Kenny Rogers: Top 75 Songs

First posted 6/6/2019.

Singer born Kenneth Donald Rogers on 8/21/1938 in Houston, Texas. One of the biggest country artists of all time, but also successful on the pop charts. Recorded with The Scholars (58), the Bobby Doyle Three (60-65), New Christy Minstrels (66-67), and The First Edition (67-76). Solo artist since 1976, although frequently recorded hit duos with numerous female singers including Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Kim Carnes, and Sheena Easton. In 2015, he announced his intent to retire.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

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Top 75 Songs

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Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

FE = First Edition. Noted are songs which reached #1 on the U.S. pop chart (US), country chart (CW), and adult contemporary chart (AC).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Lady (1980) #1 US,CW,AC
2. Islands in the Stream (w/ Dolly Parton, 1983) #1 US, CW, AC

DMDB Top 5%:

3. Lucille (1977) #1 CW
4. The Gambler (1978) #1 CW
5. Coward of the County (1979) #1 CW

DMDB Top 10%:

6. She Believes in Me (1978) #1 CW
7. I Don’t Need You (1981) #1 CW
8. Through the Years (1981) #1 AC
9. You Decorated My Life (1979) #1 CW
10. We’ve Got Tonight (w/ Sheena Easton, 1983) #1 CW

11. Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town (w/ FE, 1969)
12. Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer (w/ Kim Carnes, 1980)

DMDB Top 20%:

13. Reuben James (w/ the First Edition, 1969)
14. Daytime Friends (1977) #1 CW
15. Love Will Turn You Around (1982) #1 CW, AC
16. Love the World Away (1980)
17. Share Your Love with Me (1981) #1 AC
18. What Are We Doin’ in Love (w/ Dottie West, 1981) #1 CW

Not in DMDB 20%:

19. This Woman (1983)
20. What about Me? (w/ Kim Carnes & James Ingram, 1984) #1 AC

21. Love or Something Like It (1978) #1 CW
22. Something’s Burning (w/ FE, 1970)
23. All My Life (1983)
24. Twenty Years Ago (1986)
25. Morning Desire (1985) #1 CW
26. Sweet Music Man (1977)
27. Tell It All Brother (w/ FE, 1970)
28. But You Know I Love You (w/ FE, 1969)
29. A Love Song (1982)
30. Blaze of Glory (1981)

31. Heed the Call (w/ FE, 1970)
32. Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In (w/ FE, 1967)
33. Someone Who Cares (w/ FE, 1971)
34. Eyes That See in the Dark (1983)
35. Crazy (1984) #1 CW
36. Real Love (w/ Dolly Parton, 1985) #1 CW
37. Every Time Two Fools Collide (w/ Dottie West, 1978) #1 CW
38. Make No Mistake, She’s Mine (w/ Ronnie Milsap, 1987) #1 CW
39. All I Ever Need Is You (w/ Dottie West, 1979) #1 CW
40. Buy Me a Rose (w/ Alison Krauss, 1999) #1 CW

41. Love Lifted Me (1975)
42. I Prefer the Moonlight (1987)
43. The Greatest Gift of All (w/ Dolly Parton, 1984)
44. Scarlet Fever (1983)
45. You Are So Beautiful (1983)
46. That Crazy Feeling (1958)
47. When You Put Your Heart in It (1988)
48. ‘Til I Can Make It on My Own (w/ Dottie West, 1979)
49. Buried Treasure (1983)
50. They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To (1986)

51. Love Is What We Make It (1985)
52. The Pride Is Back (w/ Nickie Ryder, 1986)
53. Anyone Who Isn’t Me Tonight (w/ Dottie West, 1978)
54. You Were a Good Friend (1980)
55. Calling Me (w/ Don Henley, 2006)
56. The Factory (1987)
57. The Vows Go Unbroken (1989)
58. Today I Started Loving You Again (w/ FE, 1973)
59. I’ll Be There for You (1991)
60. Tomb of the Unknown Love (1985) #1 CW

61. Together Again (w/ Dottie West, 1979)
62. Evening Star (1983)
63. I Can’t Unlove You (2005)
64. Laura (What’s He Got That I Ain’t Got?) (1976)
65. Goodbye Marie (1979)
66. If You Want Me to Find Love (1991)
67. Love Is Strange (w/ Dolly Parton, 1990)
68. Maybe (w/ Holly Dunn, 1989)
69. If I Ever Fall in Love Again (w/ Anne Murray, 1989)
70. Planet Texas (1989)

71. Twentieth Century Fool (1985)
72. Crazy in Love (1990)
73. The Greatest (1999)
74. If I Knew Then What I Know Now (w/ Gladys Knight, 1989)
75. Take My Hand (w/ FE, 1971)

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Awards:

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A Kenny Rogers Retrospective: 1969-1983

A Retrospective: 1967-1983 Kenny Rogers

A Brief History: Country singer Kenny Rogers was born on August 21, 1938 in Houston, Texas. He died on March 20, 2020 at age 81. He was one of the best-selling artists of all time with more than 100 million records sold worldwide. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, but was one of music’s most successful crossover artists, finding huge success on the country, pop, and adult contemporary charts in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. He started his career in the late ‘50s with the Scholars, then worked with jazz singer Bobby Doyle, and was part of the folk ensemble the New Christy Minstrels from 1966-1967. He and several members of the latter group formed the First Edition in 1967, with whom Rogers recorded through 1976 before embarking on a solo career. The Studio Albums (with the First Edition): The First Edition (1967) 1969 (1969) Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (1969) Something’s Burning (1970) Backroads (1972) The Studio Albums (solo): Love Lifted Me (1976) Kenny Rogers (1977) Daytime Friends (1977) Every Time Two Fools Collide (with Dottie West, 1978) Love or Something Like It (1978) The Gambler (1978) Classics (with Dottie West, 1979) Kenny (1979) Gideon (1980) Share Your Love (1981) Love Will Turn You Around (1982) We’ve Got Tonight (1983) Compilations: TG Ten Years of Gold (1978) 80 Greatest Hits (1980) 20 20 Greatest Hits (1983) The above compilations are spotlighted on this page. The snapshots of the studio albums will indicate all songs featured on any of these compilations, noted with the codes above. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts. Click for codes to singles charts. The First Edition (1967): Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In (Mickey Newbury) [3:24] (2/3/68, 5 US, 5 CB, 3 HR) 1969 (1969): But You Know I Love You (Mike Settle) [3:16] (1/11/69, 19 US, 15 CN, 17 HR, 18 AC) TG Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (Mel Tillis) [2:53] (6/7/69, 6 US, 7 CN, 9 HR, 6 AC, 39 CW, 2 UK) TG, 80, 20 Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (1969): Reuben James (Barry Etris, Alex Harvey) [2:41] (9/20/69, 26 US, 14 CB, 17 HR, 29 AC, 46 CW) TG, 80, 20 Something’s Burning (1970): Something’s Burning (Mac Davis) [4:19] (2/7/70, 11 US, 5 CB, 7 HR, 8 UK) TG, 20 Backroads (1972): Today I Started Loving You Again (Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens) [3:10] (7/14/73, 69 CW) TG Love Lifted Me (1976): Love Lifted Me (Preston Ross, Howard Smith) [3:49] (12/13/75, 97 US, 19 CW, 99 AU) TG, 20 While the Feeling’s Good (Roger Bowling, Freddie Hart) [4:02] TG Kenny Rogers (1977): Lucille (Roger Bowling, Hal Bynum) [3:41] (1/29/77, 5 US, 6 CB, 7 HR, 12 RR, 10 AC, 12CW, 11 UK, 111 CN, 7 AU, sales: 1 million, airplay: 2 million) TG, 80, 20 Daytime Friends (1977): Daytime Friends (Ben Peters) [3:14] (7/30/77, 28 US, 28 CB, 36 HR, 13 AC, 11 CW, 39 UK, 21 CN, 69 AU) TG, 20

Ten Years of Gold Kenny Rogers

Released: January 1978 Recorded: 1967-1977 Charted: February 4, 1978 Peak: 33 US, 12 CW, -- UK, 23 CN, 68 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: (1) Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (2) Reuben James (3) But You Know I Love You (4) Something’s Burning (5) Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Condition Was In (6) Lucille (7) Daytime Friends (8) While the Feeling’s Good (9) Love Lifted Me (10) Today I Started Loving You Again Total Running Time: 34:29

Rating: 3.857 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Ten Years of Gold: The first five cuts on the album were actually re-recordings of songs Rogers originally did with the group the First Edition. The chart dates and figures, however, are for the original releases. Today I Started Loving You Again is the only original First Edition song on the album. Four of the songs (Lucille, Daytime Friends, While the Feeling’s Good, and Love Lifted Me) are the original solo hits from Rogers in 1976 and 1977. Every Time Two Fools Collide (with Dottie West, 1978): Every Time Two Fools Collide (with Dottie West) (John Dyes, Jeffrey M. Tweel) [3:00] (2/18/78, 44 AC, 12 CW) 80 Love or Something Like It (1978): Love or Something Like It (Steve Gassmeyer, Rogers) [2:51] (6/3/78, 32 US, 38 CB, 41 HR, 12 AC, 11 CW, 36 CN) 20 The Gambler (1978): The Gambler (Don Schlitz) [3:32] (10/28/78, 16 US, 13 CB, 18 HR, 21 RR, 3 AC, 13 CW, 22 UK, 8 CN, 25 AU) 80, 20 She Believes in Me (Steve Gibb) [4:11] (3/31/79, 5 US, 7 CB, 4 HR, 11 RR, 12 AC, 12 CW, 42 UK, 8 CN, 34 AU, sales: 1 million) 80, 20 Classics (with Dottie West, 1979): Til I Can Make It on My Own (with Dottie West) (George Richey, Billy Sherrill, Tammy Wynette) [3:19] (7/7/79, 3 CW) 20 Kenny (1979): You Decorated My Life (Debbie Hupp, Bob Morrison) [3:37] (9/8/79, 7 US, 7 CB, 5 HR, 3 RR, 2 AC, 12 CW, 12 CN, 61 AU) 80, 20 Coward of the County (Roger Bowling, Billy Edd Wheeler) [4:18] (11/17/79, 3 US, 11 CB, 11 HR, 6 RR, 5 AC, 13 CW, 12 UK, 13 CN, 6 AU, sales: 1 million, airplay: 2 million) 80, 20 Gideon (1980): Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer (with Kim Carnes) (Carnes, Dave Ellingson) [3:39] (3/21/80, 4 US, 4 CB, 4 HR, 2 RR, 2 AC, 3 CW, 3 CN, 38 AU) 80, 20 You Were a Good Friend (Kim Carnes, Dave Ellingson) [3:54] (11/19/83, 20 CW) 20

Greatest Hits Kenny Rogers

Released: September 23, 1980 Recorded: 1977-1980 Peak: 12 US, 111 CW, 40 UK, 3 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 12.0 US, -- UK, 15.6 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: (1) The Gambler (2) Lady (3) Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer (with Kim Carnes) (4) Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town (5) She Believes in Me (6) Coward of the County (7) Lucille (8) You Decorated My Life (9) Reuben James (10) Love the World Away (11) Every Time Two Fools Collide (with Dottie West) (12) Long Arm of the Law Total Running Time: 42:35

Rating: 4.308 out of 5.00 (average of 12 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About Greatest Hits: This 12-track compilation is Rogers’ best-seller, moving more than 12 million copies in the U.S. It covers just three years of his career, but they were the years when he established himself as one of the most dominant crossover artists ever by regularly charting on the country (seven #1’s), pop (seven top 10’s, including a #1), and adult contemporary charts (nine top 10’s, including two #1’s). Three songs (Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town, Reuben James, Lucille) overlap with Ten Years of Gold. Of the other nine, two are brand new (Lady, Long Arm of the Law). The collection also features Love the World Away, which was on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, but hadn’t been featured on a Rogers’ album. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Love the World Away (Bob Morrison, J. Wilson) [3:11] (6/13/80, 14 US, 17 CB, 8 HR, 15 RR, 8 AC, 4 CW, 25 CN) 80 Lady (Lionel Richie) [3:54] (9/26/80, 16 US, 14 CB, 15 HR, 15 RR, 14 AC, 11 CW, 12 UK, 2 CN, 16 AU, sales: 16 million, airplay: 2 million) 80, 20 Long Arm of the Law (Roger Bowling, Billy Edd Wheeler) [4:17] () 80 Share Your Love (1981): I Don’t Need You (Rick Christian) [3:27] (6/5/81, 3 US, 5 CB, 5 HR, 3 RR, 16 AC, 12 CW, 2 CN, 64 AU, airplay: 2 million) 20 Through the Years (Steve Dorf, Marty Panzer) [4:21] (12/26/81, 13 US, 12 CB, 10 HR, 5 RR, 12 AC, 5 CW, 92 AU) 20 Love Will Turn You Around (1982): Love Will Turn You Around (David Malloy, Rogers, Thom Schuyler, Even Stevens) [3:40] (7/3/82, 13 US, 12 CB, 10 RR, 12 AC, 11 CW, 12 CN, 96 AU) 20 We’ve Got Tonight (1983): We’ve Got Tonight (with Sheena Easton) (Bob Seger) [3:51] (1/21/83, 6 US, 10 CB, 10 RR, 2 AC, 11 CW, 28 UK, 4 CN, 11 AU) 20 Scarlet Fever (Mike Dekle) [3:57] (7/30/83, 94 US, 5 CW) 20

20 Greatest Hits Kenny Rogers

Recorded: 1969-1983 Charted: November 12, 1983 Peak: 22 US, 16 CW, -- UK, 29 CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: country

Tracks: (1) Lucille (2) Lady (3) Love Lifted Me (4) We’ve Got Tonight (with Sheena Easton) (5) Scarlet Fever (6) Love or Something Like It (7) She Believes in Me (8) Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town (9) Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer (with Kim Carnes) (10) You Were a Good Friend (11) The Gambler (12) Through the Years (13) Daytime Friends (14) You Decorated My Life (15) Til I Can Make It on My Own (with Dottie West) (16) Reuben James (17) Coward of the County (18) I Don’t Need You (19) Something’s Burning (20) Love Will Turn You Around Total Running Time: 72:51

Rating: 4.236 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)

About 20 Greatest Hits: This retrospective of Rogers’ career from 1969 to 1983 offers a more complete picture than either of its predecessors. Six of the songs from Ten Years of Gold show up here. Nine of the songs from Greatest Hits are featured, with three of those also being on Ten Years of Gold. That leaves eight more cuts, of which three are from the eras already covered by the first two compilations. That means this set only adds five songs from 1981 to 1983, including I Don’t Need You, Through the Years, Love Will Turn You Around, and We’ve Got Tonight. Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia for Kenny Rogers First posted 12/5/2020; last updated 3/20/2024.

Kenny Rogers topped the country chart with “Coward of the County”

Coward of the County Kenny Rogers

Writer(s):Roger Bowling/Billy Ed Wheeler (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 16, 1979 Peak: 3 US, 11 CB, 11 GR, 11 HR, 6 RR, 5 AC, 13 CW, 12 UK, 13 CN, 6 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 44.8 video, 54.27 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Kenny Rogers became the quintessential crossover artist in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as he landed multiple hits on the country, pop, and adult contemporary charts. “Coward of the County” was his seventh #1 country hit and fourth top ten pop hit. Its #3 peak was his highest on that chart yet. It also topped the Cash Box singles chart in America and landed at #1 in the UK, Canada, and Ireland. WK Rogers assumes the role of narrator in the song, telling the fictional story of his nephew Tommy. His father’s violent behavior lands him in prison, where he dies, but first he makes his son promise not to make the same mistakes, informing him, “Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man.” Tommy’s pacifism earns him the nickname of “Coward of the Country.” As a young man, however, he unleashes his anger when the Gatlin boys gang rape his girlfriend, Becky. He approaches them in a barroom and takes all three out. At the end of the song, he makes a plea to his later father to understand that he tried to stay out of trouble, but that “Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.” The reference to the Gatlin boys stirred controversy because of its possible reference to the country group The Gatlin Brothers. Rogers said he didn’t make the connection or would have asked for the lyric to be changed. Both songwriters denied the reference, claiming they tried other names that “just didn’t have the grit.” SF Larry Gatlin claimed that writer Roger Bowling had a personal grudge against him, although he didn’t know why. WK After the song came out, Larry said “we started getting accused of being rapists…I think they could have showed a little good taste and used somebody else’s name.” SF Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/4/2020; last updated 12/27/2022.