Chuck Dauphin's It's The Song - Part Two - Kenny Rogers' "Sweet Music Man"

When the history of Country Music is finally recorded for good, the name of Kenny Rogers will no doubt be noted as one of the biggest success stories the format has ever enjoyed. Well over twenty of his records have climbed to the summit of the Billboard Country singles chart. That being said, sometimes the songs that make the biggest impact are not the ones that go all the way.

This week’s song in the spotlight is a great example. It was the follow-up to his number one smash “Daytime Friends.” It was also one of a handful of songs that Rogers wrote himself. The story of the song is an interesting one. Rogers was on a plane, and just happened to be seated next to Jessi Colter, as the two began a conversation about her relationship with husband Waylon Jennings. Rogers came away from the talk with an idea that turned into one of his classic moments as an artist.

Rogers told the crowd at his recent Artist-In-Residence performance at the Country Music Hall of Fame (where he needs to be a member), that he was trying to write a song for “Hee Haw”
star Barbi Benton at the time. Whether she recorded it, he didn’t tell, but he decided to cut the song anyway. Rogers took the song to # 8, a success by any standard, but I always thought it was interesting that as he was in the midst of creating a legendary run of hits, the song didn’t climb any higher.

Then, a quarter-century later, Reba McEntire covered it. I thought that would be the version that would top the chart once and for all. But, the record stalled in the thirties. I didn’t understand that one until a friend of mine – who had a real life, and wasn’t in the business, asked me ‘What’s it about? I never understood it.”

After that conversation, I listened to Rogers’ original again. And, I could understand what he was saying. Maybe – unless you were a performer, an artist, or a writer, it was a little too inside. Still, I get it. Sometimes the trek that you set pace on isn’t necessarily the one you choose as much as it chooses you. I wish I could tell you that when I was ten years old listening to that AM radio station with three call letters that I ever thought, “When I grow up, I want to have a job where the check is always in the mail, job security is not the best, and you find yourself guilty of devoting time to your work that maybe you should have placed elsewhere.” But, as anyone who is in the business knows, you do what you do because you are what you are.

Granted, disc jockeys and writers don’t have a lot of hangers-on or groupies (though the latter doesn’t sound too bad) like the character in the song, but we can all identify. Ralph Emery once said he got into radio because he wanted people to listen to him. Nobody gets that better than me.

The song also contained one of Rogers’ most unforgettable vocals. Larry Butler did an amazing job of getting Kenny’s best in the studio, and his performance is nothing short of heartbreaking.

So, let this be a lesson, folks. Sometimes, chart position matters less than what a song does to you on an emotional level. And, almost forty years later, this one still does it time and again!