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Kenny Rogers 1938-2020

#41
R.I.P.
My memory of Kenny goes back to when I was a child watching after school television and this bearded hippy would come on with a commercial for the "Quick Picking Fun Strumming Home Guitar Course". That goes back a ways. Been a fan ever since.

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#43
Orangeclawhammr said:
My first date with the lady who eventually became my wife was Kenny Rogers and Dottie West, IIRC. It was in 1981. She got the tickets from her familly as a birthday present. She was a fan. I enjoyed the opening act, Gallagher. We weren't close enough to be hit with any watermelon debree. RIP
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I ran sound for that show in my town. I think it was 1978. It was right after The Gambler hit so they added a second show. Both shows were packed and KR was a consummate pro from start to finish. At one point he 'mistakenly' referred to Dottie as Dolly then had to fall all over himself apologizing. I know it was part of the act because he did it the same way in both shows.

Luckily, I didn't have to clean up the watermelon bits all over the first three rows after Gallagher.
 
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#45
having started playing piano in the 60's ... started singing pop tunes in the 70's ... and having a baritone voice , i usually had some Kenny in my play list ... ' She Believes in me ' was always a favorite ... and 'Lady' ( Lionel Richie )

RIP
 
#50
Winslow said:
Aw, man. That's too bad. :unsure:

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Funny to hear this song again. That was in the midst of the psychedelic era of 1968. If you would have said he'd end up being a country music star at this time, everyone would have thought you were crazy. He was very versatile and he often managed to chart songs in both pop and country. He will be missed.
 
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#57
If you read his bio, he was always into commerical music and of course he was very successful at it! Just something to think about for those who don't want to "sell out" :roflmao: The guy sat on top of the charts for 40 years and had at least a decade of minor league success before that. How many C&W performers would thnk of working with Lionel Ritchie ("Lady") or Barry Gibb (wrote "Islands In The Stream" for Kenny and Dolly Parton). Plus he was a good enough bassist to record in a jazz trio for CBS back in the early 60s! Something to aspire to, actually.

I played in a local C&W band in the early 1980s and Kenny's first big solo hits "Lucille" and "The Gambler" were the great grandfathers of "Wagon Wheel" ;), two songs we all got sick of playing every single night. Our BL liked to change the lyrics a bit to keep things interesting..."You picked a fine time to leave me, you squeal!". I still have a NOS bumper sticker for that band, Southlan', in the basement :thumbsup:
 
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#58
Frankie Fender said:
R.I.P.

My memory of Kenny goes back to when I was a child watching after school television and this bearded hippy would come on with a commercial for the "Quick picking Fun Strumming Home Guitar Course". That goes back a ways. Ben a fan ever since.

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I bought that course, and let me tell you, it was pretty good. I learned how to play fingerpicking guitar with it, and also learned a good bit about notes on the fretboard. I only wish I'd have kept up the fingerpicking, but I was a rocker and flatpicking was easier for me so I let it go.
 
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#59
brianrost said:
If you read his bio, he was always into commerical music and of course he was very successful at it! Just something to think about for those who don't want to "sell out" :roflmao: The guy sat on top of the charts for 40 years and had at least a decade of minor league success before that. How many C&W performers would thnk of working with Lionel Ritchie ("Lady") or Barry Gibb (wrote "Islands In The Stream" for Kenny and Dolly Parton). Plus he was a good enough bassist to record in a jazz trio for CBS back in the early 60s! Something to aspire to, actually.

I played in a local C&W band in the early 1980s and Kenny's first big solo hits "Lucille" and "The Gambler" were the great grandfathers of "Wagon Wheel" ;), two songs we all got sick of playing every single night. Our BL liked to change the lyrics a bit to keep things interesting..."You picked a fine time to leave me, you squeal!". I still have a NOS bumper sticker for that band, Southlan', in the basement :thumbsup:
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People who claim to hate commercial music are funny. Like it takes any special skill to write music that nobody buys. I used to be one of them till I found out how very hard it is to have a hit song.
 
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#60
mflaherty said:
After the Scholars, I immediately joined a jazz group called the Bobby Doyle Three. And Bobby was a blind guy, so I just put myself out front, because (laughs) … No, no. I met him, and he said, “I’d love for you to come play bass in my jazz group.” And I said, “I don’t even play bass, I play guitar.” And he said, “Yeah, but there’s a lot more of a demand for bad bass players than bad guitar players.”
Kenny Rogers Remembers His Days as a Teenage Guitarist
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At 14 years old I switched from guitar to bass for that very reason.
 
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