Kenny Rogers may be best remembered for introducing a global pop audience to the homespun charms of country music. Looked back upon now, it also indicates clearly how country music, in many ways a hidebound genre before Rogers emerged, would evolve in his wake. Before he found stardom in Nashville — and after earlier forays into doo-wop, jazz and folk music — Rogers made the Top 10 as lead singer of the First Edition with this tidy blast of pop psychedelia. Rogers had moved the First Edition toward country music by the time of this vivid story song written by Mel Tillis , in which the singer portrays a paralyzed Vietnam veteran whose wife is stepping out on him. But doing the song as a duet with Sheena Easton added a layer of adult-contemporary polish that drew fans from beyond country and rock. Credit the presence of the great James Ingram who died last year for pushing Rogers toward one of his most soulful vocals in this three-way slow jam, which also features Kim Carnes and was co-written by Richard Marx. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. A new documentary about Creem magazine falls short of conveying what made the s publication such a venerated and uproarious chronicler of rock culture.
"You Decorated My Life"
"Twenty Years Ago"
Kenny Rogers ' songs are iconic, but truth be told, the singer saw success in just about every form of entertainment. As one can imagine, this Top 10 Kenny Rogers songs list was extremely challenging to narrow down. From the obvious "Coward of the County" and "Ruby" to classic American love songs including "Lady" and "Through the Years," these are the cream of Rogers' crop. Kenny Rogers was known as one of the great storytellers in country music. Regardless of age, the chorus seems to resonate the feelings of everyone -- that " life was so much easier twenty years ago. We could have easily compiled a list of just top Kenny Rogers love songs. From easy listening AM stations, hot country FM stations, and wedding receptions, this song has meant a lot to a lot of people. As the lead singer of the First Edition, Kenny Rogers' voice was at the forefront of some of their biggest hits -- like this one. Penned by Mel Tillis, "Ruby" was Rogers' first country chart entry. Although the song peaked at a modest No.
"Buy Me a Rose"
Still, a select few of those songs stand above the rest in his catalog. With his band the First Edition, Rogers got in on the psychedelic craze of the late Sixties, turning a Mickey Newbury song about dropping acid into a swirling, hallucinatory masterpiece. The Dude definitely abides. When his self-titled sophomore record was issued, its lead single barely cracked the Top But the next one would connect, topping the country chart, reaching Number One in the U. The gut-churning narrative actually derived from a Korean War-era story centers on a soldier who loses his legs in battle and returns home to find that his wife would prefer to spend time with other men, adding a layer of psychological pain to his physical wounds. Absolutely chilling. Rogers, who embodied "The Gambler" persona and whose musical career spanned jazz, folk, country and pop, has died at
Kenny Rogers ' songs are timeless. The country superstar had a knack for recording strong, well-written material that stands up well over time, which helped him build a career as one of the most consistent hitmakers of his generation. From his early successes fronting the country rock group the First Edition to his later smash success as a solo artist, Rogers wandered around stylistically over the decades -- but his best songs always boiled down to telling a great story in a way that relates to people. Along with Rogers' signature vocal delivery, those are the hallmarks of all of the tracks in our list of the Top 10 Kenny Rogers Songs. The album was an unabashed crossover into more pop territory, and coming as it did at the dawn of the New Traditionalist movement, it did not fare as well as some of Rogers' previous efforts. Rogers pulled off a later-in-life career resurrection with "Buy Me a Rose. That timeless message took the song all the way to No. After years of toiling in various groups, to varying degrees of success and failure, Rogers was fast becoming a huge solo star by the time he released his third solo album. Its title song and lead single was a classic cheating song about a clandestine couple who are "daytime friends and nighttime lovers," despite the fact that he is her husband's best friend. The song became Rogers' second No.
