Raising Two Americans

Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits (1980)

With the bars closed for the COVID-19 novel coronavirus outbreak and Kenny Rogers passing away Friday night at age 81, I figured it was a good a time as any to spend a lot of time writing and listening to music. One result is my album of the day.

I might do one of these everyday. I might not. Who knows?

Bu the album for today … I guess it’s Sunday, March 22 … is Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits.

Released on Sept. 23, 1980 (Bruce Springsteen’s birthday), this Liberty release is the top-selling Country greatest hits compilation of all-time, edging Garth Brooks’ The Hits with 22 million records sold.

The first of numerous Rogers’ greatest hits packages, this one actually contained three new tracks on the 12-track album.

A song-by-song look at Kenny Rogers’ Greatest Hits:

1. The Gambler – This is the first hit song ever written by Don Schlitz, penned in 1976 when he was 23. That’s saying something. Initially, he could get no one to record it, so he released it as a single himself. It reached No. 65 on the charts. Shel Silverstein loved the song, convincing Bobby Bare to record it. Johnny Cash recorded it, as well. But it wasn’t until it was recorded by Rogers in 1978 that it had an impact. Released on the album of the same name, it became the first of 24 No. 1 country songs penned by Schlitz. Other Schlitz classics include 40-Hour Week (Alabama), When You Say Nothing At All (Keith Whitley, Alison Krauss), On The Other Hand (Randy Travis) and Forever And Ever Amen (Randy Travis). Of course, the song sparked the successful series of “The Gambler” TV movies starring Rogers and launching his acting career.

2. Lady – One of three songs recorded specifically for this album, it’s the biggest solo hit of Rogers’ career. Lionel Richie, then of the Commodores, wrote the song specifically for Rogers. It would spend six straight weeks at No. 1 in the fall/winter of 1980. It was only knocked out of the top spot the final week of December by John Lennon’s Just Like Starting Over. Lennon had been shot and killed Dec. 8 in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Lady was No. 3 on the Billboard chart for the year and No. 10 for the decade of the 1980s. It is No. 60 on Billboard’s All-Time Hot 100 chart.

3. Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer w/Kim Carnes – Carnes, like Rogers, was an alum of folk group The New Christy Minstrels.

4. Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town w/The First Edition – A story song about an impotent, disabled Vietnam veteran who endures his wife leaving home every night to meet other men in town. Written by Mel Tillis.

5. She Believes in Me – Having been truly in love in my life and having lost, this song, for whatever reason resonates with me. It doesn’t matter who you are, in some fashion, to have a relationship, a love that lasts, you are sacrificing somehow. You are somehow settling, somehow disappointed, even those who think they aren’t. And it’s when you and your partner are happy making the sacrifices that you make for each other that something special can happen.

6. Coward of the County – Another story song, this one has not held up for me. I still find myself singing along, but the basic theme of the story is Tommy’s love Becky is raped by the Gatlin boys … and there were three of them. Tommy proves he’s a man by mustering up the courage to single-handedly whip the Gatlin Boys, thus making up for his life of being a “coward.” Except my problem is, what the hell does that do for Becky? She’s still violated and hurt and angry … and giving them a good ass-beating solves none of that. Maybe the world has grown up a little since this song came out.

7. Lucille – Rogers’ first solo country hit from 1977, it reached No. 1 on the Country charts and No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

8. You Decorated My Life

9. Reuben James w/The First Edition – Rogers would say he liked two kinds of songs, love songs and story songs that had social relevance. This is the latter. From Rogers’ First Edition days, he sings of an old black sharecropper, Reuben James, who stepped up and raised the white son of the “gossip of Madison County” who died in childbirth. The song’s narrator is obviously the now-adult child and is singing James’ praises.

10. Love the World Away – The second of three new releases on this album, this song was also released on the hugely popular Urban Cowboy soundtrack. It was a top-5 tune on the country charts and a top-20 song on the pop charts.

11. Every Time Two Fools Collide w/Dottie West – one of a handful of highly successful duets with country darling Dottie West.

12. Long Arm of the Law – The third new release on the album, though not a chart hit, this song remains popular with Rogers fans.