Light’s Out For Vicki Lawrence, Today’s Legend (VIDEO)

The Night That The Lights Went Out In Georgia was a 1972 hit for Vicki Lawrence.  Yes, the same Vicki Lawrence of the Carol Burnett Show fame.  She was actually married at the time to the song's writer, Bobby Russell. 

 By now, you're all probably familiar with the song's dark theme centering around a girl and her brother.  The song is sung from the sister's point of view and describes the scene of when her brother returns to town and finds out from a friend named, Andy, that his young wife has been sleeping around with another guy, and Andy, himself.  The brother decides to get his gun and confront Andy at his house, only to discover that he's already been killed.  After firing a shot to alert the crooked sheriff, the brother is taken in, found guilty of the crime in a "make-believe" trial, and hung.  We soon find out that it was his sister who actually killed Andy, and her cheating "sister-in-law."

Despite the nature of the song, (Her husband didn't even like it) Vicki would record it, after it was turned down by Cher.  It would go to number one and remain at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for two weeks. 

Tanya Tucker would record and release a version of the song in  1973, and Reba McEntire would cover it in 1991.  Reba's version would go to #12.