First recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis (1967).
Hit version by The First Edition (US #5 1968).
Also recorded by Mickey Newbury, writer (1968); Kenny Rogers, solo (1978).
From the wiki: “‘Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’ is a counterculture-era song written by Mickey Newbury (‘An American Trilogy’). Said to reflect the LSD experience, the song was intended to be a warning against the danger of using LSD. First recorded in 1967 by Jerry Lee Lewis for the album Soul My Way (he rejected its release as a single), the song became a hit for The First Edition (with Kenny Rogers on lead vocals) in 1968.
“It was the First Edition’s first Top 10 appearance on the Billboard charts, and got the group their first national TV audience on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The song (as recorded by The First Edition) is also featured in a dream sequence from the Coen Brothers’ 1998 film, The Big Lebowski.”
“Ralph Emery referred to Mickey Newbury as the first ‘hippie-cowboy’ and, along with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller, Newbury was one of the first to rebel against the conventions of the Nashville music society. It was Newbury who convinced Roger Miller to record Kristofferson’s “Me & Bobby McGee”, which went on to launch Kristofferson as country music’s top songwriter. Newbury is also responsible for getting Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark to move to Nashville and pursue careers as songwriters.
“Although Newbury’s songs have been recorded by hundreds of performers from a wide variety of musical genres, he is most remembered for his creation and arrangement of ‘An American Trilogy’, a medley of three 19th century songs (‘Dixie’, ‘All My Trials, Lord’, and ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’), recorded by many, most famously by Elvis Presley.
“As a songwriter in 1968, Newbury had four simultaneous Top-10 singles on four different US charts: Eddy Arnold had a #1 Country hit with ‘Here Comes the Rain, Baby’, Andy Williams had a #4 Easy Listening hit with ‘Sweet Memories’, “Time is a Thief” was a #1 hit on the R&B chart by Solomon Burke, and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition had a #5 Pop-Rock hit with ‘Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)’. In 1980, he was given the distinction of being the youngest songwriter ever inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“When Kenny Rogers signed as a solo artist with United Artists Records, in the mid-1970s after the First Edition split, he re-recorded the track for his Ten Years of Gold album released in 1978. ”
Mickey Newbury, “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” (1968):
The First Edition, “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1968):
Kenny Rogers, solo “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” (1978):
The “dream sequence” from The Big Lebowski (1998):