The 24th studio album by Rogers, I'm unsure how this CD ended up on my shelves and I'm fairly confident I've never heard it before. If it's the Lionel Richie phase/soft rock crossover Rogers of late '70s/early '80s, I'm all in. If it's country, then I'm probably out.
So I'm flipping through the channels this past Sunday afternoon and I come across a 30 minute infomercial selling me DVDs of classic Hee Haw shows. I was captivated by what I saw and was immediately transformed into my 6 year old self, watching tv with my maternal grandmother on Saturday evenings when we'd view Hee Haw followed by Lawrence Welk. Hee Haw Honeys - 'nuff said. I'm not a country music fan by any stretch, but sweet sassy molassey the shows they were pitching looked so safe and familiar that I actually considered buying a set of the DVDs for myself. Bourbon may have been involved but I admit to nothing. Ultimately, sanity returned, I watched a Hee Haw documentary and a few episodes on YouTube and my nosalgic hunger was fed.
Why don't I care much for country music? I think it all dates back to the late '60s/early '70s. My family had just moved from Mississippi to West Texas and my young parents were looking for social opportunites to meet new people in this new town. Their choice? Square dancing. That wouldn't be my choice, but at that time, in that place, it made sense. Money was tight, so instead of spending money on a babysitter, I was occasionally dragged to the square dances and left to my own devices in the community center or church hall or wherever they were meeting that week. Knowing me, I probably just roamed around looking for a quiet place to fall asleep. To be honest, this probably only happened a dozen times over a four or five year period, but over the past 40 years my memory exaggerates these sorts of things a bit and if you told me it occurred every weekend for ten years, I'd believe it. Anyway, my amateur psychological analysis leads me to this conclusion: I associate country music with unpleasant experiences.
But this CD? I'll take a pass.
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: 10 tracks, 33 minutes. Yes, 33. There's one song written by Jimmy Webb, They Just Don't Make 'Em Like You Anymore, and it's easily the best song on the album. However, the song you must hear is Two Good Reasons and I'll give ya two reasons to listen to it: 1) it's soooo bad, and 2) it's really bad.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
By 1991, poor Sweet Kenny had been recording for nearly forty years and Country music was being bum-rushed by young guns in cowboy hats. Rogers tried to adapt to the changing trend as he had done so many times before but other than his final album of the decade, 1999's She Rides Wild Horses, Kenny found little to no success in the decade. His concerts were still selling out smaller venues and a constant parade of hits compilations featuring his hit singles from the Seventies and Eighties were selling consistently enough to earn two platinum certifications.
ReplyDeleteBut I concur, this album is pretty bad by both Kenny Rogers standards and Nineties Country music standards.
Have you ever come across Sweet Kenny's album with David Foster? It makes me laugh every time I read the Wikipedia entry for Timepiece like it is Kenny's 26th such album of standards from The Great American Songbook.