Coward Of The County

Buck Norris sings "Coward Of The County" by Kenny Rogers.
Rogers released a handful of singles on Mercury, all of which failed. Once Mercury dropped the singer, he joined the New Christy Minstrels in 1966. He stayed with the folk group for a year, leaving with several other bandmembers — Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Lou Camacho — in 1967 to form the First Edition. Adding drummer Mickey Jones, the First Edition signed with Reprise and recorded the pop-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." The single became a hit early in 1968, climbing to number five. Within a year, the group was billed as Kenny Rogers & the First Edition, and in the summer of 1969, they had their second and final Top Ten hit, "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." The country overtones of the single hinted at the direction Rogers was taking, as did the minor hit follow-up, "Ruben James." For the next two years, the First Edition bounced between country, pop, and mild psychedelia, scoring their last big hit with Mac Davis' "Something's Burning" in early 1970. By the end of 1972, the group had its own syndicated television show, but sales were drying up. They left Reprise the following year, signing to Rogers' new label, Jolly Rogers. None of their singles became major hits, though a version of Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" reached the lower regions of the country charts late in 1973. Rogers left the group in 1974, and the band broke up the following year.

At the time the band broke up, Rogers was severely in debt and Jolly Rogers was out of business. In order to jump-start his career, he signed to United Artists in 1975, and with the help of producer Larry Butler, he devised an accessible, radio-ready, and immaculately crafted take on country-pop that leaned toward adult contemporary pop, not country. "Love Lifted Me," his debut single for the label, was a minor hit early in 1976, but it took a full year for Rogers to have a genuine breakthrough hit with "Lucille." Climbing to number one early in 1977, "Lucille" not only was a major country hit, earning the Country Music Association's Single of the Year award, but it also was a huge crossover success, peaking at number five on the pop charts. For the next six years, Rogers had a steady string of Top Ten hits on both the country and pop charts.

His crossover success is important — his lush, easy listening productions and smooth croons showed that country stars could conquer the pop audience, if produced and marketed correctly. During the late '70s and early '80s, much of country radio was dominated either by urban cowboy or country-pop in the vein of Rogers' own singles. Between 1978 and 1980, he had five straight number one country singles — "Love or Something Like It," "The Gambler," "She Believes in Me," "You Decorated My Life," "Coward of the County" — most of which also reached the pop Top Ten. In addition to his solo hits, he had a series of Top Ten duets with Dottie West, including the number one hits "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (1978), "All I Ever Need Is You" (1979), and "What Are We Doin' in Love" (1981). Not only did his singles sell well, but so did his albums, with every record he released between 1976's Kenny Rogers and 1984's Once Upon a Christmas going gold or platinum.

By the beginning of the '80s, Rogers' audience was as much pop as it was country, and singles like his cover of Lionel Richie's "Lady" confirmed that fact, spending six weeks at the top of the pop charts. Rogers also began performing duets with pop singers like Kim Carnes ("Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer," number three country, number four pop, 1980) and Sheena Easton ("We've Got Tonight," number one country, number six pop, 1983). Rogers also began making inroads into television and film, appearing in a number of TV specials and made-for-TV movies, including 1982's Six Pack and two movies based on his songs "The Gambler" and "Coward of the County." Late in 1983, he left United Artists/Liberty for RCA Records, releasing a duet with Dolly Parton called "Islands in the Stream" as his first single for the label. Written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb, the record became one of his biggest hits, spending two weeks on the top of both the country and pop charts.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Buck
• Norris
• Classic
• Country
• Oklahoma
• Kenny
• Rogers

[onkelbuke]

fannnnnntastic cover man. i love this song, great job man.5*********

[bucknorrismusic]

Thanks very much.

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

nice job, Mr. Norris, however, try doing a half-step increase between each verse, kinda builds up the feeling in the song.

[bucknorrismusic]

I know what you mean, sometimes that is hard to do with this software.

[allshookup77]

Well done Buck! you did a great job on this song... I enjoyed it! ... FrAnK (★★★★★)

[bucknorrismusic]

Thanks very much Frank.

[ruicarl]

oh shit its Chuck Norris...

[azteca32]

Cooooooool....

[truckingsonofagun]

i love this song, when i was a kid , i took a whipping over this song, my granny caught me listening to it, she did'nt allow us to watch tv,or listen to country music.and i loved country music from birth.lol,you did a awesome job on it

[adam1975t]

a great song and very good version but Barry Gibb did not write this one. He wrote the albam 'eyes that see in the dark'

[torontoteddy62]

Buck Kenny Rogers song and what ture great man,And really great singer your friend Robert.

[WEIRDALROXMYSOX]

Yeah, actually i meant every two verses and chorus, like I do verse 1, 2, & 1st chorus in C, then the 3rd, & 4th verses and second chorus in C# and then wind up in D