From our 2013 Week-Long Series ... along with a couple of follow-up pieces that ran over the years ... we bring you the story of KENNY ROGERS

Ten years before he would hit the pop charts with The First Edition and their psychedelic classic "Just Dropped In", Kenny Rogers had a regional hit on the Lynn Record Label called "That Crazy Feeling".   

 

Recorded as Kenneth Rogers, his first solo record became a local smash in the Houston area in 1958 and, after the much larger Carlton Records picked up the distribution of his single, he even landed a guest spot on "American Bandstand" at the ripe old age of 19. (Dick Clark always insisted that he had absolutely NO recollection ... or video tape ... of this event ... and it would become a major ribbing point between the two superstars over the years to come!)   

 



 

A few years earlier, Kenny had done some recording with a band called The Scholars and topped the local Houston chart with a little ditty called "The Poor Little Doggie" ... and, by 1960 he moved on as a member of The Bobby Doyle Trio, a jazz-combo for whom he would become the bass player. (He actually had to learn how to play the bass guitar in order to get into the group. By his own admission, Kenny wasn't even much of a guitar player at the time ... but he didn't play the bass guitar at all. In his new book "Luck Or Something Like It", Kenny says the best piece of advice Bobby Doyle ever gave him was "There's more demand for bad bass players than bad guitar players" ... so Kenny picked up the bass and, after a series of grueling rehearsals, learned to play jazz on it.)   

 

 

The Bobby Doyle Trio toured extensively and, in 1962, recorded an album and single that went pretty much unnoticed. They also became the semi-regular support-act for The Kirby Stone Four and these friendships would help Kenny later in his career. As the Doyle Trio began to split up in 1965, Rogers spent a brief time with The Lively Ones before he was recommended (by Kirby Stone, no less!) as a replacement singer / player for The New Christy Minstrels.   

 

When Stone heard that The Christys were recruiting a couple of new members, he told them that they would do well to consider Kenny Rogers. "He's a versatile singer and plays stand-up bass." One of the best known and successful folk groups around, The New Christy Minstrels had already helped to launch the careers of Barry McGuire ("Eve Of Destruction") and Gene Clark, who went on to join The Byrds. On Kirby Stone's recommendation, they decided to do exactly that ... and, in perhaps one of the most unusual auditions in history, Kenny Rogers won his spot in The New Christy Minstrels by singing to them over the pay phone in a busy hotel lobby of The Houstonaire Hotel!   

 

When Randy Sparks first formed The New Christy Minstrels back in 1962, the original concept was to have a revolving cycle of folk singers and musicians come through and perform as part of the band. Performing with as many as nine members at a time, the group sang upbeat tunes in unison with perfect harmony and spot vocal solos by the various members. Along the way, Mike Settle, Terry Williams, Thelma Camacho, Kenny Rogers, Barry McGuire and later, Kim Carnes, all made their way through The Minstrels Show. In fact, a couple of the founding members of The Association (including Mike Whalen, who actually replaced Barry McGuire in the band), spent some time there as well.  

 

Sparks eventually sold his interest in The New Christy Minstrels to a couple of music managers and, years later, opened Ledbetter's, the L.A. Club where The First Edition first honed their chops (filling in for The Back Porch Majority, who were out on tour at the time.) Mike Settle was a former member of The Cumberland Three with Gil Robbins and future-Kingston Trio member John Stewart ... and also performed in a duo with Mason Williams (yep, the "Classical Gas" guy, who would end up as the head comedy writer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" years later!)  Comedian Steve Martin was a staff comedy writer for The Smothers Brothers' television series, too ... and back in the day often opened for The First Edition as a stand-up comedian. All of these artists would eventually be managed by Ken Kragen ... and each helped to advance the others' careers along the way. (It's AMAZING how all this stuff ties together, isn't it?!?!?!) Before leaving The New Christy Minstrels to help launch The First Edition, Mike Settle also recorded a couple of solo albums and had one of his songs ("Settle Down" ... get it) recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary.  

 

 

Kenny had hoped that The New Christy Minstrels would also start to record some of Mike Settle's songs ... but they were so ingrained in their standard folk song repertoire that it soon became obvious that this was never going to happen. As such, Rogers, Settle, Terry Williams and Thelma Camacho became disenchanted ... and started to put their own group together. (Quite honestly, Mike Settle, who, as the chief songwriter was going to head up this new outfit, wasn't sure that Kenny Rogers fit the bill ... he looked a little too straight and had a jazz background for God's sake!)  But Kenny wanted in ... and once they heard him sing lead on a couple of songs, they, too, were convinced. To prove his commitment, Rogers grew out his hair (and a beard), added an earring (and rose-tinted glasses) and soon looked the part of a 1968 hippie! (It's kind of funny to watch the tapes of some of these performances now and see Kenny Rogers with dark hair! His '80's country image is SO etched in our minds, it's the ONLY way we're able to perceive him! Of course it's even harder to picture him with his newly-sculpted face ... but that's a different story all together!)  

Mike Settle and Kenny Rogers weren't the only First Edition members with interesting musical backgrounds. Thelma Camacho had sung with the San Diego Opera ... and, as such, had become bored singing background "ooo's" and "ahhh's" with The Minstrels. Terry Williams' father was a member of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (he was their first-chair trombonist) and his mother, Bonnie Lou Williams, sang with the orchestra! Despite these musical genes, Terry was probably the biggest "rocker" in the bunch.  

 

The only original member of The First Edition NOT to come from The New Christy Minstrels was drummer Mickey Jones. Mickey was the last to join (when The First Edition realized that, in order to perform, they needed a drummer!) ... and they found a good one. Jones played in Trini Lopez's back-up band for nearly eight years (that's him on the famous "Live From PJ's" album) ... and later did live sessions with Johnny Rivers (who captured a lot of the "live" Trini Lopez sound on his earliest Imperial hits) as well as other artists as diverse as Ann-Margret and Bob Dylan! (That's Mickey drumming on Dylan's landmark "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" concert in 1966.) He was recruited by new manager Ken Fritz, who, along with Ken Kragen, managed The Smothers Brothers and remembered how, according to Jones, "Trini and I would practically blow The Smothers Brothers off the stage when we opened for them." The timing was right ... since Dylan was off the road (this was right after his motorcycle accident), Jones was available and interested. (Ironically, when The First Edition ultimately folded in 1975, he and Rogers were the only two original members left!) Once The First Edition split up, Mickey Jones left the music business to pursue an acting career ... and he didn't fare too badly there either, landing roles in "Total Recall" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Tin Cup" with Kevin Costner, "National Lampoon's Summer Vacation" with Chevy Chase and also had recurring roles on both "The Dukes Of Hazzard" and "Home Improvement" on television. (Not too shabby!!!)

 



 

The First Edition found their first hit courtesy of singer / songwriter Mickey Newbury who, legend has it, previously had offered the song to Jerry Lee Lewis, who turned it down flat. It was quite a departure for a group of singers who a few months ago were singing traditional folk songs with an almost "Up With People" persona. (And, for Kenny Rogers, it wasn't exactly jazz either!) 

The drug-oriented, psychedelic-feeling song (it ranked at #12 in Our Top 20 All-Time Favorite Psychedelic Songs Poll a few years ago ... not bad for a country boy!) opened with a backwards guitar riff, played by Glen Campbell, who was still doing session work at the time. (Ironically, a year later Campbell won the Best Album Of The Year Grammy for "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" as his own recording career kicked into high gear.) In yet another example of all of these connections tying together, a year later, "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" would become the summer replacement series for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour."

 

In our Psychedelic Favorites spotlight, we saluted The First Edition thusly:

 

Kenny was disenchanted singing other people's hits with The New Christy Minstrels ... and opening for acts like Dinah Shore in Las Vegas ... so he decided to form his OWN group, using the money he earned from songwriting royalties for an Eddy Arnold hit, "Don't Laugh At My Love". Rogers convinced fellow Minstrels Mike Settle, Terry Williams and Thelma Camacho to join him in this new venture and one night, while performing at Ledbetter's in Los Angeles (a club ironically owned by The New Christy Minstrels founder, Randy Sparks), they were seen by The Smothers Brothers' Manager Ken Kragen, who quickly signed them to a development deal. Auditioning for renown producer Jimmy Bowen, they were then signed to Frank Sinatra's Reprise Records label and, with Ken Kragen in their corner, made their television debut as The First Edition on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in December of 1967.  

Two months later, their first hit, the pseudo-psychedelic sounding "Just Dropped In", was on its way to the #3 on the pop chart.  Sounding NOTHING at all like anything else that they would go on to record, the record was most certainly recorded in an effort to capture the sound "of the times" ... and it worked. Although the rest of their chart hits would strongly favor the country sound, "Just Dropped In" was a HUGE smash. (Amazingly, their other '60's hits did not perform well on the country charts, despite their definite leanings in that direction. Kenny Rogers would not become a Country Music Superstar until he told the tale of Lucille's "four hundred children" ten years later ... oh ... it's four HUNGRY children!!! I've ALWAYS gotten that line wrong!)  

 

The First Edition's follow-up hit, "But You Know I Love You" (#15, 1969), featured more of a group-ensemble vocal, wrapped around Kenny's lead ... and a much more country-oriented arrangement. 

 

It was on the group's third chart single that Kenny's name moved up front ahead of the rest of the band ... "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" was officially released as by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition ... and it went all the way to #6.  
 

FOR THE RECORD: Contrary to what Kenny Rogers has told anyone who would listen for the past 37 years, "Just Dropped In" (released as a single in 1968) was NOT the first record to ever feature backwards guitar!!! (According to Kenny, I guess that all the Beatles stuff released during the previous two years didn't really count!)  

DIDJAKNOW?-1: That "ground-breaking" backwards lead guitar was played by none other than Glen Campbell, one of the most successful studio musicians of all time. Amazingly, he was already on the way to getting his own solo career off the ground, yet was still fitting in those very lucrative studio sessions ... and, I'm sure it's no small coincidence that The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour would become the summer replacement series for The Smothers Comedy Brothers Hour a year later!!! (Don'tcha just love it when this stuff all ties in together???) We featured Glen Campbell earlier in our Forgotten Hits / Psychedelic Music Countdown in yet another one of his "side jobs" ... Glen was the lead vocalist on the Sagittarius hit "My World Fell Down".  

DIDJAKNOW?-2: When "Just Dropped In" was written (by country songwriter Mickey Newbury), it was first offered to Jerry Lee Lewis, who turned the song down flat!  (SEE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW)

DIDJAKNOW?-3: A Boston radio station began playing "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" as an album track while "But You Know I Love You" was still on the charts. To avoid confusion (and jeopardizing the momentum of another hit single still climbing the charts), the record label decided to issue it as a single under the new moniker Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in an effort to avoid competing with themselves on the charts!  (It wasn't likely that radio was going to play TWO songs by a brand new, up-start group at the same time ... but that's exactly what they did!)  Originally written about the Korean War (by Country Music Superstar M-M-Mel Tillis), the song tapped in to all the focus pertaining to what was going on in Viet Nam at the time and struck a nerve with the youth of America, returning Kenny Rogers and the First Edition to The National Top Ten.

DIDJAKNOW?-4: In 1969, it was decided that the group should be permanently renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition because of all the attention he was receiving as the principal vocalist. It may only be a coincidence, but right around the same time, Thelma Camacho quit the group and was replaced by Mary Arnold.

DIDJAKNOW?-5: Reportedly, one of the girls who FAILED the audition to take Camacho's spot was Karen Carpenter!!! Mary Arnold, who won the gig, was, at one time, Camacho's roommate but didn't feel right auditioning until Thelma gave it her blessing. She did ... and Arnold ultimately replaced her in the group. (Why not? She already knew all of the songs!!!)  

You can catch the entire countdown of your psychedelic favorites right here:  

https://fhpsychedelic.blogspot.com/





 

"But You Know I Love You," The First Edition's follow-up hit to "Just Dropped In," peaked at #15 and, in addition to Kenny's vocal also featured, almost as prominently, Thelma Camacho on vocals. (Quite honestly, I seem to remember Thelma being much more of the focal point when you'd see The First Edition perform on TV. Yes, Kenny may have been the lead singer, but the cameras always seemed to find their way over to Thelma whenver the group was performing. See our Ed Sullivan feature below for more on this.) Perhaps more importantly, "But You Know I Love You" was written by Mike Settle, which was an important step in the band's evolution ... as this is what prompted them to break away from The New Christy Minstrels in the first place.  

 

 

Kenny Rogers remembers the first time he and The First Edition appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show:  

 

When The First Edition first started out (springing away from The New Christy Minstrels) they were, in all senses, a "group" effort ... Kenny wouldn't be singled out and have his name inserted in front of the group's name until a couple of years later ... and, even then, it was only done as a marketing ploy to allow "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" to compete on the charts against a single already credited to The First Edition. In fact, prior to Kenny stepping up front, some might argue that female vocalist Thelma Camacho was the main focal point of the band on stage ... 

Thelma Camacho was this hot little lady with the pixie haircut. Everyone who met her fell in love with her. That probably explains what happened to us during an appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Our manager, Ken Kragen, had been trying to make The First Edition into a house-hold name and we were all excited to be doing "Sullivan", then the number one variety show on TV.

 

We had a rehearsal in the afternoon and it went fine. "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome The First Edition," Ed said, and we came out and did our song. The second go-round, for the actual nighttime show, he says, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ..." ... and he couldn't remember the name ... so he says, "Thelma and her boys!" So much for name recognition.

-- Kenny Rogers   

You'll find TONS of Ed Sullivan Memories posted on The Forgotten Hits Website here: 

https://fhedsullivan.blogspot.com/

Ironically, "But You Know I Love You" would later become a country hit for Dolly Parton, who would duet with Kenny Rogers on one of the biggest hits of the early '80's, the Bee Gees-penned "Islands In The Stream". Kenny and Dolly would go on to record several albums together, as well as tour and costar in numerous television specials.  

In 1969, it was decided that the group should be renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition because of all of the attention he was receiving as the principal vocalist. It may only be a coincidence, but around the same time Thelma Camacho quit the group and was replaced by Mary Arnold. (Reportedly, one of the girl singers who failed the audition to take Camacho's spot was Karen Carpenter!!! While Kenny remembers this being the case ... and acknowledges that Karen was a phenomenal singer ... he also readily responds that her voice just wasn't suited to the type of material that The First Edition were recording ... and to this degree he is absolutely correct. Thankfully, the world wasn't cheated out of the hits of The Carpenters as a result of this decision!) Ultimately, it was Thelma's roommate Mary Arnold who took her spot. (Mary wouldn't consider auditioning until Thelma gave it her blessing, which she graciously did.)  

In his new book "Luck Or Something Like It", Rogers says that Thelma was let go from the band. "She was conflicted about touring. I'm not sure she wasn't happy about our decision. She was tired of traveling and had fallen in love, so I don't think it came as much of a shock or disappointment to her."  The other version of the story probably just played better in the press ... like I said earlier, Thelma was considered a focal point in the band. 

Kenny describes Mary's joining the band: 

"Thelma had a roommate for the last two years of her tenure with us named Mary Arnold. We all knew her and liked her very much. Sensing our frustration, Mary spoke up one day and said 'Can I try? Believe me, I know these songs backward and forward.' We were all a little taken aback by Mary's request, not remembering that she had heard all our songs every day for two years and had previously been with a group called The Young Americans. She knew her way around a stage. Mary came in for literally one rehearsal and started doing shows with us right away. She picked up right where Thelma left off. What a lifesaver she was. Mary would eventually marry a man I introduced her to, the legendary singer-songwriter Roger Miller. They were still together when he passed away."

 



 

Their next single release was written by country superstar M-M-M-Mel Tillis and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" took the group right back into The Top Ten. (It peaked at #6 in Billboard.) Originally written about the Korean War, the song tapped into all the focus on what was going on in Viet Nam and struck a nerve with the youth of America. (Again, despite its country roots, it stiffed on the Country Chart, stopping at #39. Incredibly, it was the ONLY Top 40 Country Hit The First Edition ever had! Kenny would go on to dominate the country field a decade later ... but at this stage of his career, he was virtually ignored by country radio.)  

 

 

 

 

A Boston radio station began playing "Ruby" as an album track while "But You Know I Love You" was still on the charts. To avoid confusion, the record label decided to issue it as a single under the new moniker Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in an effort to avoid competing with themselves on the charts! (It was with some reluctance that they released this as a single ... Reprise Records wasn't sure it could be a hit. In fact, Producer Jimmy Bowen told Kenny "Because of the depressing lyrics, you will never get that song played on the radio.")  He couldn't have been more wrong ... radio jumped on it and it became one of Kenny's best known hits.
 
A year later, Rogers tipped his hat to another future-great country songwriter when he recorded the Mac Davis song "Something's Burning". This one went to #5 in Cash Box (and was a #2 hit here in Chicago ... the biggest First Edition hit yet here in Chicago!) Davis got some additional songwriting recognition in 1969 when Elvis Presley recorded his "In The Ghetto" and took it to #1 in Cash Box Magazine.  

 

Kenny had to fight hard to get this song released as a single, too. Described as a bit "too sensual" for airplay (the song started with a heartbeat ... Kenny says that he could never get the sound "deep" enough ... so, in another little bit of studio trickery, he recorded the heartbeat backwards ... hey, why not ... it worked for the guitar intro on "Just Dropped In"!!! ... and then got exactly the sound he was looking for).  

Rogers (who produced the track) said he strived to make the track "as exciting as I could make it". He was proud of his "orgasmic message" and "could not wait to hear the praise from the people who would be playing this hot song for a sexually pent-up nation." Even Mac Davis had warned him that radio might not embrace it. In Kenny's own words, "Mac was right. Everyone was afraid of it. American radio stations would not play this song."  

But Kenny knew the record was a hit ... people just needed to hear it ... so he hit upon a great marketing idea. "I asked Ken Kragen if he could book us on "The Tom Jones Show" in London to do this song. My thinking was that England was much less afraid of sexuality than this country at the time and an English audience would at least give the song a fair hearing." Since Tom Jones' program also aired here in America on ABC, this would give the song the exposure it needed to catch on with the American public. Needless to say, "My little scheme worked. Once the song was heard in the States on "Tom Jones", there was no stopping it. Radio, so afraid of it before, now pounced on it. I think station managers were secretly looking for a way to play it all along and needed a little ammunition like a successful TV appearance. I gave them a way."  

Before it was all over, The First Edition did manage to hit The Top 40 a couple more times. In 1970, they scored a #17 hit with "Tell It All Brother" and, later that year, hit #21 with "Heed The Call". (Listen closely to Kenny's vocals on these two tracks, especially at the end of "Tell It All Brother" ... you'll see that's he's developing the early stages of what Michael Nesmith called "Bee Gees Disease" on his landmark video release "Elephant Parts". This is all the more interesting when you consider that Barry GIbb would later produce one of Kenny's best albums, "Eyes That See In The Dark" and the monster #1 Hit "Islands In The Stream".) If you get a chance to see Kenny's 50th Anniversary Concert on TV, you'll see that he and Lionel Richie have a great bit of fun playing up this vocal technique on their #1 Smash "Lady", live in concert.

 

 

 

(I always loved this album cover!)  kk

Soon another personnel change was in the works as founder Mike Settle decided to leave the band. He was replaced by Kin Vassy.  This probably should have spelled the end of the band, but it didn't.  

Although by 1971 the chart hits had pretty much stopped and their career seemed to be winding down, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition next relocated to Canada and filmed (in all) 52 episodes of a syndicated variety television series called "Rollin' On The River". It was filmed on a Riverboat set (and the following year the title was shortened to simply "Rollin'".)  

On the program, they were able to spotlight some of the "hidden talent" they had helped to discover and promote along the way, including Mac Davis, Mickey Newbury and Mel Tillis, as well as B.J. Thomas, Bill Withers, Roger Miller, Gladys Knight and the Pips and "newcomer" Kris Kristofferson. Some of these episodes are available on DVD and the performances are quite good. (We've got one that features B.B. King, who does an absolutely KILLER version of "The Thrill Is Gone" and The Grass Roots, who are in top form, Billy Preston, Jim Croce, Al Green and Malo ... that's quite a guest list for this little-remembered program ... but I know WE watched it every week!) 

In his new book "Luck Or Something Like It", Kenny talks about how B.B. King completely mesmerized the cast and crew during his performance of "The Thrill Is Gone". (It truly DOES blow you away) However, while playing along with his original background track, the director noticed that B.B. King's fingers didn't match the original guitar solo. "This meant that he couldn't edit between the rehearsal and the show performances if he needed to. As politely as he could, he asked 'Is there a chance you could play the same solo so it matches?' B.B.'s answer was like his music ... short, sweet and soulful ... 'No, sir, I can't be there but once.' He got no argument from anyone."  

Their last charted single came in 1972 and actually featured Kin Vassy on lead vocals. (The song, titled "School Teacher", didn't make the grade, crapping out at #91.)  And then it was over.

Kenny says he kept the group going through 1975 but the magic was gone.  When they finally called it quits, Kenny was at a loss as to what to do with himself.  He had always been part of a group.  Now it was time to go solo.  History has shown that Kenny made a pretty wise decision ... over the next ten years Kenny would have over 30 pop hits, including Top Ten Smashes like "Lucille", "She Believes In Me", "You Decorated My Life", "Coward Of The County", "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer" (with Kim Carnes, his old New Christy Minstrels buddy), "Lady" (written by Commodore Lionel Richie, one of Kenny's best friends), "I Don't Need You", "We've Got Tonight" (a duet with Sheena Easton) and "Islands In The Stream" (a #1 Record that teamed Kenny with Bee Gee Barry Gibb and Country Superstar Dolly Parton ... the result was nothing short of pure magic.

In that same time frame, Kenny scored 47 Country Hits, where he continues to chart today (at the ripe old age of 75!!!)  In addition to all of the Top Ten Hits shown above topping Billboard's Country Singles Chart, Kenny also reached the #1 spot with hits like "Daytime Friends", "Every Time Two Fools Collide", "What Are We Doin' In Love" and "All I Ever Need Is You" (all duets with Dottie West), "Love Or Something Like It", "The Gambler" (how'd THAT one miss the Pop Top Ten???), "Love Will Turn You Around", "Crazy", "Real Love" (another duet with Dolly Parton), "Morning Desire", "Tomb Of The Unknown Love", "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" (a #1 Hit with Ronnie Milsap in 1987) and "Buy Me A Rose", which topped the country chart right at the turn of the century.

One of MY favorites (which didn't do too well on the pop charts ... but did reach #2 on the country chart) is "Twenty Years Ago", a hit in early 1987.  This one, to me, encapsulates EVERYTHING Forgotten Hits stands for ... we're ALL ABOUT THE MEMORIES ... and some GREAT ones are invoked during these short four minutes.  Check it out!



 

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THIS IS THE PIECE THAT ORIGINALLY LAUNCHED OUR LOOK BACK AT THE CAREER OF KENNY ROGERS ... AND THE FIRST EDITION:

 

I just finished reading Kenny Rogers' new autobiography (he calls is "A Memoir") "Luck Or Something Like It" (William Morrow; $27.99).  

Click here: Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir: Kenny Rogers: 9780062071811: Amazon.com: Books



 

It's a GREAT read ... very entertaining. Rather than your typical chronological "just the facts" accounting of Kenny's life, this book has a real down-home feel to it, filled with tons of home-spun country charm and life-changing anecdotes.   

 

Sadly, the woman who convinced Kenny to finally put his life down on paper passed away before the book ever made it to print ... but I'd still like to extend a very special "thank you" to Patsi Bale Cox for allowing her vision to be shared with the rest of us ... we are all better off because of it.   

 

In an opening "Author's Note", Kenny tells us:   

 

I would like to offer a special thanks to my friend, Patsi Bale Cox. Without her, this autobiography never would have happened. I had been asked to do a book for at least twenty years, and it was never something I had any interest in doing, for lot of reasons.   

 

After being persuaded to meet with Patsi for lunch, I found myself discussing and laughing about moments of my life that I hadn't thought about for years. In that moment, two things happened: I agreed to write the book and I made a new friend. Both were exciting.   

 

Somewhere in the middle of our journey together, Patsi was diagnosed with a form of lung cancer. I think she knew in her heart it wasn't going to end well. Instead of stopping and feeling sorry for herself, she committed herself to the completion of my story.   

 

There were times when she couldn't type or talk on the phone and when she could barely breathe, but she tried. She worked as hard as she could to live up to her responsibility to me and the publishers, but this disease shows no favorites. On November 6, 2011, the disease won the battle. She had fought it with all she had ... and lost.   

 

Kenny finished the task himself and the end result is an interesting and entertaining read. What a long career this man has had ... first as a solo artist in the late '50's, then as part of the jazz-inspired Bobby Doyle Three, then as a member of the vocal ensemble group The New Christy Minstrels, branching off to his first round of mega-success with The First Edition in the late '60's ... and then full circle to an absolutely AMAZING solo career stretching from the late '70's through today. (Kenny's solo career in the late '70's and early '80's propelled him out of this stratosphere ... there aren't many artist who have achieved the level of worldwide success and acclaim that Kenny Rogers did during this era.)   

 

In addition to the nostalgic look back, the book is incredibly current, too.  One of the last chapters talks about filming his 50th Anniversary television special, which we just watched a few weeks ago.  (Catch it if you can ... it's a great program, typically run in conjunction with a Kenny Rogers profile called "Back Story", which includes numerous stories related in Kenny's new book.  Check your local cable listings under the GAC Network.)  It truly represents "Kenny Rogers ... The Whole Story ... Up To Date" ... through five marriages, his children (including his twins with current wife Wanda) ... from growing up a poor country boy to living a life of grand excess during the golden money years ... heck, he even talks about his phone sex scandal!  All in all, a GREAT and entertaining read ... highly recommended!

 

Several years ago I wrote a piece for the Forgotten Hits Newsletter spotlighting Kenny's career with The First Edition. Quite honestly, the years before that, while Kenny was building a career were certainly interesting but, by comparison, rather uneventful ... and the years AFTER The First Edition are so well documented and familiar ... that I figured I'd concentrate on the era where I first came to know Kenny Rogers' music. (And, I was, after all, publishing at that time as The60sShop ... so, all in all, this made perfect sense!)   

 

This week in Forgotten Hits we're going to do our best to resurrect that series, throwing in a few new tidbits of information gleaned from Kenny's new book "Luck Or Something Like It". We hope you enjoy our little tribute to Kenny Rogers And The First Edition. (kk)

After Kenny died, we ran this career-spanning HIT LIST ... 

and links to all of the feature articles that now appear above in this very special Kenny Rogers Tribute Page ...



We lost another one of the good ones ... the world was quite saddened as news of Kenny Rogers' passing circulated this weekend.  He was 81.  

Rogers was an ensemble player in The New Christy Minstrels when he was motivated to step out on his own, forming The First Edition.  They were an immediate success, placing “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” in The Top Ten (#3 in Record World, #5 in Cash Box and #8 in Billboard) in early 1968.  

 

More hits followed, including:  “But You Know I Love You” (#15, 1969); “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” (by which time the name of the group had been changed to Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, #6, 1969); “Reuben James” (#14, 1969); “Something’s Burning” (#5, 1970); “Tell It All, Brother” (#12, 1970); “Heed The Call” (#20, 1970) and “Someone Who Cares” (#39, 1971).

 

The band even hosted its own syndicated television show which featured several other performing artists of this era, many of whom didn’t typically make television appearances, before they disbanded in 1975.  

Focusing his solo career on the country charts (keep in mind that Rogers’ first hit bordered on psychedelia … and, in fact, was voted your #12 Favorite Psychedelic Song of All Time when we ran our poll in 2005), Rogers reinvented himself in a HUGE way, becoming one of the biggest recording artists worldwide.  (Many of those hits also crossed over to the pop charts in a very big way, including the Top Ten Hits “Lucille,” “She Believes In Me,” “You Decorated My Life,” “Coward Of The County,” “Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer,” recorded with Kim Carnes, “Love The World Away,” “Lady,” written by Lionel Richie, “I Don’t Need You,” “Through The Years,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” recorded with Sheena Easton and, of course, “Islands In the Stream,” the #1 smash written by The Bee Gees and recorded by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.)  

 

We’ve given Kenny the spotlight treatment here in Forgotten Hits several times over the years …

Rather than rehash it all here again, you'll find the links you need below to enjoy the best of these pieces … (please do … I have always felt that this was one of our most under-rated series!)

According to his official representative, “Kenny Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family.”

 

Due to the national coronavirus pandemic, the family is planning a small private service ... and a larger-scale, public memorial will be planned at a later date.

 

After sixty years of performing, Rogers’ farewell tour began in 2017, and ran through early 2018, at which time he called off the remaining dates in April of that year due to unspecified “health challenges.” 

 

“I didn’t want to take forever to retire,” Rogers said in a statement. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to say farewell to the fans over the course of the past two years on ‘The Gambler’s Last Deal’ tour. I could never properly thank them for the encouragement and support they’ve given me throughout my career and the happiness I’ve experienced as a result of that.”

 

During the course of his incredible career, Kenny was featured on a staggering 30 Number One singles spread out across the U.S. pop, country, and adult contemporary charts from 1977 to 1999.  Along the way, he also earned three Grammys, five CMA awards, and eight ACM awards, along with membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame. During the course of his career, he sold more than 100 million records worldwide.  To say that he made his mark on the musical landscape is an understatement of epic proportions.  You’ll find much more about his remarkable career via the links above.  (kk)

 

THE KENNY ROGERS HIT LIST:

 

Here is a complete list of every Top 50 Hit Kenny had on both Billboard’s Pop Music Chart AND their Country Chart.  Again, the list is nothing short of staggering.

1968 – Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) with The First Edition  (POP = 5 / COUNTRY = xx)

1969 – But You Know I Love You (with The First Edition)  POP = 15 / COUNTRY = xx

1969 – Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town (as Kenny Rogers and the First Edition)  POP = 6 / COUNTRY = 39

1969 – Reuben James (as Kenny Rogers and the First Edition)  POP = 26 / COUNTRY = 46

 

1970 – Something’s Burning (as Kenny Rogers and the First Edition)  POP = 11 / COUNTRY = xx

1970 – Tell It All Brother (as Kenny Rogers and the First Edition) POP = 17 / COUNTRY = xx

1970 – Heed The Call (as Kenny Rogers and the First Edition) POP = 33 / COUNTRY = xx

 

1976 – Love Lifted Me  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 19)

1976 – While The Feeling’s Good  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 46)

1976 – Laura (What’s He Got That I Ain’t Got)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 19

 

1977 – Lucille  (POP = 5 / COUNTRY = #1)

1977 – Daytime Friends  (POP = 28 / COUNTRY = #1)

 

1978 – Sweet Music Man  (POP = 44 / COUNTRY = 9)

1978 – Every Time Two Fools Collide  (POP = 101 / COUNTRY = #1)

1978 – Love Or Something Like It  (POP = 32 / COUNTRY = #1)

1978 – Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 2)

 

1979 – The Gambler  (POP = 16 / COUNTRY = #1)

1979 – All I Ever Need Is You  (POP = 102 / COUNTRY = #1)

1979 – She Believes In Me  (POP = 5 / COUNTRY = #1)

1979 – Til I Can Make It On My Own  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 3)

1979 – You Decorated My Life (POP = 7 / COUNTRY = #1)

 

1980 – Coward of The County  (POP = 3 / COUNTRY = #1)

1980 – Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer (with Kim Carnes)  POP = 4 / COUNTRY = 3

1980 – Love The World Away  (POP = 14 / COUNTRY = 4)

1980 – Lady  (POP = #1 / COUNTRY = #1)

 

1981 – What Are We Doin’ In Love (with Dottie West) POP = 14 / COUNTRY = #1

1981 – I Don’t Need You  (POP = 3 / COUNTRY = #1

1981 – Share Your Love With Me (with Gladys Knight and the Pips) POP = 14 / COUNTRY = 5

 

1982 – Blaze Of Glory  (POP = 66 / COUNTRY = 9)

1982 – Through The Years  (POP = 13 / COUNTRY = 5)

1982 – Love Will Turn You Around  (POP = 13 / COUNTRY = #1)

 

1983 – We’ve Got Tonight  (with Sheena Easton)  POP = 6 / COUNTRY = #1

1983 – All My Life (POP = 37 / COUNTRY = 13)

1983 – Scarlet Fever  (POP = 94 / COUNTRY = 5)

1983 – Islands In The Stream (with Dolly Parton)  POP = #1 / COUNTRY = #1

 

1984 – You Were A Good Friend  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 20)

1984 – Buried Treasure  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 3)

1984 – This Woman  (POP = 23 / COUNTRY = xx)

1984 – Together Again (with Dottie West)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 19)

1984 – Eyes That See In The Dark  (POP = 79 / COUNTRY = 30)

1984 – Evening Star / Midsummer Nights  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 11)

1984 – What About Me? (with Kim Carnes and James Ingram)  POP = 15 / COUNTRY = 70

 

1985 – Crazy  (POP = 79 / COUNTRY = #1)

1985 – Love Is What We Make It  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 37

1985 – Real Love (with Dolly Parton)  POP = 91 / COUNTRY = #1)

 

1986 – Goodbye Marie  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 46)

1986 – Tomb Of The Unknown Love  (POP = xx / COUNTRY - #1)

1986 – The Pride Is Back (with Nickie Ryder)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 46

 

1987 – Twenty Years Ago  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 2)

1987 – Make No Mistake, She’s Mine (with Ronnie Milsap)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = #1

1987 – I Prefer The Moonlight  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 2)

 

1988 – The Factory  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 6)

1988 – When You Put Your Heart In It  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 26)

 

1989 – Planet Texas  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 30)

1989 – The Vows Go Unbroken (Always True To You) POP = xx / COUNTRY = 8

1989 – If I Ever Fall In Love Again  (with Anne Murray) POP = xx / COUNTRY = 28

 

1990 – Maybe (with Holly Dunn)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 25

1990 – Love Is Strange (with Dolly Parton)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 21

 

1992 – If You Want To Find Love  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 11)

 

1999 – The Greatest  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 26)

 

2000 – Buy Me A Rose (with Alison Krauss and Billy Dean) POP = 40 / COUNTRY = #1

2000 – He Will, She Knows  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 32)

 

2001 – There You Go Again (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 26)

2001 – Beautiful (All That You Could Be)  POP = xx / COUNTRY = 47

2001 – Homeland  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 39)

 

2002 – Harder Cards  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 47)

 

2003 – I’m Missing You  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 49)

2003 – Handprints On The Wall  (POP = xx / COUNTRY = 40)

 

2006 – I Can’t Unlove You  (POP = 93 / COUNTRY = 17)

 

You simply cannot ignore Kenny's country hits ... they account for some of the biggest of this era ...

 

 

---

Some of your comments from the original series ...

 

re: KENNY ROGERS AND THE FIRST EDITION:  

When you brought up 'Funny How Love Can Be', it reminded me of seeing Harper's Bizarre in college, which reminded me of seeing The First Edition in college (before they were Kenny Rogers and The First Edition). So I went youtubing (love that sport). WOW!!! I have the records, but to see the performances again, and to see how grrrrreat Kenny looked with his longish brown hair and beard (and vested, fringed outfits?) was a fun sing down Memory Lane. 
Hmmmmm. According to your info The First Edition was Kenny Rogers and The First Edition by the time they hit my college, but were not advertised as such for the concert. They WERE introduced as 'Presenting Kenny Rogers and The First Edition'. Maybe they just had old posters to use up?? hahaha

So THAT's where I saw Mickey Jones ... Home Improvement!

Kenny was not hip enough? He had to grow out the hair, the beard, pierce the ear, and tint the glasses? That is how I remember seeing him live. And what a handsome draw he turned out to be. There were just too many people in the New Christy Minstrels, coming and going, for me to pick out specific people. For me, it was a listening experience. The individuals counted less than the whole. I know when I went to youtube to watch 'Ruby' last week, my jaw dropped when I saw Kenny. Then I remembered the effect of the live concerts. The rest of the band is frozen in time for me, but since Kenny Rogers went on and morphed as needed, I had forgotten what I used to see. 
Shelley J. Sweet-Tufano 

  

Hey Kent,

Just wanted to say that one of my very favorite parts of one of your stories about a particular artist is how we get a chance to see how their careers intertwined with so many other artists that went on to become so famous. Very interesting stuff.

Thanks

Stacee 

 

Great profile of Kenny Rogers & the First Edition ... but I caught one glaring omission. Nowhere to be found was Kenny's 1969 hit 'Ruben James'! 
Brad

Actually, we left that one out intentionally, because we had just featured it in our on-going "Today's Forgotten Hit" series a couple of weeks ago ... and figured most of you had just heard it. But I always liked that one, so let's feature it again here now as a Kenny Rogers "extra"!

UPDATE:  You'll see that this great track was resurrected and included in our new Kenny Rogers Tribute Page
 

By the way, since our series first ran in 2004, we have learned that Kenny's first solo hit, "That Crazy Feeling", released in 1958, DID, in fact, hit the national pop charts, where it climbed to #77 in Record World Magazine ... and all the way to #51 in Cash Box!  (It had failed to chart in Billboard ... and, with those kinds of numbers from the other trades, I find that a bit surprising.  At the very least, I would have figured it would have registered as a "Breakout Hit" in Houston in Joel Whitburn's new book ... but apparently it didn't ... which makes me question just how big the record really was locally.  Then again, it was evidently big enough to climb half-way up the chart in Cash Box Magazine!!!)  kk  

Kent,
While reading your FH series this week on Kenny Rogers, the group Back Porch Majority was mentioned. It reminded me of a record I haven't heard in years. Had to get it out and play it, as they say, "one more time". The record in question was SECOND-HAND MAN out of 1966 on Epic Records. In May of that year, it peaked here in OKC at #8. Obviously the group New Christy Minstrels would come up. When I think of that group, the number one song to come to my mind is the obvious one, GREEN GREEN out of 1963. I always liked their follow-up SATURDAY NIGHT. But the one record I really liked that they did was the one they came out with in 1965 ... CHIM CHIM CHEREE. Not that song but the flip, YOU GOTTA QUIT KICKIN' MY DOG AROUND.
The DJ at the time who was working 7 pm - 12 midnight would play that song instead of CHIM CHIM CHEREE. I guarantee you when I finish sending you this e-mail, I am going to go in and play it as they say, "one more time".
Larry 

Thanks for putting together the Kenny Rogers series.

Looking forward to another installment tonight.

Dann      

>>>When "Just Dropped In" was written (by country songwriter Mickey Newbury), it was first offered to Jerry Lee Lewis, who turned the song down flat!  (kk)

This will come as a surprise to Jerry Lee Lewis, as he recorded the song in 1967 and released it on his LP Soul My Way (Smash Records).
– Randy Price 
 

Turning something down means you don't end up recording it, right?? Jerry Lee Lewis was, in fact, the first artist to record the song, issued on his Smash LP Soul My Way.

Tom Diehl  

 
Wow! We've been reporting it this way for nearly a decade now! And it isn't just us ... I've seen it printed in several different liner notes ... and it's even reported that way in Kenny Rogers' brand new auto-biography. This is a VERY cool new discovery! (I even sent it along to Scott Shannon to feature on his next edition of "Rock And Roll Remakes" on The True Oldies Channel!) And, listening to it, it's really not a bad version at all ... certainly a whole lot more country (which is to be expected, having been written by Mickey Newbury) ... but it also sounds like everything else Jerry Lee was recording at that time. A different interpretation to be sure ... but not bad. Kudos to Kenny Rogers and the First Edition for their totally unique psychedelic interpretation ... the lyrics took on a whole new meaning when The First Edition cut it! (kk)

 

 

Hey Kent,
I'm REALLY enjoying your series on Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Because of that, I have been busting my tail, trying to find all the musicians who played on the recording, "Just Dropped In", with not much luck. Ok, Glen Campbell played the guitar, and Hal Blaine probably played the drums on it. When I first heard the song on the radio, I was fascinated by the bass and vibraphone riff, played in unison, much like the signature sound of George Shearing's jazz groups. I'm going to bet it was studio mallet-man extraordinaire, Julius Wechter on vibes. He was part of the Wrecking Crew, and played on hundreds of tracks by major artists, including his own Baja Marimba Band.
I also like the song "Ruby". There are many songs written about the Vietnam war. Take a look at the list on Wikipedia. My favorite of the bunch is "Home" by Mac Davis.
- John LaPuzza 
I wrote to Denny Tedesco to see if he had any studio information on this track regarding who may have played on it.  If he gets back to me, I'll be sure to let you know.  (kk)

I found the Kenny Rogers series to be a very interesting read. Kudos on yet another job well done in Forgotten Hits -- great profile.

Rick

Sad to say, but I think you may be one of the very few, Rick ... this piece generated the fewest pieces of mail I can ever remember for a Forgotten Hits series ... and, even more incredibly, website readership was down by about 65% the entire time it ran!!! I'm not really sure why this is the case ... these are great tunes ... and even as I re-read and edited the piece I, myself, was impressed by the amount of details we uncovered back in 2004 ... but apparently it just doesn't have the "mass audience appeal" of some of our other series. Even sending out a couple of "reminders" failed to bring people over to the website to read it. As I said, I don't quite get that as, if I do say so myself, I thought it was pretty well done, too! (kk)

 

I had two opportunities to m.c. Kenny Rogers shows.  He was a great entertainer and was giving of his time to his fans.  He also shook hands and introduced himself to nearly everyone back stage.   One of those shows was on June 25th, 2009.   The shocking news of Michael Jackson's death was spreading around the concert grounds.  I was standing with the promoter and a few others when Kenny came up to us and asked if we had heard about Michael.  He told us a couple of stories about Michael including the making of We Are The World.   That night he put on a great show and he sang Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)  in front of a video of the First Editions' appearance on the

Smothers Brothers show.

Phil - WRCO

 

I remember seeing Kenny Rogers and the First Edition my freshman year in college. I was hooked and my then boyfriend, bought me the LP “Kenny Rogers and the First Edition: Ruby Don’t Take Your Love To Town” (thank you Bill.) I know that is the title because I am looking at it right now.
As a student of the Theatre Arts Department, I met them afterward. Kenny Rogers had just gotten his name displayed before the “and the First Edition.”  They were all equal in their conversations, answers to questions and friendliness. I never considered him as the star of the group and it appeared none of them (including Kenny) did either.
Shelley J Sweet-Tufano

 

I was fortunate enough to see Kenny perform (as a solo artist) THREE TIMES during his chart reign of the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s … but I’ll be honest with you … this isn’t a show I tried to get especially great seats for.

That’s because Kenny’s regular opening act during this era was Gallagher … and being splattered with watermelon and then sitting in it for the rest of the show really didn’t appeal to me!!! (lol) 

There were, however, MANY fans who lived for this experience … the first several rows had a plastic tarp they could cover themselves with when he hit that part of his act!

I have ALWAYS been a Kenny Rogers fan, right from the get-go … I have a few of his television shows (Rollin’ On The River) on VHS tape … and, believe it or not, still have a device hooked up to play them!

Kenny ruled the charts for YEARS … and while some of his material was ruled “too country” to crossover to the pop charts, there was some REALLY good material in that batch worth investigating.  He will be missed.  (kk)

 

>>>Here is a complete list of every Top 50 Hit Kenny had on both Billboard’s Pop Music Chart AND their Country Chart  (kk)

If you add Cash Box and Music Vendor to the list, it starts much earlier than 1968:
1958 - That Crazy Feeling (Cash Box = 51 / Music Vendor = 77)
– Randy Price

This is true … but it still wouldn’t have made our Top 50 cut-off.  Still, it was a big enough hit to earn him a spot on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” program.  (We covered that, too, in Part One of our Kenny Rogers series from a few years ago … but the audio track no longer plays.  Here it is again for those who have never heard it …)  kk

Sam Tallerico capped off his Lost And Found Oldies Show this past weekend by playing his all-time favorite Kenny Rogers song … which just happens to also be MY all-time favorite Kenny Rogers song, “Twenty Years Ago.”  (I swear I cannot hear this song without getting a little bit choked up EVERY single time!)

I remember one of the very first times Sam and I ever talked, this song came up as one of those GREAT, overlooked forgotten gems that should have been a MUCH bigger hit.  (It did all-right on the country charts, peaking at #2 … but it never made the pop charts at all … and it deserved a FAR better fate.)

 

And the video’s not too bad either.  We’ve run it here before in Forgotten Hits … but I’m in the mood to see it and share it with you again.

 

Kenny loved a good story song … in fact, it was this type of material that helped to make him the well-loved, crossover performer that he was.  He had a way of bringing ALL of these songs to life … so enjoy this one … 'cause it's one of the best ... “Twenty Years Ago” by the late, great Kenny Rogers.  (kk)

 

 

© Copyright Kent Kotal / Forgotten Hits, 1998 - 2025 ... 

All rights reserved

(Note:  This article was first published in Forgotten Hits in 2013)