[woman] Sound roll one on
November 4, Saturday. [Kenny Rogers] Without a
six-piece band you'd be amazed how poor I sing. I don't even know
what key it is. [strumming off key] Isn't that funny? He was pop. He was country. He was all of it. He is an American icon. [pop music] I think that people just fell
in love with him so deep. <i> [Robert K. Oermann] Kenny
has had 24 number-one hits.</i> <i> [Kenny] ♪ You got to know
when to hold em ♪</i> I think of that little
twinkle in his eye and that beard, <i> and just great songs.</i> ♪ Know when to walk away, ♪ Know when to run. A song hadn't been a song until
Kenny Rogers got a hold of it and then it's been done. ♪ When the dealing's done. I had to audition on the phone
from a hotel lobby. The First Edition. ♪ Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah, ♪ What condition
my condition was in. ♪ <i> [Oermann] They were
really cool.</i> <i> They sang all kinds of music.</i> ♪ Oh, Ruby. His voice stood out. He had that little rasp. ♪ Don't take your love
to town. ♪ <i>[Kenny] When the First Edition
broke up,</i> <i> I was totally lost.</i> <i> I remember specifically a
phone call from him</i> saying, "Look, I can't
take this anymore." It was at a time -- it was a
very low period in my life. <i> Every time you'd think
that he might be</i> down and out, he was the
come-back kid. ♪ We've got tonight <i>This is like he was the Beatles
or something, you know,</i> it was just crazy. Women, literally ready to
throw their panties on stage. He got bigger and bigger
and bigger. [news anchor] Kenny's little
hacienda has a 13-car garage, a private elevator and 35 rooms. Kenny became this
amazing spokesperson. ♪ We can't go on ♪ pretending day by day. That was the session
of the century. Kenny and Dolly connect
so amazingly. <i> I was always such a
feisty little thing,</i> pinch him on the butt
or whatever. <i> She's the only person I've
ever seen that could</i> make him speechless. Here we are,
both of us lonely, and Marianne out there
somewhere. Don't you start that with me. Don't you start that. [Jim Mazza] Kenny and
Dolly works. People are just like,
oh my God. ♪ Islands in the stream. ♪ That is what we are. Everybody always thinks that
you are fooling around with whoever you are
singing with. And a lot of times you do. [laughs] <i> ♪ To another world. </i> We've been accused of it
all through the years. You are retiring;
you want to hold them now? [laughs] Hall of Famer Kenny Rogers
saying goodbye to fans, surrounded by country royalty. <i> [female anchor] Playing his
final show in Nashville.</i> It was necessary we do
something that really bring together the newer
artists, the older artists, <i> because Kenny just deserved
to be celebrated.</i> <i> [Emcee] Welcome,
ladies and gentlemen.</i> <i> Tonight we are honoring
a musical legend.</i> It was just amazing the
number of artists that came forward and said, "Please, I want to be
a part of it." <i> [Emcee] Please welcome
Little Big Town...</i> <i> Chris Stapleton.</i> Thank you. <i> Mr. Rogers will be sitting
there watching and listening,</i> and hopefully enjoying whatever
it is we are doing. <i> [Emcee] Lady Antebellum...</i> <i> Lionel Richie...</i> <i> Reba!</i> Thank you. [Wynonna] It's the end
but it's a celebration. Kenny is the real deal,
period, end of story. Drop the mic. <i> [Emcee] Ladies and gentlemen,
are you ready?</i> [cheers] <i> I don't think anybody in the
history of music</i> <i> has ever had a better ear
for hit songs,</i> nor could they sing them
better than you. All the years I've
worked with Kenny, I never get tired of
hearing him sing. [Kenny] That's so nice. [Dolly] I'm serious. <i> I just thought that
night was so special</i> <i> but I thought:
is this really so?</i> Could this really be the
last we time we're going to get to do this? So I think more than anything, I was kind of sad in
my heart about it. I've known Dolly for 30 years, so I think it is so sweet
of her to come here so that I can say
goodbye properly. <i> [Dolly] I just wanted to say
that I'm really,</i> <i> really proud of you.</i> I just hope that many,
many years from now when I am older [audience laughter] that I will know when to
hold them and when [together] to fold them. Yeah. <i> He will always hold a
special place in my heart.</i> <i>It's really a powerful moment
just to say goodbye to my dear,</i> dear friend but I just thought
that it was a perfect way to send Kenny into retirement. How you doing? It's going to be a big day. [Kenny] Yeah. Hey guys. - How is it going?
- What's going on, man? You all right?
- Good to see you. [reporter] This farewell tour,
is this bittersweet for you? Well, you know, you don't
do something for 70 years and just
walk away from it. <i> So, yeah, it is bittersweet
in that respect.</i> [acoustic guitar] <i> With all that Kenny has
made in his life,</i> he, like me, was brought
up very poor. We understood that world and
how much we wanted things. <i> [Roy] We were poor.</i> There's no doubt about that. We struggled, you know,
but we had faith that <i> we would make it through.</i> <i> [Kragen] He lived on the
other side of the tracks.</i> He lived in the
Houston projects. <i> Kenny, I think, from a
very early age</i> is acutely aware that his
life in the projects is not like just a
few blocks over, where somebody has a nice
sprinkler system and a lawn. Well, you don't have
that in the projects. <i> [Sandy] It's just a
little community.</i> <i> We call it San Felipe Courts.</i> Everybody got along. Everybody knew everybody. There was always music. He had uncles that played,
you know. And he himself was, you know,
highly musical. <i> My father played fiddle</i> and all his brothers and
sisters played instruments. <i> And they would all get on
the front porch and play</i> <i> and all of the family would
sit out in the yard.</i> <i> [Sandy] Kenny sang
all the time.</i> <i> I think he's always
wanted to sing.</i> My mom used to work
at a hospital and he would go over there
and sing to the nurses. [phono scratch] [guitar music] <i> He has this band in
high school, The Scholars,</i> and they managed to actually
get some national attention. In 1957, Kenny had a doo-wop hit
called "That Crazy Feeling." <i> [The Scholars] ♪ Oh, yes, </i> <i> ♪ I've got that
crazy feeling. ♪</i> <i> [Melinda] He even made it
onto American Bandstand.</i> <i> [Roy] I remember sitting
there watching it.</i> It was just amazing that he
would be on American Bandstand. <i> I thought that was great.</i> Lord, my mother, she called everybody in town
and told 'em: "Turn your TV on. My son's going to be on there." Well, so we'd try to get
all of the ratings up and have everybody turn on
two and three TVs. [laughs] <i>[Roy] That was my first inkling
that there was something to it.</i> He was going to go to the top. <i>[Oermann] The Bobby Doyle Trio
on Columbia records,</i> <i> which is a big label,
needs a bass player.</i> <i> [Kenny] Bobby asked me if
I'd play upright bass.</i> <i> And, I said, "I don't play
bass; I play guitar."</i> And, he said, "I know,
but there is more demand for bad bass players than
bad guitar players." ♪ As an old native-born
Californian would say, ♪ ♪ it's a most unusual day. <i> [Kragen] A DJ down in Houston
took me to a little club</i> <i> and there was The Bobby
Doyle Trio playing.</i> And he was playing with the
trio as the bass player, standup bass. You don't think of Kenny as
an instrumental wonder, <i> but he was apparently
good enough.</i> As much as he loved Bobby,
you know, he just knew that he
wanted to do something besides stand up there and
strum on that upright bass. <i> I think he was trying to
get to that next step.</i> <i> A guy named Mike Settle,
musical director for</i> <i> The New Christy Minstrels --</i> when they started looking
for a guy that sang high and played bass, he called me
and said, <i> "We'd love to have you
sing something for us."</i> <i> And I said, "Well, I mean
I can send you a tape."</i> <i> He said, "No, I kind of
need to make a decision</i> <i>in the next two or three days."</i> And I had to audition
on the phone from a hotel lobby and I would sing, "Green,
green, it's green" and they would say,
"Louder!" [New Christy Minstrels] ♪ Green,
green, it's green they say, ♪ ♪ On the far side of the hill. [Kenny] And people are
walking by, and I realize how stupid that looks. So I am kind of holding it back. "No, no. Louder." "Green, green." And he said, "Oh, that's
perfect." And I went to LA to join
The New Christy Minstrels. <i>The New Christy Minstrels were
a very unique folk group,</i> because in the days
of folk music it was usually trios and
quartets. <i> The Christys came out with
this 10-piece band.</i> The original members
ended up leaving and they would hire other
people to come in. <i> I was the 68th Christy
Minstrel.</i> It was a great place to
go and to learn, you know. <i> And so that is why
people come and go.</i> We traveled for a year with
The New Christy Minstrels singing Christy songs. <i>But Mike Settle started writing
these contemporary songs,</i> <i> which the Christys
didn't want to do.</i> So Mike said, "Well, maybe we
should toy with the idea of starting our own group." <i> And we started
The First Edition</i> <i> out of</i> The New
Christy Minstrels. Kenny was a lot older
and it was like anybody over 30 you can't trust,
you know, in our generation. <i> [Kragen] Kenny was sort of
different than the</i> <i> rest of the group.</i> <i> He was quite a bit older;
he was married,</i> <i> they were young.</i> <i> He was trying to fit
with a young group.</i> <i> [Thelma] So he grew his
hair a little longer</i> <i> and he grew a beard.</i> <i> Rose-colored glasses,
a leather jacket:</i> he was trying basically
to be hip. <i> We'd never actually been
out there on our own</i> as a group until we did the
Ledbetter's for the first time. <i> [Kragen] Ledbetter's was a
little club in Los Angeles.</i> Ken Kragen came down
and heard us. <i> [Kragen] I was one of the
producers on</i> <i> The Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour.</i> And I went down and
I was knocked out. [Terry] The next thing I knew,
there we were on Tthe Smothers Brothers show. Here they are singing this
weird messed up song: The First Edition. Kenny was the bass player
but he was -- he wasn't any big deal. <i> He wasn't necessarily
singing leads</i> <i> except on some songs, like</i> "Just Dropped In To See What
My Condition Was In." ♪ Yeah, yeah, oh, yeah, ♪ what condition my condition
was in. ♪ We were anything but
a psychedelic band. We just weren't. <i> None of us were drinkers,
didn't smoke, you know,</i> <i> and we had probably the most
psychedelic record</i> <i> ever written.</i> <i> [Thelma] There was such a
drug culture at that time and</i> <i> the song just sort of
fit right into that.</i> None of us really knew what
the words meant, you know. It's -- [laughing] <i> all we knew is that when
we played it and sang it,</i> <i> everybody loved it.</i> ♪ I pushed my soul ♪ in a deep dark hole ♪ and then I followed it in. Kenny Rogers and
The First Edition, man, they had -- they had more
soul than you could fit in three minutes. ♪ I watched myself
crawling out ♪ ♪ as I was crawling in. ♪ Got up so tight ♪ I couldn't unwind. ♪ I saw so much ♪ I broke my mind. ♪ I just dropped in ♪ To see what condition
my condition was in. ♪ Jimi Hendrix said, "That's one
of my favorite records. "Your solo kills man. I love it." Jimi Hendrix, wow! <i> Kenny becomes sort of
by accident</i> part of the youth culture
of the time. <i> [Thelma] We did 27 television
shows that year.</i> <i> We were on the road so much
that we just came into town.</i> <i> We'd be there one or two days
to do a show</i> and we were back out
on the road. <i> [vocals] ♪ Yeah, </i> <i> ♪ yeah, </i> <i> ♪ oh </i> ♪ yeah. [band plays] [cheers and applause] <i> When Kenny got the first hit,
everything started to change</i> because the record company
said, "We want another one just like that,
in that vein," but that was a fluke song <i> because we didn't do
that kind of music.</i> <i> Our follow-up to "Just
Dropped In," called</i> "Charlie the Fer De Lance," which was about a snake. <i> [The First Edition]
♪ Charlie, Charlie, </i> <i> ♪ what you gonna... </i> <i> It was an obvious attempt at
being "Just Dropped In"-like --</i> fell flat on its tuchus. ♪ <i> [The First Edition] ♪ So
Charlie plays his piccolo... ♪</i> And we're going, whoa,
maybe we're history. <i> [Kenny] I didn't know
where to go.</i> <i> I was totally lost.</i> <i> ♪ </i> Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very proud to
present this group. They are called
The First Edition. And I wonder why. They are dressed beautifully and I think you are the leader,
are you not? Not really. We all kind of share the
responsibility and the blame. If something goes wrong,
everybody is the leader. Well, may I ask your name? Sure, Kenny Rogers. <i> [Kragen] "Just Dropped In"
was an anomaly.</i> It was not what this
group was about. Our follow-up to "Just Dropped
In" fell flat on its tuchus. The First Edition was
having trouble. It was -- it was
kind of painful. <i> On top of everything else,</i> <i> Kenny's marriage was
on the rocks.</i> <i> [Terry] Oh, yeah, yep.</i> <i> I remember a couple
of times in New York.</i> Kenny and Margo had the
room next to mine and they'd go at it. And it was just -- it was
just not a good thing. I don't know what their
differences were, but they had some. A lot. <i> Several members of the group
came to me and said,</i> "If you don't get Kenny to
keep his personal issues out of the group, we'll have
to replace him." I don't know that
they stayed together too long after that. <i> He knew what it was
going to take to get</i> <i> to where he wanted to be</i> and he wasn't going to
really let anything stand in his way. <i> We probably went a
year and a half before</i> The First Edition
released anything. <i> [Thelma] When it came time
to put out a song</i> <i> and we didn't have a song,
Kenny said, "What about "Ruby";</i> <i> we'll put "Ruby" out."</i> We had been doing it on the
road for a long time and it was one of our
biggest songs. <i> [The First Edition] ♪ You've
painted up your lips ♪</i> <i> ♪ and rolled and curled
your tinted hair. ♪</i> <i> [Thelma] And that's
what we did.</i> <i>That's when we started heading
down the country road.</i> ♪ Ruby, are you contemplating ♪ going out somewhere. It's a Mel Tillis song
about a wounded vet. <i> It's a true story about
the Korean War,</i> but everybody assumed it
was about Vietnam -- <i> considered a protest record,
I guess, in a way, you know.</i> ♪ It wasn't me that started
that old crazy Asian War. ♪ The real breakthrough in "Ruby"
was the singing a lyric. ♪ It's hard to love a man
whose legs ♪ ♪ are bent and paralyzed. There was just
so much feeling, so much emotion about
the war at the time. <i> They did songs that
pushed the envelope of</i> making you think
about something. ♪ But I was proud to go and
do my patriotic chore. ♪ "Ruby Don't Take Your
Love To Town" went absolutely crazy. <i> It's been the biggest
record we ever had.</i> His voice stood out and since
he had that little rasp -- and that, that made it. <i> He's so distinct in
his phrasing</i> <i>and his way that he says words</i> and the little bit of edge
he can put on things when he wants to. <i> [Oermann] There was a lot of
emotional weight in that voice.</i> <i> You know, he could really
make you hear a song.</i> And, I think that,
that was the secret. <i> I think it really was.</i> ♪ Oh, Ruby, ♪ For God sakes, turn around. When Kenny Rogers goes out
front, now you have a tendency of looking for songs
that are good for Kenny Rogers, not necessarily
The First Edition. Ladies and gentlemen,
my friends, Kenny Rogers and
The First Edition. [applause] Once the name
change happened, the whole focal point
of the group shifted. ♪ Have you been listening? ♪ Listen to the music. <i>[Thelma] I knew that was going
to eventually happen.</i> But it was a natural thing
for it to be Kenny and The First Edition. <i> Because I had so many records
on me, the singles,</i> I was elected to be the image
of the group, so to speak. When I look back on it now
I think: what a train I was on. <i> I was so young that I didn't
really understand</i> <i> what it meant and what
was expected of me.</i> And I was getting tired of
traveling on a bus and sleeping on
the bus [laughs]. <i>After three years on the road,</i> <i> I just basically
had it, you know.</i> ♪ Listen to the music. [indistinct stage chatter] [band member] All right. From the top. "Reuben James": it was
one of my favorites. Reuben James is a --
because it's a country tune, but it has a message. ♪ Reuben James. <i> [Oermann] It's about
racial tolerance.</i> ♪ All the folks around
Madison County ♪ ♪ hushed your name. <i> [Oermann] It's a song about
a little white child</i> <i> who is embraced by an
older black man</i> <i> who becomes a father figure.</i> My hat's off to Kenny
for making it a hit. ♪ Reuben James, ♪ You still walk the verdant
fields of my mind. ♪ ♪ Faded shirt, ♪ Weathered brow, ♪ The calloused hands
upon the plow. ♪ ♪ I loved you then and
I love you now, ♪ ♪ Reuben James. Just a great song that
people can relate to, sing along with. Kenny's had the knack
to find those songs. ♪ And although your
skin was black, ♪ ♪ You were the one that
didn't turn your back ♪ ♪ On the hungry
white soul, no, ♪ ♪ Reuben James. [Oermann] If Kenny has a
secret weapon, that's what it is. He gets the essence
of a story song. They tell a compelling story
and you hang on them to see: what's he going to sing next? [eerie music] [helicopter whirs] [sirens and riot chatter] Kent State University has
had campus violence for three nights, <i> causing the National Guard
to be called in.</i> <i> We were performing
at Kent State</i> like a week after the
shooting and the riots. <i> [news anchor] Today the
guardsmen opened fired on the</i> <i>students, killing four of them,</i> <i> two young men and
two young women.</i> <i> A dozen more others
were wounded,</i> <i> some by gunfire and
some by bayonets.</i> <i> [Terry] We were in this
building that we can still</i> <i> smell is all burned out.</i> And we're doing
"Tell It All, Brother" for the first time. [The First Edition]
♪ Tell it all, brother, ♪ Before we fall. I remember when it came
out thinking that it spoke, that it spoke volumes <i> about where we were in the
culture at the time.</i> <i>[The First Edition] ♪ How much
you're holding back on me. ♪</i> <i> [Terry] Well, we got to
the chorus of</i> <i> "Tell It All, Brother"</i> and these students
at Kent State, all of them, stand. [The First Edition]
♪ Tell it all, brothers. [Kenny] Sing it with me,
everybody. ♪ Before we fall. ♪ Tell it all, brothers
and sisters, ♪ ♪ Oh, tell it all. ♪ Everybody, tell it all... They're standing on
their feet, singing. Whoo. I get really emotional
thinking about it. [The First Edition]
♪ Tell. ♪ Tell it all, brother, ♪ Before we fall. ♪ Tell it all. [band plays] [cheers and applause] <i> [Kragen] The focus was the
music and the song.</i> If the song had a good message,
that was all the better. <i> And they had this wonderful
family broad appeal,</i> <i> where the kids could
really love them</i> <i> and the adults could
like them as well.</i> [TV Commercial] Alcoa presents
The First Edition. They are singing about
easy-open aluminum bottle caps and ring top cans. [The First Edition] ♪ He's got
a ring for your finger, baby. ♪ ♪ Makes it easy
[unintelligible]. ♪ <i> The most vivid thing that
happened during this era</i> was when Kenny and The First
Edition got their own TV show. <i> [Host] Rollin' on the River.</i> [The First Edition]
♪ Rollin' on the River. <i>[Host] ...starring Kenny Rogers
and The First Edition.</i> ♪ Won't you come along? <i> [Oermann] They were
really cool.</i> <i> They sang all kinds of music,
all different things,</i> and they had really cool guests. We had people like Edgar Winter
and the James Gang <i> and Badfinger and
Ike and Tina Turner.</i> <i> Just everybody came
on to do the show.</i> <i> [Kenny] When we put the group
together, we decided that,</i> <i> as far as the show went,</i> <i> that we were not going to
fabricate characters.</i> And it was just very
fortunate for us that Terry happens to be
dumb and stupid. Kenny and I's routines came
out of the routines we used to do in
The New Christy Minstrels, which were comedy routines. And it grew into The
First Edition stuff. There is no lead on
"Camptown Races". It's unison. Oh, then I'll sing -- I'll sing lead unison, then. That's the way we would
banter back and forth. And, you know, we
still do it today. You go doo dah, doo dah. There you go. Perfect for you. <i>[Kragen] They'd had a long run.</i> <i> They'd had four or five
years of hits.</i> <i> [Oermann] They were still
out there on the road,</i> <i> but there were no more hits.</i> <i> From after 73, there
were no more hits.</i> <i> [Kragen] They just ran
out of steam.</i> <i> Literally, the last
engagement they played</i> <i> was the Magic Mountain,
an amusement park.</i> <i> And there was just a general
deterioration of</i> <i> every aspect of the group.</i> <i>So they broke up at that point.</i> ♪ Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, ♪ What condition my
condition was in. ♪ <i> [Terry] That time
you can't get back.</i> Very emotional for me, very. <i> [Kenny] When The First
Edition broke up,</i> <i> I was totally lost.</i> <i> I mean I always wanted
to be a group singer.</i> <i> I loved singing harmony.</i> <i> I never wanted to
be a solo singer.</i> <i> But the group kind of
broke up around me,</i> <i> and I had no choice.</i> <i> [The First Edition]
♪ I broke my mind. </i> <i> [Kenny] It was frightening.</i> <i> ♪ Just dropped in to see </i> <i> ♪ What condition my
condition was in. ♪</i> [band plays] [applause] <i>[Kenny] When The First Edition
broke up,</i> <i> I didn't know where to go.</i> <i> [Sandy] He was devastated.</i> But where do you go? I've been with the group
here for a little while. By myself, what do I do? <i> There was a point when
he was on his own</i> that he really didn't
have a clue if he was <i> going to be able to
have a career.</i> <i> [Thelma] Kenny had to
kind of find his way</i> <i> and started trying to
create his career anew.</i> <i> [Oermann] Kenny had
a strong drive.</i> <i> The drive is as
important as the talent.</i> There's many talented people
out there who never make it. You have to have a
certain amount of: <i> I've got to do this.</i> <i>And that came from his mother.</i> <i> [Wanda] Kenny's mom, Lucille,
had a third grade education.</i> And she raised eight kids. <i> [Roy] She worked as a
licensed nurse</i> and then at night she'd climb
on that bus and go uptown <i> and she'd mop floors.</i> <i> She'd do anything.</i> <i> Kenny never forgot that.</i> <i> So, he went to Nashville.</i> [instrumental music] <i> [Oermann] Maybe it was "Ruby,
Don't Take Your Love to Town"</i> <i> that did that.</i> <i> It was like: you know what,
that song came from Nashville.</i> Maybe I need to go there. <i> [Kenny] When you get to
a point to where</i> <i> you know you want to go on</i> <i> but you don't know
which road to take</i> <i> and you're afraid you'll
take the wrong road,</i> <i>those are the scariest moments.</i> When I wrote the song, I think
it was really basically how I felt about myself
and about everything else. But it was a time -- it was
a very low period in my life. "Sweet Music Man", did you
write that about Waylon? Is that a true story? I wrote it about
Waylon Jennings. Wow, that's really. It started out about Waylon. By the time I finished,
it was about me. [laughing] [indistinct stage chatter] ♪ Sing your song,
sweet music man, ♪ ♪ 'Cause I won't be there
to hold your hand ♪ ♪ Like I used to. <i> [Steve Glassmeyer] In 1976
I was playing in a trio.</i> <i> We were anything but country.</i> <i> We were kind of an R&B band.</i> <i>This club owner and Kenny walk
in the place and he said,</i> <i> "I really like you guys.</i> <i> We're going to need a band."</i> You work some little
private parties and some tiny little rodeos and I remember one time
we worked a show and there was hardly
anybody in the crowd. And then he didn't
have any more work. And he said, "Sorry, guys. "Go back to do what
you were doing and when I get some more
work, I'll call you." <i> [Kragen] He was pretty
downtrodden at that point.</i> <i> And I remember specifically a
phone call from him saying,</i> <i> "Look, I can't take
this anymore.</i> <i> "I mean it's just so
downgrading</i> "and it's really
got me depressed. "And I'm not even sure
if I should stay "in the music business. Maybe I should just
get out, you know." ♪ They don't need you. ♪ ♪ You're still a hell of a
singer but a broken man. ♪ ♪ You keep on lookin' for one
last fan to sing 'em to. ♪ <i> [Kenny] There's a purging
that takes place in a</i> <i> songwriting process.</i> And, um, but that particular song says
everything I wanted to say. <i>[Oermann] I think "Sweet Music
Man" is very much</i> <i> autobiographical.</i> <i> The hits have stopped.</i> You know, he's alone in a motel. <i> He's trying to make it
and struggling.</i> <i>I think he's very much writing
his life in that song.</i> The "Sing Your Song, Sweet
Music Man, I believe in you" -- I really think that I felt
that about myself. I felt that I really believe
that if I stay in here I can make this thing work. And it's -- and it was against
insurmountable odds almost at the time. But it's amazing what a
little confidence can do, and a lot of good luck. ♪ But nobody sings a love song
quite like you do. ♪ ♪ And nobody else could
make me sing along. ♪ ♪ And nobody else could
make me feel ♪ ♪ That things are right when
they're wrong with a song. ♪ ♪ Nobody sings a love song
quite like you. ♪ ♪ Sing your song,
sweet music man. ♪ ♪ I believe in you. [applause] [applause] <i> [Marianne] I knew nothing
of him before I met him.</i> I thought he was Kenny Rogers
and The Fifth Dimension. And they said, "Nope, that's
a whole different group." <i> [Kragen] Kenny left Margo,
met Marianne on Hee Haw,</i> and who wouldn't
fall for Marianne? Gordie, I'm taking that
new dress you sold me right back to your store
for a refund. You told me that
that color was fast and it faded the very
first time I washed it. Well, that is fast, isn't it? [laughing] I was leaving the studio. I think we were going to lunch. <i> I remember looking over and
seeing this man with long hair</i> <i> and a thick beard.</i> You know how you just meet
someone and you feel like you've known them forever? That was the relationship
with him. Kenny, we were going to talk
about Marianne for a moment. <i> [Kenny] Well, the first part
of the year was the</i> <i> lowest part of my life
professionally,</i> because The First Edition
had broken up and I went through a whole
identification thing. <i>And I knew Marianne at the time
and I'd been dating her.</i> <i> [Roy] She was special.</i> There's no doubt about that. <i> [Kragen] Marianne was the
perfect partner for</i> <i> Kenny Rogers at that point
in his life.</i> She was as beautiful as
any woman in the world, <i> as sweet and charming
and helpful</i> <i> and involved as you
could possibly be.</i> <i> [Kenny] I think she was very
important to me at that time.</i> <i> You are talking
about having friends.</i> She was truly a
friend at that time. She kept saying, "Hey,
you know, hang in there. You can do it." <i> [Marianne] He was in debt,
and I was able to help.</i> <i> It was not the way
he wanted it to be.</i> <i> I remember a friend came over
and she said,</i> "Marianne, what are you doing?" And I said, "I'd rather be
with him and have nothing than be with anybody else
and have everything." <i> [Sandy] He didn't have a job.</i> <i> He didn't know what to do.</i> I think he just didn't know
how to get going about it, you know, by himself. And then he started running
into people that were in the business. Kenny met the tremendous
producer, Larry Butler. <i> [Larry Butler] I got a phone
call from a friend of mine</i> <i> asking me if I liked Kenny
Rogers and The First Edition.</i> And I said, "Well, gosh, yes. <i> I love Kenny Rogers."</i> <i> And that's when my wheels
started turning.</i> <i> I called some friends of mine
at radio stations and I said,</i> "I'm considering signing
Kenny Rogers. "If I record him country, will you play his records?" <i> They said, "Larry, every time
he cuts anything that's</i> <i> halfway country, we play
his records."</i> Finding Larry Butler was a
real key thing. <i> [Larry] Kenny came to my
office and sat down,</i> <i> and 15 minutes later
we had a deal.</i> <i> [Kenny] Larry Butler,
he really believed in me</i> <i> and he stood up for me.</i> <i> [Larry] We started
looking for material.</i> <i> And Kenny, he likes country
music and he was raised</i> <i> in country music.</i> But he's still got a little bit
of rock and roll inside of him. So he would pick this batch
and I would pick this batch, and then we'd start culling. <i> [Marianne] They had
all of these songs,</i> <i> and they listened to like one
line in the song</i> <i> and they would throw it away
and another and another.</i> He said, "If it doesn't
grab you right away, it's not going to grab the
public right away." <i> [Steve] They released
a single called</i> <i> "Love Lifted Me".</i> <i> It didn't do anything.</i> <i> Then they released
another single.</i> And it didn't do anything. And he just kind of said,
"Well, if this next one "doesn't do anything,
I'm back to rock and roll. <i>The country experiment's over."</i> <i> [Larry] We did not have
the song.</i> And I looked for it and looked
for it, and Kenny looked for it. Roger Bowling came in
my office one day and sat down with his guitar and sang me a song. <i> Everybody started
laughing and I said,</i> "This is either the biggest hit <i> or the biggest flop
I've ever heard."</i> I can [strums guitar]. I don't even know what
key it is. [strums guitar off key] Isn't that funny? <i> [Larry] We did not have
that career song.</i> <i> And I looked for it,
and Kenny looked for it.</i> I finally heard a song
that I liked and I said, <i> "Oh, there we go."</i> <i> I played it for Kenny.</i> As soon as he listened
to it he said, "Larry, I'll agree with you. That is a great country song. <i> But I think it's
too country for me."</i> <i> [Oermann] It's a very
old-sounding song,</i> <i> no question about that,
stone country song.</i> <i>[Larry] I said, "Kenny, I think
it's an important song for</i> <i> "you to do because it will
show your audience</i> <i> "that you're serious
about country music.</i> <i> "It will validate you
in the market.</i> It will validate you
with radio." ♪ You picked a fine time to
leave me, Lucille, ♪ ♪ With four hungry children... <i> [Larry] Some of the people
involved weren't sure if</i> <i> that was the right song
for Kenny Rogers.</i> But I wanted to tell the world:
this is it. Here it is. It's finally here. This is the song. ♪ But this time your
hurting won't heal. ♪ He said, "Sandy, you're
going to love this new song that I'm doing." I said, "Really?" I said, "What is it?" He said, "It's 'Lucille'." He said, "I think it's
going to be big." <i> Anybody that listens to
the lyrics, can tell</i> he had that storytelling voice
that goes with country music. And that's what sells a song. In my opinion, Kenny Rogers
sells a song better than anybody maybe in the
history of country music. I believe every word
that he says. ♪ You picked a fine time to
leave me, Lucille, ♪ ♪ With four hungry and a
crop in the field. ♪ ♪ I've had some
bad times, ♪ ♪ Lived through some
sad times. ♪ ♪ This time your hurting
won't heal. ♪ ♪ You picked a fine time
to leave me, Lucille. ♪ <i> My dad used to sing
"Lucille".</i> And so -- he used to sing
that around the house, and of course changed it
to 400 children like everybody did instead
of four hungry. And we thought that was funny. [laughs] Everybody wants to sing. Everybody wants to sound
good when they sing. <i> And that to me is the trick
to finding a hit song.</i> And that's what Lucille does
better than anything I've ever heard. When "Lucille" came out, I
remember my whole family -- being country-based people,
that was just so perfect a song. ♪ You picked a fine time to
leave me, Lucille. ♪ [cheers and applause] <i> [Steve] We were playing
some little place in</i> <i> Canada I believe.</i> And the next day we were
having like breakfast in the coffee shop or something. And he said, "Guys, I
just got a phone call. <i> This Lucille thing
is really going big."</i> When Lucille broke,
he called me and said, "I've got my career back." And literally went
almost overnight from doing little lounges
and clubs to doing arenas. Everything changed. "Lucille", as country as it is,
was a massive pop hit. [Marianne] When we got
married in October of 77, "Lucille" was climbing. And then it went to number
one on the country charts. The winner is "Lucille"
by Kenny Rogers. [applause] [Marianne] It was a wonderful
fairytale moment. I remember saying to him it
represented his acceptance, that he would feel good
about himself because people liked his music. I kind of hung around the pop
field for eight or nine years looking for a home. And I think thanks to
Larry Butler and thanks to Arty Mogull and all of the people at UA and the people at Management
Three, my management, they finally found me a home
in country music. And I really appreciate this. Thank you very much. <i> [Kenny] One of my favorite
little tidbits of philosophy</i> <i> that my mom gave me:</i> <i> she said, "Son, always be
happy where you are.</i> <i> But never be content
to be there."</i> <i> [Larry] You know, the
scariest thing in the world</i> <i> is once you have a big hit...</i> <i> is having another one.</i> <i> [Director] Speed. Speed.</i> <i>Common mark, Schlitz, take one.</i> <i> Mark.</i> [strumming guitar] <i> I'm Don Schlitz, and
I'm a songwriter.</i> <i>I'm from Durham North Carolina.</i> I moved here to Nashville, got
a job at Vanderbilt University as the all-night computer
operator. And I commenced
to writing songs. <i> I was watching all of my
friends get record deals</i> <i> and nothing was happening
with me.</i> There's a culture in Nashville
of the songwriter being respected and being revered, <i> but the songwriter is
working anonymously.</i> <i> One night I was sitting with
a wonderful songwriter</i> and he was kindly listening
to song after song. And I said, "Well,
I've got this one. "It's too long and it's
too linear melodically. "There's no love interest. And I don't know how it
is going to end." And I played it for him and he said, "That's the
one you ought to finish." <i> [Oermann] Don Schlitz sings
the song and he's told:</i> <i> that'll never be a hit.</i> <i> It's a story song.</i> <i> It takes too long.</i> <i> Bobby Bare had
recorded the song.</i> <i> Cash had cut it, Johnny Cash,
for Pete's sake.</i> <i> [Johnny Cash] ♪ The night
got deathly quiet ♪</i> <i> ♪ And his face lost
all expression. ♪</i> <i> ♪ He said, "If you're gonna
play the game, boy, ♪</i> <i> ♪ You better learn to
play it right." ♪</i> The Johnny Cash version
just didn't work. And the Kenny version
was pure magic. Right now he's going to do
his soon-to-be-released single. Would you welcome Kenny Rogers? Ken? <i> [band] ♪ Time enough
for countin' ♪</i> <i> ♪ when the dealing is done. </i> <i> [Kragen] Johnny Cash had
recorded "The Gambler".</i> <i>[Cash] ♪ About 20 years ago, </i> <i> ♪ On a train bound for
nowhere. ♪</i> <i> [Jim] I didn't know that
Johnny Cash had cut it.</i> Had I known that,
that may have changed <i>our opinion of it at the time.</i> [laughs] <i> [Cash] ♪ I met up with
The Gambler. ♪</i> <i> ♪ We were both too tired
to sleep. ♪</i> <i> Either something
delayed it</i> or Cash wasn't crazy
about the song. And Larry went ahead and
played the song for Kenny. <i> [Larry] I played
"The Gambler" for Kenny.</i> <i> I said, "Kenny, I think
we need to do this.</i> <i> I really do."</i> And I said, "I think if
you sing this song, you will become The Gambler." ♪ He said, "Son,
I've made my life ♪ ♪ "Out of readin'
people's faces ♪ ♪ "And knowin' what the
cards were ♪ ♪ By the way they held
their eyes." ♪ <i> [Kragen] Larry went and
recorded the song with Kenny.</i> Johnny wasn't too happy about
it but we were thrilled. [laughs] ♪ And if you don't
mind me saying, ♪ ♪ I can see you're
out of aces. ♪ ♪ For a taste of your whiskey, ♪ I'll give you some advice. If you listen to
those two versions, they're night and day. And the Kenny version
was pure magic. Right now, he's going to do his
soon-to-be-released single. Will you welcome Kenny Rogers? Ken? <i> The first time that he'd
ever done this on live TV</i> was on <i> The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson</i> . <i>I didn't know that Kenny Rogers
was going to sing</i> one of my songs but he took that
song and gave it to the world. ♪ So I handed him my bottle ♪ And he drank down
my last swallow. ♪ ♪ Then he bummed a cigarette ♪ And asked me for a light. You just believed Kenny. He looked the part. He looked like the gambler. <i> He looked like a person that
would go to some Western town</i> and just play in any
card game and win. So you believed it. ♪ Know when to fold 'em. <i> ♪ Know when to walk away, </i> <i> ♪ And know when to run. </i> <i>♪ You never count your money </i> <i> ♪ When you're sittin'... </i> It sounded like a perfect song with the perfect person with the perfect, you know,
music. <i> I just thought: it's right.</i> <i> It is just so right.</i> <i>[Kenny] Such a great dialogue.</i> It's like a -- like a
book that was written. As a singer, you really
appreciate how much is in there emotionally
and technically. ♪ And somewhere in the
darkness ♪ ♪ The Gambler, he broke even. ♪ And in his final words
I found ♪ ♪ An ace that I could keep. ♪ You got to know
when to hold 'em. ♪ ♪ Know when to fold 'em. ♪ Know when to walk away ♪ And know when to run. ♪ You never count your money ♪ When you're sittin'
at the table. ♪ ♪ There'll be time enough
for countin' ♪ ♪ When the dealing's done. <i> [Stapleton] It's a fairly
daunting song to cover,</i> <i> just because of what it is
and then particularly because</i> <i> Mr. Rogers will be
sitting there,</i> <i> watching and listening</i> and hopefully enjoying
whatever it is we're doing. ♪ There'll be time
enough for countin' ♪ ♪ When the dealing's done. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kenny. WNEW in New York added<i>
The Gambler</i> . In New York! That was the beginning of it
crossing into the mainstream. Gosh, I just didn't -- I didn't realize how
big it could be. It just floored me. Once he did <i> The Gambler</i> ,
now everybody knew his face. <i> He became a superstar.</i> <i> [Kragen] It took off like a
rocket after that,</i> <i> in every way.</i> <i> [Keith] Kenny's shows were
always sold out.</i> [audience cheering] <i> Chaos.</i> <i> I mean it really was.</i> People standing up, tr--
running to the stage. <i>[Wynonna] I believe so strongly
that you've either got it</i> <i> or you don't.</i> And when he walks
out on that stage, he's got it. ♪ You know there's one
thing about you. ♪ ♪ I just can't live
without you. ♪ ♪ Don't let me down, ♪ Girl. ♪ You're the one that keeps
me all together. ♪ ♪ Let me hold you in my arms
all through the night. ♪ <i> Making the audience feel
like he is there for them,</i> that's what Kenny is
so good about. Kenny came to me and said, "I want you to come out
and go on the road." I said, well, okay. I took over security for that. I remember him being on
stage in The Round. And everywhere he walked,
women were literally ready to throw their
panties onstage. [laughing] ♪ I'm so in love with you. <i> [Roy] Once he was on stage,
we would protect him.</i> I've been grabbed in the crotch
so many times it's ridiculous. You know, they aim for Kenny
and hit me. [laughs] [Kenny] Thank you. You now know that you are
riding sort of a wave. Is that how you want to say it? <i> Yeah, it's-it's, uh --</i> I look at it as hills
and valleys, you know. And I think that I'm,
at this point at least, toward the top of the hill. <i> Number one records
and number one albums,</i> <i> quadruple platinum
pretty rapidly,</i> you know, set the state
for everything to come. <i> Kenny Rogers at the time
was on the top of the</i> pop hit parade and top of the
country music charts. <i> Going back and
forth performing</i> during the height of his career
every night was amazing. <i> And to do that, he had
four private planes.</i> <i> Five years ago he lived in a
modest house in California;</i> today they live luxuriously,
collecting home the way some might collect cameras. <i> [Kragen] He bought from
Dino De Laurentis</i> <i> a home that was quite
magnificent.</i> It was, I don't know,
25,000 square feet. <i> Kenny Rogers bought a
Beverly Hills mansion</i> for a cool 14.5 million bucks. <i> Kenny's little hacienda
has a 13-car garage,</i> <i> a private elevator,</i> <i> and a mere 35 rooms.</i> <i> [Dick Lowry] My wife
uses the restroom.</i> <i>She comes back out and I said,
"What's wrong?"</i> <i> And she says, "That
room's too big.</i> <i> I didn't like being in
there by myself."</i> [laughs] It was huge. You could have played
half-court basketball in there. [laughs] <i> To come from the background
that we'd come from,</i> you know, to go into his house,
it was phenomenal. <i> [Kragen] It was a succession
of things happening</i> <i> in a pretty concentrated
period of time</i> <i> just literally solidified
Kenny's position</i> <i> as a superstar.</i> <i> [Jim] Kenny had 25 hits
in a row.</i> That's absolutely incredible. [Dolly] Kenny was just
everywhere. You know, he was anywhere
he wanted to be. Kenny! [band plays "The Gambler"] It is my pleasure and honor,
Kenny, to present to you the key of the city of
Cedar Rapids. [cheers and applause] Thank you very much. This is really nice. Do you guys do this for
every plane that comes in? I think that's really nice. <i> [Kragen] As far as I'm
concerned, nothing put</i> <i> Kenny Rogers on the map as
much as "The Gambler" did.</i> <i> I had surely learned that
once we had a hit,</i> it was easy to build on
if you moved quickly and you moved around it
to do other things. And, truthfully, I think the
most memorable thing of all we did basically was the
movie of the week. The cover of <i> The Gambler</i>
is a really cool shot of Kenny in a gambler's outfit. <i>[Kragen] It was a classic shot.</i> <i> And we had it made
into a huge poster.</i> They saw it as an amazing
marketing possibility. Kenny became The Gambler. <i> [Kragen] In 1980, two
executives from CBS</i> <i> were backstage.</i> We unrolled the poster of<i>
The Gambler </i> and we said, "We want to make a
movie of the week." And they said, "Sold." <i> [Kenny] ♪ On a warm summer's
evening... ♪</i> That was how quick it happened. [Kenny] ♪ On a train
bound for nowhere. ♪ <i> [Johnny Carson] The first
movie was The Gambler.</i> <i> Now, was that a romp for you?</i> <i> Did you have fun doing that?</i> I was The Gambler, because the
role was created around me. So it was easy for me. I just kind of walked in
and doing the dialogue. That kid's cheating. Seems he's not the only one
cheating in this game. Why don't you too take your
game somewhere else? <i>[Dolly] When you're an artist,
you think you want to do</i> <i> everything you can.</i> It's just another way
to express yourself and to do something
more for your fans. <i> I felt like my job was
to let his strengths</i> as an entertainer come through in the fictional character
that he was playing. [smack] Ahhhhh! <i> [Kenny] That's an ugly beard.</i> Would you like me to part it
for you real neatly with this little derringer? Don't do it. People loved him and they
got what they tuned in for. <i> [Kragen] They got
Bruce Boxleitner to play</i> <i> Kenny's sidekick.</i> His protege, Billy Montana... Brady, don't shoot! Don't shoot! <i> There's a scene where
Kenny and Bruce,</i> they're running from a bear. <i>Kenny whipped right past Bruce
[laughs], ran past me,</i> <i> knocked my watch off
my arm [laughs]</i> <i> standing next to the camera.</i> "God dang, Kenny, you know
that bear wasn't going to really get you." He said, "He damn sure wasn't." [laughing] [bear groans] <i> [host] CBS last Tuesday night
took a programming gamble</i> <i> and won.</i> Singer Kenny Rogers making
his acting debut in the CBS tele-movie <i> The Gambler</i>
has scored some astounding audience numbers. <i> [Kragen] We were all novices,
and what do we make?</i> The highest-rated movie of the
week at that moment in time. Let's just say I ran
half a bluff. [gun blast] <i> [Kenny] ♪ You got to know
when to hold 'em, ♪</i> Kenny was in that rarefied world
of television and movies and number-one records. A hundred and twenty-five
different places. That is a killing schedule,
being on the road. You know, I can't help but
think that it has to do with the basic insecurity of
having, first of all, come from a very poor family
when I was a kid and then secondly from having
had this tremendous valley after The First Edition. You never forget those things. And you -- I think you always
get the feeling that you have to just kind of keep
going and keep going because you don't know how
long it's going to be there. Otherwise, tomorrow you're
going to get up and say: what happened?
It's all gone. That's right and that's
very possible. Kenny played so many
live shows. I would think he averaged
250 shows a year or something like that. <i> [Steve] Wow. We were gone
all the time.</i> <i>It just kind of never stopped.</i> <i> I think it's just a matter of
priorities,</i> and at the time,
that was his priority. ♪ Having trouble
catching my breath, ♪ ♪ And it's scaring me
to death... ♪ <i> [Steve] I think he
probably told himself:</i> <i> I have to do this
if I'm going to</i> <i> continue to climb the ladder.</i> <i> [Roy] We'd drive
out to the airport,</i> <i> get on this plane</i> <i> and we would fly to
wherever it was.</i> <i> I'd have a limo
waiting for him,</i> <i> police escort motorcycle.</i> <i> Takes us to the show
and then we'd just</i> <i> reverse it coming back.</i> I don't know when he slept. <i> [Kenny] When you're on the
road, absence makes the heart</i> <i> grow fonder is wonderful
for a weekend.</i> <i> It doesn't work six months
at a time.</i> <i> But through every
stage of it,</i> <i> Marianne was my
support system.</i> [crew] [Crosstalk]
Right this way. All right. Full rehearsal. ♪ While I wait... <i>[Marianne] There was this song,
"She Believes In Me".</i> We listened to it together. We both loved it. And he told me, he said, "I think it just sounds
just like us." ♪ While she lays sleepin', ♪ I stay out late at night ♪ And play my songs. ♪ And sometimes all the
nights... ♪ <i> I've known this song
my whole life</i> but I don't ever really think
I realized what it was about. It's about being on the road
and coming home and having a good woman
by your side. <i> But you see your guitar, and
it's pulling you over there.</i> You're always fighting
between these two loves. ♪ She believes in me. ♪ I'll never know just
what she sees in me. ♪ ♪ I told her someday
if she was my girl ♪ ♪ I could change the world ♪ With my little songs ♪ but I was wrong. I love music so much and I
love my family so much, and there is always that
struggle to make time for both of them. ♪ I will find a way, ♪ Find a way ♪ While she waits... ♪ While I wait. ♪ For me. [cheers and applause] <i> He just had a natural
ability to harmonize,</i> which I think came from our
Baptist upbringing and singing in the choir. <i> Kenny was a
great duet partner</i> <i> because he looked good
with a woman</i> and had this voice that made for
a really rich and good blend. And Kenny could sing harmony
or he could sing the melody. His voice was very versatile. <i> [Oermann] In the mid-70s when
Kenny Rogers got together</i> <i>and did duets with Dottie West,
they blended so well together.</i> The songs were real country because Dottie West
was really country. What Kenny did was expand on
that by dueting with pop stars. ♪ Just look at you ♪ Sitting there. ♪ You never looked better
than tonight. ♪ Kim Carnes, one of the great
and unique voices in popular music: you know, what a genius thing
to team up with her. ♪ I was so sure ♪ This would be the night. ♪ You'd close the door ♪ And want to stay with me. <i> [Kragen] Kim Carnes
was actually in</i> <i> The New Christy Minstrels
when Kenny Rogers was there,</i> <i> way, way back.</i> <i> So he knew her.</i> <i> He knew her well.</i> And her voice was
very distinctive, and kind of raspy a little bit. And Kenny has a certain
amount of rasp in his voice. ♪ Don't fall in love
with a dreamer ♪ ♪ 'Cause he'll break
you every time. ♪ ♪ Oh, put out the light ♪ And just hold on ♪ Before we say goodbye. [applause] Kim Carnes! [applause] [crew] [Crosstalk] Check, check. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hi. <i>[Kragen] The duet constituted
some of his best performances.</i> And it continued in
a tremendous build with Sheena Easton and
"We've Got Tonight". ♪ We've got tonight. ♪ ♪ Who needs tomorrow. ♪ ♪ We've got tonight, babe. ♪ Why don't you stay? He wasn't afraid
to cross genre I think before a lot of people
were doing it. And I think that that's really
something that is -- was so ahead of the curve. ♪ I know your plans ♪ They don't include me. ♪ Still here we are, ♪ Both of us lonely, ♪ Both of us lonely. <i> I feel like we don't hear
as many duets these days,</i> not those classic kind of
duets that Kenny would do. <i> And I think it takes
somebody really special</i> <i> to do it the way he did.</i> And I said, "You know,
all of those old girls "you used to sing with
back then, they can't hold a candle
to me." [laughs] ♪ Girl, we've got tonight,
babe. ♪ ♪ Why don't we stay? ♪ ♪ 'Cause we've got tonight,
babe. ♪ ♪ Why don't we stay? ♪ <i> Duets were becoming a staple
of the hits for him,</i> but the biggest single duet
is coming. [Dolly] All of those girls
you were singing with, you were just doing all of
that waiting for me. Thank you very much
for the flowers. I think that's such
a nice gesture. I take those home and
give them to Marianne. She thinks I buy her
flowers every night. I love it. <i> [Alison] There's a reason
Kenny's made the mark</i> <i> on history that he has.</i> There's nobody like him, ♪ Every night and day ♪ When the world... <i> I had forgotten myself
how many great</i> hit records that Kenny had. And he's always
had a great gift for choosing songs. ♪ Here's my arms. ♪ We can hide today ♪ And love... <i> [Oermann] Kenny at that time
was a superstar.</i> <i> He had big hits.</i> He is able to move
seamlessly through genres. Kenny was never exactly
satisfied where he was. He was always wanting to
challenge himself to go to the next level,
the next big thing. ♪ Away... <i> [Kelly] Kenny was
the risk taker.</i> He spent his whole
career doing that. <i> [Jim] Kenny was always
looking to make sure</i> <i> that he wasn't stale.</i> He said to me, "I think
everything is starting "to sound the same. I think we need
to change it up." <i> [Kragen] Kenny was big on the
country charts, number one.</i> <i> He was big on the pop charts.</i> Kenny decided he wanted a
big successful R&B record. And the president of his
record company said, "There's only one person
to talk to." <i> [Marianne] We were in Hawaii
and "Easy Like Sunday Morning"</i> <i> came on, and
"Three Times A Lady".</i> Kenny was just saying,
"God, he can sing so great. And I love the songs he writes." And then he'd say,
"I want to get Lionel and see if he'll write
a song for me." [musicians and crew] All right. So let me crank this up. All right, let's do it. We know what we're doing? Here you are, sir. I'll put that in here. You hold that. [Crosstalk] We are ready. Teleprompter. Lady. To the top, please. [indistinct chatter] Three, four... <i> [Kenny] I called him one
day and I said,</i> <i>"Hey, Lionel, I'd love for you
to write a song for me."</i> <i> And he said, "Well, I really
don't have time."</i> I said, "Okay. I thought I'd
tell you it'll probably sell five or six million albums." And he said, "How's
Saturday at 7:30?" [laughs] I'm not used to pitching songs. But I had this song
called "Baby". I land in Vegas, and all I've prepared
is the first verse the way I would normally do
it for The Commodores. I said, "Hey, Kenny, there's
some songwriter out here and he wants to play
you a song." <i> He walks over to this old
rinky-tink upright</i> <i> out-of-tune piano in the
corner of the dressing room.</i> <i> He said, "Well, before you do
the song, let me tell you:</i> "I married a lady,
like a real lady. "And-and-and a country boy
like me from Houston, Texas: what am I doing with a lady?" And he kept on going. "I mean she's got such class,
such taste, such style. "And she's such a lady. Oh, by the way, what's
the name of your song?" And I said, "Lady." [laughs] I'm no fool. <i> [Marianne] Lionel said,
"I have the lyric:</i> <i> Lady, I'm your knight
in shining armor."</i> And he said, " But I haven't
gone from there." I played it for him: ♪ babababababababababa. "You like the song?" All he had were
some chord changes and he sang the word "Lady". And that's all he had. He said, "Yeah, where's the
rest of the song?" And I said, "You'll get
it if you like the song." I said, "You finish it,
I'll do it." "Okay, I'll be in
LA on Thursday. Can you have it ready?" I said, "I'll meet you there. <i> Lionel came in and
produced it with him,</i> and that was difficult for
Kenny, because Lionel's way of recording would take
months to do a song. Kenny would complete a
whole album in three days. When they did record the song, Lionel still hadn't
finished it yet. Kenny says, "Hey, Jim,
where the lyric sheet?" And I said, "It's coming." He said,
"Where's Lionel?" "He's in -- oh, he's in
the bathroom writing the second verse" or
something like that. <i> [Terry] Lionel comes out
15 minutes later</i> <i> and he's got lyrics.</i> [laughs] I have a new single that's
been out maybe 10 days or so. For those of you who
have not heard it, I will tell you that it was
written and produced by a young man named
Lionel Richie of The Commodores. And it is called "Lady". ♪ Lady, ♪ I'm your knight in
shining armor ♪ ♪ And I love you. That always seem to me
like it was a song that he was meant to record as much as I felt "The Gambler"
was meant for him to record. I just can't imagine
anybody else doing it. ♪ You have come into
my life and, ♪ ♪ Made me whole. ♪ My love, ♪ There's so many ways
I want to say ♪ ♪ I love you. ♪ Let me hold you in my arms ♪ Forever more. ♪ You have gone ♪ And made me such a fool. [Kragen] It became a huge
record for Kenny. Boom, it's monster. "Lady" is, what, the first song
to ever be number one pop, number one country, number one R&B. Haven't had a chance to tell
you this before, man, but I think that song "Lady"
is one of those very special songs that just
comes along every so often. And one of the reasons I got
so excited about working with you guys in the first place is
the type of music that you do. It really has no boundaries. ♪ Sail on down the line
'bout-a ♪ ♪ Half-a mile or so. The greatest thing that ever
happened in my life was I met that crazy man. <i> [Kenny] Lionel, he's a very
special person.</i> And that's when we
became good friends. <i> [Lionel] We had so much
in common.</i> He came from The First Edition. I came from The Commodores. I am going for my solo career
and I had stories and questions that I wanted answered. He knows all the answers. ♪ Guess I'll be on my way. ♪ I won't be back to stay. ♪ I guess I'll move along. ♪ ♪ I'm looking for a good time. <i> [Kragen] He started a
friendship with him,</i> <i> and Kenny invited Lionel to
live in one of the guesthouses.</i> Well, from that guesthouse
I wrote "Hello" [laughs] and "All Night Long". So the problem with me was not
getting me in the guesthouse; it was kicking me out
of the guesthouse. The night he had his baby,
I got a knock at the door. "Let's go take a drive." "Kenny, don't you want to..." He said, "I know.
I know. I know. I just -- we just need to talk." [Marianne] Before I
started going into labor, Kenny and Lionel went
for a ride. ♪ In my eyes, ♪ ♪ Oh, I see no one
else but you. ♪ <i> He just drove around town.</i> And I said, "Well, Kenny, don't
you have any other friends you want to hang out with?" <i> And he said something to me
that just floored me.</i> He said, "No, Lionel,
you're my best friend." Whoa. ♪ Won't you believe
in my song. ♪ ♪ Yeah, lady, ♪ Your love's the only
love I need. ♪ We've had a very special
relationship. We've been like brothers
since then. <i> [Lionel] You know,
he's lovable.</i> And from that point on, we
were like the best of friends. ♪ There's something
I want you to know. ♪ ♪ You're the love of my life. ♪ You're my lady. [band plays, audience applause] I love you, man. Everyone keeps saying
that Kenny is my -- my friend and all
this kind of stuff. I love you so much, man. Love you. No, he's a family member. [cheers and applause] - Hey, guys.
- Hi. [indistinct chatter] ♪ I can't remember when
you weren't there, ♪ ♪ when I didn't care... If you look at the majority
of my records, I've always tried to find things that say what every man
would like to say and what every woman
would like to hear. If you listen to
"Through The Years", what man wouldn't want
to say that? What woman wouldn't
want to hear it? ♪ I swear ♪ We've been through
everything there is. ♪ ♪ Can't imagine anything
we've missed. ♪ ♪ Can't imagine anything ♪ The two of us can't do. We're in his library
at his house. <i> We were looking
for another song.</i> And I play him
"Through The Years". <i> Just then, Marianne is
coming down the staircase</i> and she yells,
"I love that song!" <i> And the rest is history.</i> It was a massive hit
and worked in settings of anniversaries
and weddings. I read the lyrics out to my
high school boyfriend when we made it two years. [laughs] I was so excited that
we made it two years. And then we broke up after that. But... ♪ Through the years ♪ I never had a doubt ♪ We'd always work
things out. ♪ ♪ I've learned what
life's about. ♪ <i> We grew up with him,</i> and I always just admired
the tone of his voice and his incredible romanticism. ♪ Through the years. [applause] In the 80s, Kenny, Marianne
and Christopher were America's family. <i> They were on the cover
of every magazine.</i> <i> And they had a lot
of great years.</i> But, for whatever reason,
that relationship ended. <i> He's been lucky to have
great women alongside him.</i> <i> After Christopher was born,</i> we realized with his traveling
that it would be better to be, you know, based in Athens. We had bought the farm
here in Athens and it was 1,300 acres and built this 23,000
square-foot house. And he put in a golf course
and a huge barn with a swimming pool
for the horses. It was incredible. He was a man with a vision,
probably a vision of grandeur, and he lived up to it. Real estate, concerts,
recording, television, film, clothing, merchandising. You are a conglomerate. I guess so. That sounds confusing enough, and I think that's
about where I fall. You know, when you start making
money and you get your -- you originally take
care of your needs. You need a car, you need
a house, you need this. Then you -- once you get
that done you say: well, what do I want? I always wanted a boat;
I wanted a plane. I wanted this, or whatever. You know, whatever you
can afford you do that. And then after, you finally get
to a point to where they just become acquisitions and
they don't mean anything. Then the real fun is taking
care of other people's needs. Kenny is truly one of the
most generous people I've ever known in my life. If Kenny told you he was
going to do something, <i> he always delivered.</i> <i> I called Kenny on
the phone and said,</i> <i> "Listen, Harry Belafonte
called me on the phone</i> and he's talking about me
writing a song for the starving relief situation
in Africa." He was actually the person
that kind of stood behind me to give me the push that says,
yeah, go for it. In about one minute's time,
at 7:50, everybody in the world is going
to be playing the same song. <i>[Kragen] Kenny said, "I'm in."</i> <i> He was the first person
to jump in.</i> <i> [Terry] He owned a studio
so he donated the time.</i> That was the session
of the century. I remember Lionel,
Michael Jackson, writing "We Are The World"
in studio A and doing a little
quick demo on it. And I remember the guys
coming in and tracking it. Kenny and I made sure we were at
the beginning of that record. I started off. ♪ There comes a time ♪ When we heed a certain call, ♪ When the world must come
together as one. ♪ ♪ There are people dying. We just wanted to come
before Ray Charles. Once Ray came in, nobody
is coming in behind him. So Kenny said, "Well,
I'm going to be right after Stevie Wonder." ♪ The greatest gift of all. ♪ We can't go on ♪ Pretending day by day All of the greatest artists
alive at that point were on this thing. And Kenny was one of them. ♪ We're all a part of ♪ God's great big family. ♪ And the truth, ♪ You know, love is
all we need. ♪ That evening was just magical,
the lyrics, what we did, and we -- it became
a movement all by itself. ♪ We are the ones who make
a brighter day ♪ ♪ So let's start giving. ♪ Let's start giving. ♪ There's a choice
we're making. ♪ ♪ We're saving our own lives. ♪ It's true we'll make
a better day, ♪ ♪ just you and me, woo... After that, Kenny became this
amazing spokesperson for it. It was typical of Kenny that
he would join on that. It was just Kenny Rogers. It was just what he did. ♪ So let's start living. <i>[Ray Charles] ♪ All right, did
you hear what I said? ♪</i> [applause] [Dolly] I don't think anybody
in the history of music has ever had a better ear
for hit songs, nor could they sing them
better than you. All the years I've
worked with Kenny, I never get tired of
hearing him sing. - That's so nice.
- I'm serious. He and Dolly, they have such
this beautiful chemistry. You can't think of Kenny often
without thinking of Dolly. The mutual admiration when
they met each other, <i> it was incredible.</i> <i> We were in the studio with
Barry Gibb in 1983,</i> producing an album
for Kenny Rogers. And the two of them are
kind of stuck on this song. <i> [Oermann] Here's this
oblique song.</i> Kenny is struggling
with it in the studio. [Terry] Kenny hired me to work
in the recording studio and that's what I did. I remember Kenny and me
just hearing stuff all day. "Islands In The Stream":
the track was just weird. <i> [Keith] Barry wanted to
renew every line,</i> <i> every line, every line.</i> Here's a guy, Kenny Rogers,
he did The Gambler album in a weekend. He had his head in his hands. And I said, "Partner,
what's going on?" He said, "It's all crap. "It's all garbage. I can't use it." <i> [Kenny] I sang that song for
four days and I finally</i> <i> just said, "Barry, I don't
even like this song anymore."</i> <i> Then Barry Gibb said, "I know
how to fix this.</i> <i>I know how to make this work."</i> They looked at me and said,
"Get Dolly Parton. <i> She lives right
next to the studio."</i> <i> [Dolly] Kenny had a
studio in Los Angeles</i> <i> and I had a little apartment
right up the street.</i> He said, "Where are you?" I said, "Well, I'm in LA. I'm at my little apartment." He said, "Well, we've
got a song. Could you come down
to the studio?" I said, "Well, yeah. <i>I'll be down quick as I can go."</i> Literally, I don't know, an
hour or something like that, maybe less, Dolly Parton
was in the studio. <i> [Kenny] You know,
I -- what key is it?</i> <i> She came marching
in the studio.</i> Dolly doesn't walk anywhere. She marches. <i> [Dolly] They played me
that song.</i> <i> It was just perfect.</i> <i>I thought, oh, I love the song.</i> And I just started singing along
there in the control room. And they were all looking around
like, oh my God, this is it! These two voices were
meant to be together. [Kenny] This is what
started it all. Yeah! And we can't let it end at all. - No.
- Well, I guess we can. [Dolly] Oh, good Lord. <i> [Kenny] With Dolly, it is
going to be special.</i> So I'll try not
to screw it up. <i> [Dolly] They played me
that song.</i> <i> I just started singing along
there in the control room</i> <i> right there that day.</i> Everybody knew it. Everybody said, "Oh, my Lord, this is like such
a great sound." And the rest is
absolute history. <i> [Kragen] We knew
that we just had a hit.</i> I mean everybody knew it. <i> "Islands In The Stream"
is a titanic pop hit</i> <i> and it gets into the top
of the hit parade</i> and to the top of the
country music charts. <i> [Kelly] We did that song
all over the world.</i> All over the world people came
out to hear Kenny and Dolly <i> sing "Islands In The Stream".</i> I remember just the
magic on the stage of just hearing that sound, <i> the downbeat of that
iconic intro.</i> And the crowd would go crazy. ♪ You do something to me
that I can't explain. ♪ ♪ Hold me closer and
I feel no pain, ♪ ♪ Every beat of my heart. ♪ We got something going on. ♪ Tender love is blind. ♪ It requires a dedication. ♪ All this love we feel ♪ Needs no conversation ♪ We ride it together,
uh-huh. ♪ <i> When we started, we would
go to karaoke bars</i> and we always did "Islands
In The Stream" together. Growing up singing it, I sang it in bar mitzvahs
and weddings my whole life. If you don't like
"Islands In The Stream", you've got the devil in you. [laughs] ♪ How can we be wrong? ♪ Sail away with me ♪ To another world. ♪ And we rely on each other,
uh-huh, ♪ ♪ From one lover to another,
uh-huh. ♪ "Islands In The Stream" is
such a pop-culture moment that forever more people
are always, always going to associate
Kenny with Dolly and Dolly with Kenny. ♪ Everything is nothing
if you've got no one. ♪ ♪ You just walk in the night, ♪ Slowly losing sight
of the real thing. ♪ ♪ But that won't happen to us ♪ And we got no doubt. ♪ Too deep in love and
we've got no way out. ♪ ♪ And the message is clear. ♪ This could be the year
for the real thing. ♪ ♪ No more will you cry. ♪ Baby, I will hurt you never. ♪ We start and end as one ♪ In love forever. ♪ We can ride it together... [Kenny] Since the day she
walked into the room to do "Islands In The Stream"
we have had, I think, a very special relationship. ♪ Islands in the stream, ♪ That is what we are, ♪ No one in between. ♪ How can we be wrong? ♪ Sail away with me ♪ To another world. ♪ And we rely on each other,
uh-huh, ♪ ♪ From one lover to another,
uh-huh. ♪ ♪ Sail away, ♪ Sail away, ♪ Sail away, ♪ With me ♪ And we'll sail. ♪ Come on, sail away with me. ♪ Sail away. Thank you so much. We love you. Thank you. [Kenny] We appreciate it
more than you know. <i> Kenny and Dolly works, right,</i> works beautifully. And, people are just like:
oh, my God. <i> [Kragen] I took them to
Australia for a</i> <i> series of shows.</i> <i> [male] Cue Dolly in concert.</i> <i> [Kragen] We did Vegas.</i> <i> We did more records.</i> <i> It just became one of those
moments in time</i> where they were meant
to be together. You never really know where
you're going to run across somebody that is just going
to be partners for life. <i> And we went on to have
several hit records</i> <i>and toured all over the world.</i> <i>[Keith] When Dolly came around,</i> <i> she would throw him
so many curveballs.</i> [Kenny] Before we do anything,
I want you to know, I -- this is the first time
I've seen that dress. I think that is my favorite. I love that. Thank you. Thank you very much. I've been on the road with
Kenny for several weeks now and every day my dress is
getting a little shorter and a little lower. Here we are, both of us lonely, and Marianne out there
somewhere. Don't you start that with me. Don't you start that. <i> I was always such a
feisty little thing</i> and I was always doing stuff
backstage or on stage, you know, pinch him on the
butt or whatever. She's the only person I've
ever seen that could kind of make him speechless. You don't know anything
about basketball. That's what -- I know enough to know I carry
two of them around all day long. [laughs] She came out once and
she's swinging her arms like this and she keeps hitting
Kenny in the privates. And I said, "Dolly,
you can't do that. You can't swing them like that." And, she said, "Well, just
why don't you get a jock <i> and put it on him then?</i> [laughs] It was so much love there
that it was almost sexual, you know, in its intensity. <i> The flirtatiousness
between the two of them</i> certainly lead to a big part
of the speculation that, <i> oh, there must be more.</i> It created this type of,
you know, mystery of like: what's really going on here,
you know. People always want to know
if me and Kenny's had a relationship because with
most country people that work together that long, or country
singers, there's usually, you know, some sort of
hanky-panky. We've been accused of it
all through the years. You are retiring. You want to hold them now? Yeah, I think so. [laughing] Just the thought of waking up
in bed next to her [laughing], that laugh -- I couldn't handle it. They are genuinely, you know,
so fond of each other. Kenny is wonderful. I love him. - I do love you.
- Thank you, Ma'am. - I appreciate it.
- I do. - I will always love you.
- Ah, that's great. Do you want me to
sit closer to you? In case I want to touch you
or something? <i> [Roy] They just really
like each other.</i> Not in the biblical sense, now;
don't start no rumors. [laughs] <i> [Kenny] ♪ What will
I do when you're gone? ♪</i> <i> ♪ Who's gonna tell me
the truth? ♪</i> ♪ Who's gonna finish the
stories I start, ♪ ♪ The way you always do? <i> [Kenny] "You Can't Make Old
Friends" was written by</i> <i> Don Schlitz, who wrote
"The Gambler".</i> <i> And it was written for us
about our relationship.</i> I was thinking about
my old friends and the words came very easily. Now, that summed up
our relationship. <i> [Kenny] ♪ But you can't
make old friends. ♪</i> ♪ You can't make old friends. "You Can't Make Old Friends" is
so perfectly written for us. That's the last thing
that we did together, and it's perfect. ♪ It was you and me,
since way back when. ♪ ♪ You can't make old friends. <i> [Don] I know what I think
it means to him</i> <i> and I also know what
it means to me.</i> <i> [Dolly] ♪ How will I sing
when you're gone? ♪</i> It doesn't get any
better than that. ♪ Because it won't
sound the same. ♪ ♪ And who'll join in on
those harmony parts ♪ ♪ When I call your name. I'm sincere, I just think Kenny
is one of the greatest people I've ever known, period. That is so nice. And I'm proud to call
you my friend. [Kenny and Dolly] ♪ You can't
make old friends. ♪ You knew it was going to
be the last time they ever performed together. <i> The audience was
mesmerized by it.</i> I knew he was excited to go
out the right way with Dolly, <i> knowing that was it.</i> I had mixed emotions that
night because I've just had such a wonderful life with
Kenny and I just love him so. ♪ When Saint Peter
opens the gate ♪ ♪ And you come walking in, ♪ I'll be there just
waiting for you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you can't make
old friends. ♪ <i> [Reba] Kenny and Dolly,
that's who I studied.</i> It seems like yesterday if you
really think about it, though. <i> ♪ You and me, </i> ♪ We'll be together again. <i> [Alison] Kenny and Dolly...</i> You can't make old friends. ...connect so amazingly
with everybody. There's nobody --
nobody like them. But you feel like you've
known them your whole life. ♪ Can't make old friends. You ca-- you -- good. [laughs] Aw, Kenny, I love you. And you can't make old friends. [cheers and applause] There is a place deep in
my country heart. I know I'm artificial out here, but I'd like to think
my heart's real. And that's probably the only
thing real about me [applause]. But in that heart of mine, I have a spot for you
that is never, ever going to be touched
by anybody else. And I'm going to hold
you there forever. <i> That night was so special.</i> <i> I was feeling every
range of emotion,</i> just looking out at all those
people in the audience. And it made me think about
when we were on tour together. ♪ If I should stay, ♪ I would only be in your way. To see where he had come from... ♪ So I'll go. ...and to see where he
had arrived to... ♪ But I know ♪ I'll think of you ♪ Each step of my way. ♪ And I will always love you. ♪ I will always love you. <i>Kenny is such a genuine person.</i> <i>He's just a decent human being,</i> <i> in addition to being one of
the most talented people</i> <i> I've ever known.</i> <i> [Kenny] She's a very special
person and a very special</i> <i> relationship, so I think
it's so sweet of her</i> <i> to come here so that I can
say goodbye properly.</i> Like I will say tonight
in my song, I hope life treats you kind. I hope you have everything
you've ever dreamed of. I wish you joy and happiness and above all of this,
I wish you love. ♪ ...you need. ♪ But I will always love you. ♪ I will always love ♪ ♪ You. ♪ You know I'll always
love you. ♪ As much as it meant to Kenny,
it meant a lot to the artists to be able to share with him. And I think that was such an
important element to it so that there was just a lot
of love in the room. Kenny Rogers, you have been a
trailblazer for all of us in country music to take
it all over the world. So, we're very, very
honored to be here. To be given the honor to
be a part of this farewell and give him a hug
and tell him how much he has influenced me and inspired me
my whole life, it's just this beautiful full
circle that feels really right. We've had the best time
backstage. It's just like a family
reunion back here. He's taught all of us
in country music and music in general what to do, how to do it. He's a treasure. [applause] Thank you, Mr. Kenny. Kenny Rogers means so much
to not just country music but to the culture of
music in general. <i> You can't really pigeonhole
him into being a</i> <i> country music artist</i> or a rock artist or a jazz artist or a folk singer. He's been all those things. He's done everything. And then to go on and be
Entertainer of the Year and to be on pop radio -- I mean, he really made us all
so proud in country music. He was like the shining light of all the things we could become. <i> I feel like the sound of
somebody's voice</i> is usually a reflection
of their personality. And he sounds so kind, and guess what? It's true. It is. There are people you
meet in your life and you are supposed to pass by. <i> I met a guy who was just
crazy enough to follow.</i> Kenny taught me it's
not the right note; it's the note with the feeling. Just tell a story
and it's passionate. That's exactly what he did and he killed it. Thank you guys so much. Love you! [cheers and applause] Kenny, how about we go out
like rock stars? [Kenny] Absolutely. [mics drop] [cheers and applause] ♪ [vocals] Islands in
the stream, ♪ ♪ That is what we are, ♪ No one in between. ♪ How can we be wrong? ♪ Sail away with me
to another world. ♪ [band plays]
