Beech Tree News Network

Late last Friday night the 20^th, the legendary Kenny Rogers passed away.  I’ll be honest, when I saw this online at about 1 am(or maybe 2-I’m a weekend night owl), I thought it was a hoax.  As I normally do, I looked for another source.  Sure enough, it was true. 

He fit a lot of good music in his 81 years.  Countless of his songs have been covered by other artists.  Alternative group Cake covered “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town” for their 2004 album B-Sides and Rarities.  “Know When to Hold ‘em. Know when to fold ‘em” has basically become a normal phrase in certain parts. 

Bring up Kenny Rogers and I’d say that two songs leap to most people’s minds: “The Gambler” and “Islands In The Stream” with Dolly Parton.  Did you know “Islands” was actually written by the Bee Gees? The song was named after an Ernest Hemmingway novel.  It was originally written for Marin Gaye in R&B style, only later to be changed for Kenny’s Eyes That See In The Dark in 1983. 

Kenny amassed quite a career: 39 studio albums, 42 compilation albums, 80 singles, 30 #1’s overall and 24 #1’s in the U.S.  His longest-lasting #1’s on the country charts were “The Gambler” and “Coward Of The County” at 3 weeks each.  Two of his #1 hits-“Lady” and “Islands In The Stream” with Dolly Parton-also reached #1 on the Hot 100.  “Lady” spent six weeks at the top, making it his longest-running #1 single on any Billboard chart.  More than just a U.S. phenomenon. He found an audience around the world with “Lucille” and “Coward of the County”.  His albums The Gambler and Kenny each topped the country charts for at least 20 weeks, while his Greatest Hits was the only album by a solo country performer to top the Billboard 200 during the ‘80’s, reaching the summit in late 1980. 

Saturday I added Kenny’s Best Of: Through the Years playlist on Spotify.  I’ll leave you with one more little tidbit: Did you know WBKO used Kenny’s “Through The Years” in one of their promo’s years ago? I couldn’t find it online but I was thinking they used it on one of their anniversary commercials.  As you see, Kenny reached audiences far and wide.  He and his contributions to music-from First Edition all the way to his final solo album-will be remembered and missed.  #RIP Gambler