| Kenny
Rogers, took several tries before he
became a star. As a member of the First
Edition (and the New Christy Minstrels
before that), he shared in some
million-sellers, among them "Reuben
James" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love
to Town," an excellent Mel Tillis song
about a disabled veteran. But
superstardom lay ahead for this Texan,
and it arrived in the late '70s. His
experience with the two previous pop
groups had prepared him well: He knew
the easy listening audience was out
there, and he supplied them with
well-done middle-of-the-road songs with
a country flavor. Having gone solo, in
1976 Rogers charted with "Love Lifted
Me." But it was with an outstanding song
by writers Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum,
"Lucille,", that his star shot upward.
The rest (as they say) is history:
award-winning duets with Dottie West and
Dolly Parton, 12 TV specials, another
song-of-the-year with "The Gambler,"
"Daytime Friends," "Coward of the
County," "We've Got Tonight," "Crazy,"
"Lady" (his first pop number one), etc.,
etc., etc. And that's just the
musical side of Rogers. In 1980, the
made-for-TV movie The Gambler blasted
the competition, followed quickly by
Coward of the County, then enough
sequels to The Gambler to get him to
Roman numeral IV. Throughout the '80s,
Rogers remained a celebrity, even when
his sales were declining. Even during
the '90s, when he rarely charted, his
name, face, and music were recognizable
in a series of concerts, television
specials, films, and even fast-food
restaurants.
Like many country superstars, Rogers
came from humble roots. Born in Houston,
TX, Rogers and his seven siblings were
raised in one of the poorest sections of
town. Nevertheless, he progressed
through high school, all the while
learning how to play guitar and fiddle.
When he was a senior, he played in a
rockabilly band called the Scholars, who
released three singles, including "Kangewah,"
which was written by Louella Parsons.
Following his graduation, he released
two singles, "We'll Always Fall in Love
Again" and "For You Alone," on the local
independent label Carlton. The B-side of
the first single, "That Crazy Feeling,"
was popular enough to earn him a slot on
American Bandstand. In 1959, he briefly
attended the University of Texas, but he
soon dropped out to play bass in the
jazz combo the Bobby Doyle Three. While
he was with the group, Rogers continued
to explore other musical venues and
played bass on Mickey Gilley's 1960
single "Is It Wrong." The Bobby Doyle
Three released one album, In a Most
Unual Way, before Rogers left the group
to play with the Kirby Stone Four. He
didn't stay long with Stone and soon
landed a solo record contract with
Mercury.
Rogers released a handful of singles
on Mercury, all of which failed. Once
Mercury dropped the singer, he joined
the New Christy Minstrels in 1966. He
stayed with the folk group for a year,
leaving with several other band members
-- Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and
Thelma Lou Camacho -- in 1967 to form
the First Edition. Adding drummer Mickey
Jones, the First Edition signed with
Reprise and recorded the pop-psychedelic
single "Just Dropped In (To See What
Condition My Condition Was In)." The
single became a hit early in 1968,
climbing to number five. Within a year,
the group was billed as Kenny Rogers &
the First Edition, and in the summer of
1969, they had their second and final
Top Ten hit, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love
to Town." The country overtones of the
single hinted at the direction Rogers
was taking, as did the minor hit
follow-up, "Ruben James." For the next
two years, the First Edition bounced
between country, pop, and mild
psychedelic, scoring their last big hit
with Mac Davis' "Something's Burning" in
early 1970. By the end of 1972, the
group had their own syndicated
television show, but their sales were
drying up. They left Reprise the
following year, signing to Rogers' new
label, Jolly Rogers. None of their
singles became major hits, though a
version of Merle Haggard's "Today I
Started Loving You Again" reached the
lower regions of the country charts late
in 1973. Rogers left the group in 1974,
and the band broke up the following
year.
At the time the band broke up, Rogers
was severely in debt and Jolly Rogers
was out of business. In order to
jump-start his career, he signed to
United Artists in 1975, and with the
help of producer Larry Butler, he
devised an accessible, radio-ready, and
immaculately crafted take on country-pop
that leaned toward adult contemporary
pop, not country. "Love Lifted Me," his
debut single for the label, was a minor
hit early in 1976, but it took a full
year for Rogers to have a genuine
breakthrough hit with "Lucille."
Climbing to number one early in 1977,
"Lucille" not only was a major country
hit, earning the Country Music
Association's Single of the Year award,
but it also was a huge crossover
success, peaking at number five on the
pop charts. For the next six years,
Rogers had a steady string of Top Ten
hits on both the country and pop charts.
His crossover success is important --
his lush, easy listening productions and
smooth croons showed that country stars
could conquer the pop audience, if
produced and marketed correctly. During
the late '70s and early '80s, much of
country radio was dominated either by
urban cowboy or country-pop in the vein
of Rogers' own singles. Between 1978 and
1980, he had five straight number one
country singles -- "Love or Something
Like It," "The Gambler," "She Believes
in Me," "You Decorated My Life," "Coward
of the County" -- most of which also
reached the pop Top Ten. In addition to
his solo hits, he had a series of Top
Ten duets with Dottie West, including
the number one hits "Every Time Two
Fools Collide" (1978), "All I Ever Need
Is You" (1979), and "What Are We Doin'
in Love" (1981). Not only did his
singles sell well, but so did his
albums, with every record he released
between 1976's Kenny Rogers and 1984's
Once Upon a Christmas going gold or
platinum.
By the beginning of the '80s, Rogers'
audience was as much pop as it was
country, and singles like his cover of
Lionel Richie's "Lady" confirmed that
fact, spending six weeks at the top of
the pop charts. Rogers also began
duetting with pop singers like Kim
Carnes ("Don't Fall in Love With a
Dreamer," number three country, number
four pop, 1980) and Sheena Easton
("We've Got Tonight," number one
country, number six pop, 1983). Rogers
also began making inroads into
television and film, appearing in a
number of TV specials and made-for-TV
movies, including 1982's Six Pack and
two movies based on his songs "The
Gambler" and "Coward of the County."
Late in 1983, he left United
Artists/Liberty for RCA Records,
releasing a duet with Dolly Parton
called "Islands in the Stream" as his
first single for the label. Written by
the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb,
the record became one of his biggest
hits, spending two weeks on the top of
both the country and pop charts. Rogers
stayed at RCA for five years, during
which time he alternated between MOR,
adult contemporary pop and slick
country-pop. The hits didn't come as
often as they used to, and they were
frequently competing with releases from
Liberty's vaults, but he managed to log
five number one singles for the label,
in addition to "Islands in the Stream":
"Crazy" (1984), "Real Love" (1985),
"Morning Desire" (1985), "Tomb of the
Unknown Love" (1986), and the Ronnie
Milsap duet "Make No Mistake, She's
Mine" (1987). Despite his country
successes, he no longer had pop
crossover hits. Nevertheless, Rogers'
concerts continued to be popular, as did
his made-for-TV movies. Still, the lack
of blockbuster records meant that RCA
failed to renew his contract when it
expired in 1988. Rogers returned to his
first label, Reprise, where he had one
major hit -- 1989's Top Ten "The Vows Go
Unbroken (Always True to You)," taken
from the gold album Something Inside So
Strong -- before his singles started
charting in the lower half of the Top
40.
Throughout the late '80s and '90s,
Rogers kept busy with charity work,
concerts, his fast-food chain Kenny
Rogers' Roasters, television specials,
movies, and photography, publishing no
less than two books, Kenny Rogers'
America and Kenny Rogers: Your Friends
and Mine, of his photos. Rogers
continued to record, releasing albums
nearly every year, but they failed to
break beyond his large, devoted fan base
and only made a slight impact on the
charts. With 1998's Christmas From the
Heart, he established his own record
label, Dreamcatcher; She Rides Wild
Horses followed a year later, and There
You Go Again was issued in mid-2000. |
