas co lab with them as well, along with other great artists. Thanks again. Have a blessed day.
Chris Rupp after he left the group did a series if interviews starting with past or original members of the group and continued up thru the current members. I think the last one he did was with Austin and Tim. They relayed the story if being invited to join Kenny on one of the late night talk shows like kimmel, of Falon in New York. Talk about everything that could go wrong did but it will show why there is such a strong bond between Home Free and the Home Fries. Its pretty mind blowing. The interviews are on youtube. I wouldnt do a reaction to it because its about 30 minutes or longer but its worth checking out sometime. This is one of my favs, i didnt really care much for it until i heard this version. Thanks Jeremy, awesome as always
Glad you enjoyed this so much. It's one of my many, many favorites. I was never much of a Kenny Rogers fan, but he did well on this wonderful song which I think was written over a hundred years ago. They have transformed a number of songs I didn't care for and turned them into songs that I love. They have also done phenomenal covers of some of my favorites, like American Pie, Country Roads, When a Man Loves a Woman, Unchained Melody and O Holy Night.
I don't mind if an occasional Christmas song comes early! Great reaction to this awesome collab with Kenny! They looked like they were having the best time and everyone (especially Rob!) sounded great. Thx Jeremy! Home Free never disappoints and I'm enjoying your HF Fridays.
This was awesome! Such a great collaboration! I’m a little surprised you didn’t pick up on Austin doing the guitar sounds……if you liked Rob in this one, wait until Christmas comes and you get to hear Rob in their jazzy rendition of Joy To The World from 2013. He will blow your mind! Thanks for another great reaction Jeremy, I think Ninja would have liked this one 😀
Not every song lends itself to a subwoofer baseline. Home Free is phenomenal when they collaborate with an artist like Kenny. HF were doing this for Kenny's album. Home Free are masters at highlighting without upstaging an artist. Great reaction.
My Mom was a big fan of Kenny and I remember listening to vinyl albums that she had!🫣😲 I had not heard this one though until seeing this video! You can tell these guys really enjoyed singing with him! So fun!!👏👏. Glad you loved it and great reaction Jeremy!!❤
While it's treated as a Christmas song because of the reference to the baby Jesus, it's actually an African-American spiritual. It goes all the way up to twelve (they didn't sing all the verses here) and only "one" is a nativity reference. The rest are other characters and events in the Bible.
Great reaction, as usual! I actually really love this song with Chance live. He's so great at jazz/blues, and their live versions of this are so tight. I never really liked this song much either. And Adam R. Geez. Thanks!
This is a very old song, commonly considered a spiritual, but I believe it's actually been traced back to Canada. As with many folk songs/spirituals the words can vary over time and from place to place. It's not entirely clear what each step of the counting song refers to - some may just have been added to fit the rhyme. The ones that are pretty clear are "one for the little bitty baby, born of the Virgin Mary" - that would be Jesus, two for Paul and Silas. Paul is the Apostle Paul took many of his missionary trips with Silas. Three for the Hebrew children probably refers to the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace when they refused to stop worshipping God and were protected from the flames by an angel. The rest have varying explanations, with no consensus. The format of the counting song is a common one in traditional music.
And that is why, in my opinion, Rob is Home Free's secret weapon!!!
Anyone remember Kenny from his southern rock group, The First Edition?
Maybe 1968’s psychedelic “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”.
Or 1969’s "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town"
Or 1970’s suggestive “Something's Burning"?
Jeremy, “What Condition” is the one to check out.
th-cam.com/video/AULOC--qUOI/w-d-xo.html
Yes I remember Kenny Rogers & The First Edition. I had their records. All great songs!
Oh definitely remember him in The First Addition. I still have the 45s. Yup I'm that old.😂❤
The story behind this is that Kenny and his Wife were at a parent teachers confrence for their boys and the teacher was talking music with Kenny and told him about home free. Kenny looked them up and was amazed by them. Can you image the boys reaction when someone of Kenny Rogers calls and says Id like to sing with you
Thanks for your reaction. MN Home Fry here. Rob is a Minnesota boy through & through but he can throw down a southern accent (Man of Constant Sorrow) when needed. As others have said, Rob is a chameleon, indeed.
Gospel Rob with that gorgeous operatic tenor! ❤
They've collaborated with other legends such as the Oak Ridge Boys, Charlie Daniels, Alabama, Don McLean & Lee Greenwood. As an homage to Kenny Rogers after his passing, they made a video of "The Gambler". Of course the singing, harmonies & beatboxing are terrific - it's Home Free AND Kenny Rogers!
This may be my favorite collaboration they've done with other artists. I've always loved Kenny Rogers! RIP! ❤
There is a great story about this song. Kenny asked them to appear on the tonight show with him to sing this song. Long story, but the flights from Nashville to NYC got totally missed up, they ended up getting a private jet and still missed the show. 😢 telling the frys how much that plane cost, started a gofundme page and got the requested amount in hours, then frys kept adding to it. They were overwhelmed!
They were too late when they got there but they were able to sit around after the show with Kenny & he talked to them for a long time! He gave them some advice too.
I love this song! Home Free still perform this song from time to time, and Adam Chance sings Kenny's verses.
I didn't think of it as a Christmas song. It's an old song. Kenny passed away and he was a legend. I loved the way they arranged this song. No more walker. I'm truckin' on my own. Sorry about it being a Christmas song. They were great!
RIP Kenny. I love this collaboration with him this is so good
Technically, this is Kenny Rogers featuring Home Free since it was on Kenny's album. It's definitely one of my favorites. Another one with a great gospel feel is O, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. Austin goes full gospel on that one. They do it with The Oak Ridge Boys and Jeffrey East. You can save it for December if you want to. ;-)
If you enjoyed Austin's gospel improvisations on this, check out Star of Bethlehem, done with the Oakridge Boys and Jeffrey East.
❤🤠HOMEFREE🤠❤
Loved this collaboration!! Love how each person’s contribution is front and center. RIP Kenny❤
Thanks so much for reacting to this song with the guys and Kenny Rogers. Kenny was always a great singer and one of my favorites. Of course, the guys are amazing. Thanks again.
Ty again Jeremy for HF Friday!! This is a good one!!
I so look forward to your Home Free Fridays.
I love it that you went back to listen to the fine part that Rob sang. We don’t mind if you need to rewind. This was a great collaboration. I always enjoy listening to it. Thanks for your time and input today. I love Home Free FrYday! ❤
I believe that is Austin giving us some bass guitar sound in the background too.
Thanks for doing this one. Not too many people react to it and Kenny sounds so good for 75! (I think that’s how old he was at the time). RIP Kenny. It’s an old spiritual that I wasn’t familiar with either. It’s so good and all the boys were good. Good reaction Jeremy!😍🥰
"There's a lot to unpack", for sure!
No apologies for rewinds, we all want to make sure you don't miss a thing 😉
I had never heard this song before but I know that I cannot sit still when I hear it sung by these amazing gentlemen. Your head just immediately starts to bob along. They did such an fantastic job and it was their last chance to collaborate with the great Kenny Rodgers. RIP.❤ Thanks for the HomeFree Fridays.😊
An excellent example of Tim's running bass. They obviously double tracked him when he was also doing melody because Chris just doesn't have the deep sound.
All of the guys have amazing breath control and when one of them holds an extended note, it is wonderful.
Not one of my favorite songs, but I love the way they do it.
I have to tell you that I laughed out loud when you said you had just figured out the song was about Jesus!! I was brought up in a fundamentalist church and have forgotten more Bible than most have ever known, and I still can’t figure out all of the verses. Thanks, Jeremy!
This was the song that came up during the Christmas season in 2015, that got me started following Home Free very closely. Our family already had been singing that song together, forever (I grew up singing it, and it comes up every year, as a favorite). Also, Kenny Rogers was one of my ALL-TIME singers, and I still listen to his lovely voice quite often. So wonderful!
Great reaction, Jeremy. THANK YOU! 😀
NOTE & REQUEST...Listening to you talking about listening for certain things, and why, I agreed with you, because that's the way I think, also. If I want to learn the lyrics to sing a song myself, or get more in depth with the whole song by RELATING to the lyrics, I will look them up ahead of time to have them handy. I've been doing a LOT of that when listening to Dan Vasc. He sings words very clearly and distinctly, but I get busy watching how he emotes, and then I need the lyrics to better understand those emotions.
Anyway...all of THAT reminded me that I've been watching Davi (Dah-vee' ) Vasc (Dan's brother, who plays the bass guitar and sings harmony, in their Fearless band) do reactions to game music. He's actually a WONDERFUL game music COMPOSER! I'm now hoping you will look him up and perhaps do some reactions of him reacting. He's really amazing, and it's so much fun to watch him educate people about what music DOES, and why it's important to KNOW some music structure and how it affects people, so that you'll understand what's happening in the background with the games you play. So much fun!
www.youtube.com/@DaviVasc
It is a Christmas song, and this is one of the few I WANT to listen too! Kenny was such a legend! They sound amazing together! ❤️
One of my faves
Thank you Nancy❤ So happy that you are mobile and on the mend😊
This is so very awesome! This collaboration was so good. Love your reaction!
ILOVE this song!!!! Thanks for reacting to it! You cannot believe how much I look forward to Home Fridays. Was fun to see sweet Ninja in Man of Constant Sorrow take 2 earlier today. She's a gem.
Gonna be amazing when you REALLY hit the christmas songs 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
They did an absolutely amazing job with this song. It was such an exciting time for Home Free. Really enjoyed watching your reaction to this song.
I missed Ninja! When Christmas, and Christmas music, comes, I highly recommend you AND Jillian react to Do You Hear What I Hear. Arranged by Adam Rupp. Nothing else like it.
And after they pick themselves up off the floor, then they can do Angels We Have Haerd, and O Holy Night.
That's one thing I love about Home Free, they don't try to push their religion on others. They do sing a lot of beautiful christian hymns, but correct me if I'm wrong, none of them are originals. The only time I remember any of them mentioning god outside of song lyrics is Austin saying being able to stay at home after years on the road, and fish and commune with the natural beauty on his land made him feel closer to god. This was during the quarantine, when I think all of them grew and healed and just became stronger people. And I gotta say their voices are perfect for the wonderful music that came out of christianity.
And this is an old African American Spiritual that was also used to teach counting! ❤
A collaboration that happened by chance there were plans for more but sadly Kenny passed before it could happen.
Thanks for the reaction and yea this one falls under X-Mas, but great any time of the year, The guys have several co labs , Elvira with the Oak Ridge boys, and a X-Mas co lab with them as well, along with other great artists. Thanks again. Have a blessed day.
Chris Rupp after he left the group did a series if interviews starting with past or original members of the group and continued up thru the current members. I think the last one he did was with Austin and Tim. They relayed the story if being invited to join Kenny on one of the late night talk shows like kimmel, of Falon in New York. Talk about everything that could go wrong did but it will show why there is such a strong bond between Home Free and the Home Fries. Its pretty mind blowing. The interviews are on youtube. I wouldnt do a reaction to it because its about 30 minutes or longer but its worth checking out sometime. This is one of my favs, i didnt really care much for it until i heard this version. Thanks Jeremy, awesome as always
Glad you enjoyed this so much. It's one of my many, many favorites. I was never much of a Kenny Rogers fan, but he did well on this wonderful song which I think was written over a hundred years ago. They have transformed a number of songs I didn't care for and turned them into songs that I love. They have also done phenomenal covers of some of my favorites, like American Pie, Country Roads, When a Man Loves a Woman, Unchained Melody and O Holy Night.
I love your sound effects 😂
This is so good and i think Adam was great 😁
I don't mind if an occasional Christmas song comes early! Great reaction to this awesome collab with Kenny! They looked like they were having the best time and everyone (especially Rob!) sounded great. Thx Jeremy! Home Free never disappoints and I'm enjoying your HF Fridays.
This was awesome! Such a great collaboration! I’m a little surprised you didn’t pick up on Austin doing the guitar sounds……if you liked Rob in this one, wait until Christmas comes and you get to hear Rob in their jazzy rendition of Joy To The World from 2013. He will blow your mind! Thanks for another great reaction Jeremy, I think Ninja would have liked this one 😀
Another great one from my favorite group of guys.
Lovely reaction, glad you enjoyed it.
Fantastic uniting of old & new ..... solo singer and five Harmonic men that just hit those notes so beautifully !!! GBjj
Not every song lends itself to a subwoofer baseline. Home Free is phenomenal when they collaborate with an artist like Kenny. HF were doing this for Kenny's album. Home Free are masters at highlighting without upstaging an artist. Great reaction.
This is an old Spiritual and Counting Song! ❤
My Mom was a big fan of Kenny and I remember listening to vinyl albums that she had!🫣😲 I had not heard this one though until seeing this video! You can tell these guys really enjoyed singing with him! So fun!!👏👏.
Glad you loved it and great reaction Jeremy!!❤
While it's treated as a Christmas song because of the reference to the baby Jesus, it's actually an African-American spiritual. It goes all the way up to twelve (they didn't sing all the verses here) and only "one" is a nativity reference. The rest are other characters and events in the Bible.
❤🤠#HOMEFREE. Wonderful cooperation. Great reaction ❤️
Thank you, Monica!! Always good to see you!!
Yep, they're biblical references; some I recall. What an outstanding arrangement and performance.
So the song itself spans the whole Bible . Glad you're finally doing better Nancy.
I love this song.
I do not listen to Christian music unless it’s THIS good.
Gospel isn't my thing, but this is so much fun I can't help but tap my feet.
You should sneak another Christmas song in and check out Dan Vasc singing Angels We Have Heard on High. It is astounding!
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm building my Christmas / holiday schedule for something special in December. Added your song! ✌🏽
Great reaction, as usual! I actually really love this song with Chance live. He's so great at jazz/blues, and their live versions of this are so tight. I never really liked this song much either. And Adam R. Geez. Thanks!
This is actually Kenny ft. Home Free
This is a very old song, commonly considered a spiritual, but I believe it's actually been traced back to Canada. As with many folk songs/spirituals the words can vary over time and from place to place. It's not entirely clear what each step of the counting song refers to - some may just have been added to fit the rhyme.
The ones that are pretty clear are "one for the little bitty baby, born of the Virgin Mary" - that would be Jesus, two for Paul and Silas. Paul is the Apostle Paul took many of his missionary trips with Silas. Three for the Hebrew children probably refers to the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace when they refused to stop worshipping God and were protected from the flames by an angel.
The rest have varying explanations, with no consensus.
The format of the counting song is a common one in traditional music.
There's no video for it yet, but it would be cool if you and ninja reacted to Austin's song hers ain't mine