Thus, Rogers, by the end of the year, being a pop icon, seems highly unlikely on paper. However, in 1981, Kenny Rogers was a prematurely white-haired 43-year old country star who, in that genre, was already a 20-year veteran and well-entrenched as a chart-topping country icon. Make a hit, reach number one, and from there, the television programs, action figures, and trappings of crossover acclaim appear in short order. Each line of this song effortlessly flowed into the next one, setting the stage for a chorus that fans all over the world will be singing for years from now till eternity.Typically, for mainstream pop stars, the road to extraordinary excellence is rather quick. But, even in her leaving, the woman had to admit that “Nobody Sings A Love Song Quite Like You Do.”Įven if Don Schlitz’s story of a late-night card game on a train seemingly “bound for nowhere” had never been a single, it still might be the greatest Kenny Rogers song of all-time.
Written from the perspective of a woman who has had enough of watching as her lover gives of himself to everyone in his career - but not her, you can tell that Rogers felt every word of this one first-hand. But, it could very well be his overall greatest performance. 9 peak of this one was among the lowest of Rogers’ hits on United Artists. Sandwiched between chart-toppers “Daytime Friends” and “Love Or Something Like It,” the No. If nothing else, one of the biggest country hits to ever be set in Toledo, Ohio! Hal Bynum and Hal Bynum provided Rogers with what turned out to be the lightning rod for his move into country music with this haunting mid-tempo number about a man who is just about to fall to the advances of his new female love interest, but can’t seem to get the words that her husband said to her earlier in the evening out of his mind. Garth Brooks' 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks Country was in the midst of a swing back to a more traditional sound, which might help to explain the reason why this song doesn’t get the credit it deserves, but it’s a Kenny Rogers song that stands as one of his best. The song’s lyrics paid homage to the memories that the lead character in the song had of the town growing up - when things were much more simple and serene than they were in the pre-Vietnam era. Rogers added the right touch of longing and nostalgia on this 1986 single, which stopped just shy of the number one position. Of course, the song became one of his biggest - propelling the CD to become a Diamond-selling album. The recording marked one of the first times that a song was placed on a Greatest Hits package without being a single prior.
After Kenny approved the song, he had to finish the song quickly. Proving to be the perfect marriage of country and pop, Richie pitched the song idea to Rogers before he had even written the song. One of two classics on this list to have a tie to Lionel Richie, one couldn’t go anywhere in the fall of 1980, and not hear this romantic song of love. The song was one of two singles that Sir George Martin produced on the singer, with the other one being “Tomb Of The Unknown Love.” A gorgeous touch on this record was the unforgettable guitar solo of jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan. As it turned out, the man who made “Please Come To Boston” a classic in the 1970s did just that, coming up with an arrangement that was putty in Rogers’ capable hands. Of course, it’s not the only Schlitz composition to wind up on this list!ĭave Loggins was one of the hottest songwriters in Nashville during the 1980s, and the singer had Loggins as a guest at his house, hoping he could come up with something special. Always a magician with a lyric, Schlitz’s turning the boy’s bad play into an exercise in philosophy turned out to be stroke of genius, providing the singer with his first entry into the Top 30 in eight years. Rogers turned to Don Schlitz in 1999 for this unlikely hit that compared life to playing baseball.