More Peaceful Than Ever : Music: Singer-songwriter Kenny Rankin never found a No. 1 hit, and he hasn’t had a record contract in years, but he’s happy doing what he’s always done and will do at Elario’s.

Kenny Rankin was a romantic warrior in that army of singer-songwriters who made the early ‘70s a period of unabashed sensitivity in contemporary music.

Blessed with a velveteen tenor that seamlessly stretched in and out of falsetto, and accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, Rankin sang of idealized love with a gentle worldliness that made him one of the most stylistically focused of the post-Woodstock song-poets. Certainly, he was the best pure singer of that ilk.

The halcyon days of the simpatico- merchants are now a dim memory. In the more-is-more ‘90s, the winsome laments and love songs once tendered by the likes of Rankin (who opens a four-night run at Elario’s in La Jolla tonight), Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens have been replaced by “power ballads”--those over-produced, over-emoted, slow-motion crashes that currently clutter the airwaves. Yesterday’s balladeers are either inactive or only marginally involved in today’s music.

Rankin, 51, has worked without benefit of a record contract since his last album, “Hiding in Myself,” was released on Cypress in 1988. But his interpretive artistry remains intact--perhaps because of his estrangement from the record biz.

“Whenever I’ve tried to deal with what the record business dictates in the way of style and approach, it’s interfered with my own creativity,” Rankin said Saturday by telephone from Denver, where he was performing. “So I’ve learned to disregard all that B.S. The industry is run by ruthless businessmen devoid of any passion, taste, or even a basic love of music. (The industry) has nothing whatsoever to do with art.”

Rankin’s words might seem bitter, but their delivery in an even, matter-of-fact tone bespoke an ultimately liberating acceptance of marketplace realities.

“I never aspired to be a pop star anyway, so it doesn’t bother me that I personally never had a hit record,” said the musician whose song “Peaceful” was a Top 10 hit for Helen Reddy in 1973. “I’ve remained true to myself, and I really feel I’ve made a worthwhile contribution to music. I’m still doing what I’ve always done, and people are still telling me I’ve had an impact on their lives. I think that’s great, even if all it means is that my music helped them to hit a home run on a date.”

Rankin’s trend-bucking contrariness was in evidence, albeit in more subtle form, even when he was riding his first crest of critical acclaim almost two decades ago.

Then, the singer-songwriter monarchy of James Taylor and Carole King was championing a folksy, rough-hewn naturalism, but Rankin’s jazz-inflected phrasings aligned him more with an earlier generation of classy, urban vocalists. And, in a field dominated by intensely competitive auteurs, the accomplished songwriter frequently defied convention by covering the songs of his still-active troubadour peers--Gordon Lightfoot, Stephen Bishop, Randy Newman, John Sebastian.

Even Rankin’s reputation is an anomaly. He perhaps is most identified with his soft-focus interpretations of songs by the Beatles, especially “Penny Lane,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Blackbird.” When John Lennon and Paul McCartney were inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame a couple of years ago, it was Rankin who was asked to perform their music at the ceremony.

But Rankin’s insightful treatments of songs by archetypal composers as disparate as Stevie Wonder, Hank Williams Sr., Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Van Heusen, Baden Powell, and even Jimi Hendrix are exemplars of the revisionist’s craft at least as engaging as his discreet reworkings of the Lennon-McCartney songbook. Furthermore, Rankin’s own compositions frequently are the most affecting tracks on his albums.

Most of the material on “Hiding in Myself”--which featured contributions from a stellar studio cast that included singer David Crosby, guitarist Robben Ford, keyboardist David Benoit, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Lee Sklar, and John Sebastian on banjo and harmonica--was co-written by Rankin and his wife, lyricist Aime Ulrich Rankin. The songs more than hold their own alongside covers of Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” and “Let’s Get It On” and Jimmy Webb’s “She Moves, Eyes Follow.”

The Rankins live in Ventura, along the coast north of Los Angeles, but it was a strong flavor of the singer’s native New York that colored his comments about the difficulties facing his breed of performer.

“There are labels giving $50,000 to kids just to record demos, “ he said, incredulous. “At the same time, some very gifted musicians--and I’m not even including myself in that category--can’t get a deal to save their lives. I’ll never understand the people who make the creative decisions in this industry.” Lately, the Rankins have been collaborating with young, L.A.-based keyboardist Les Pierce, whose tunes dominate the upcoming album by female vocalist Martika. Pierce and Aime Rankin also wrote two of the songs on pop-jazz keyboardist Dan Siegel’s upcoming album, to which Kenny Rankin contributed three vocals.

Rankin’s excitement about the tunesmithing triangle is tempered by his wariness of the suits in the executive offices.

“Les is a very creative composer, and I love the stuff we’re doing,” he said, “but I have no illusions about how this music would be received by the businessmen. I’m thinking I just might release an all-acoustic album on my own and sell it from an 800 number or something.’

Meanwhile, Rankin was looking forward to visiting San Diego, where he will also be playing golf with Rolf Benirschke, the former Chargers place kicker and game show host. The two became friends through their involvement in various Muscular Dystrophy benefits. (‘I’m traveling light,” Rankin joked. “Just my guitar and my clubs.”)

He also was curious about the intimate Elario’s room, which he’ll be playing for the first time. Rankin exults in his solo live work, which he feels keeps him an appropriate distance from the ephemera that passes for hit music in the hip-hopping ‘90s.

“Let these people--New Kids on the Block or whoever--have their 15 minutes of fame,” he said. “I’m much luckier; I get to feel very special for two hours every night. I get to sing the greatest songs ever written for people who love to hear them. That’s more intoxicating and satisfying than the momentary attention a hit single might bring.”

Kenny Rankin will perform at Elario’s, in the Summer House Inn, 7955 La Jolla Shores Drive, tonight through Sunday. Show times are 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. today and Sunday, 9 and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.