Maps of Music

The Gambler (1978)

Where the lyrics of The Gambler take you, and where it was really made.

Johnny Cash recorded 'The Gambler' first, but Kenny Rogers' version was released first and became his signature song.

Key places

Recorded in Nashville (1978)

Recording site Nashville — The album was recorded at the Jack Clement Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, with producer Larry Butler. The map point sits at city-center level, not the building's exact position. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Gambler: sixth studio album by American singer Kenny Rogers
• Released by United Artists in November 1978
• One of Rogers' most popular albums
• Helped establish Rogers' status as one of the most successful artists of the 1970s and 1980s
• Reached many markets worldwide, including the Far East and Jamaica
• Has sold over 5 million copies

Background

• Title track "The Gambler" written by Don Schlitz, who was the first to record it
• Several other artists covered the song
• Rogers' adaptation of the tale topped the country charts and became his signature song
• Johnny Cash recorded the song first, but Rogers' version was released first
• Album largely compiled from songs by top songwriters such as Alex Harvey, Mickey Newbury, and Steve Gibb
• Rogers still showed his own songwriting talent with "Morgana Jones"

Recording

• Recorded at the Jack Clement Recording Studio in Nashville, Tennessee
• Producer Larry Butler
• Billy Sherrill credited as engineer
• Mastered by Bob Sowell at Master Control in Nashville

Cover

• Art direction and design by Bill Burks
• Photography by Reid Miles

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kenneth Donald Ray Rogers was born on August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas, and began his recording career in the late 1950s with the Houston group the Scholars.
• He was an American country singer-songwriter who moved from teenage rock and roll through psychedelic rock to become a country-pop crossover artist of the 1970s and 1980s.
• In 1967 he co-founded the First Edition with former New Christy Minstrels members, later renamed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition.

Members

• The First Edition's members included Mike Settle, Terry Williams, Thelma Camacho, and Kin Vassy.
• Rogers's backing band Bloodline has toured with him since 1976.

Career

• The First Edition scored hits including "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" before the group disbanded in 1976.
• As a solo artist he charted more than 60 top-40 singles, including the number-one hits "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream".
• He recorded duets with Dottie West, Dolly Parton, and Sheena Easton, and partnered with Lionel Richie as songwriter.
• His signature song "The Gambler" won a Grammy in 1980 and was selected for the National Recording Registry in 2018.
• He sold more than 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
• He retired from touring in 2017 and died on March 20, 2020, at age 81.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• The title track and the album did very well in the country market in Britain
• Neither reached the top 40 of the pop charts in Britain
• Helped Rogers become well known beyond country music circles, through the title track and "She Believes in Me" as pop hits

Reappraisal

• In the 1980s the single of "The Gambler" was reissued and made the top 100 sales list in Britain, again outside the top 40
• The song was reissued in 2007 and adopted by the England Rugby Team at the Rugby World Cup, where it charted at its #22 peak
• Album reissued on vinyl and cassette on the Liberty Records label after United Artists was absorbed into EMI/Capitol in 1980
• Liberty later issued an abridged version that removed "Morgana Jones"
• Released on Rogers' own Dreamcatcher Records in 2001 as part of the Kenny Rogers "Original Masters Series"

Records

• Has sold over 5 million copies
• Title song topped the country charts
• Won Rogers a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980
• "I Wish That I Could Hurt That Way Again" became a 1986 hit for T. Graham Brown, reaching #3 on the country charts

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album reached many markets around the world, including the Far East and Jamaica
• Rogers later said: "When I go to Korea or Hong Kong people say 'Ah, the gambler!'"
• Johnny Cash recorded his own version of the title song, and it was released about a month after Rogers' version
• Rogers' version had already reached the charts within that month
• The title song's writer, Don Schlitz, was the first to record it

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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