Greatest Hits (1980 Kenny Rogers album)

Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Kenny Rogers
Released September 23, 1980
Genre Country
Length 42:35 (US)
43:28 (UK)
Label Liberty
Producer Richard Landis
Kenny Rogers chronology
Gideon
(1980)		 Greatest Hits
(1980)		 Share Your Love
(1981)
Alternative cover
UK release, titled Lady

Greatest Hits (sometimes referred to as Kenny Rogers' Greatest Hits) is the tenth studio album and the first compilation album by country music superstar Kenny Rogers. It was released in September 1980 and issued by Liberty Records. The album marks Rogers' first release after United Artists Group merged with Liberty. The album has achieved diamond certification.

History

The album reached #1 on both the Pop and Country charts in the US and featured three singles that were not included on any of Rogers' studio albums - these being "Lady" (written and produced specifically for Rogers by Lionel Richie, which was a #1 hit single in the same year), "Love The World Away" (a top five country and top 20 pop hit that was featured on the soundtrack of the box-office smash Urban Cowboy) and "Long Arm of the Law" (a lesser known, but still relatively popular song among Rogers' loyal fan base).

The album features a further nine hit singles from Rogers' career, hence missing out on a number of others (notable omissions including "Daytime Friends", "Sweet Music Man" and "Love or Something Like It") but didn't stop the album from being a huge success and confirmed Rogers' status as one of the world's biggest stars, going on to sell more than 24 million copies worldwide . In country music today it remains the best selling compilation release of all-time, beating out Garth Brooks' 1994 limited-time-availability release The Hits.

In the UK the album was sold with the same artwork under the title Lady but differed slightly in the track listing, omitting "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" and "Reuben James" in favor of "Goodbye Marie" and "Sail Away".

As it happens, this is not the only Kenny Rogers album to be called Greatest Hits. In 1971, while with The First Edition, an album under that title was released. Since 1980 many other collections by Rogers have been called Greatest Hits, such as a 1985 Readers Digest box set and the 1988 collection of his RCA material. However, this 1980 collection on Liberty was the first solo offering by Rogers to be given this designation.

In 1983, when Rogers changed labels to RCA Records, Liberty quickly issued 20 Greatest Hits, a more complete overall look at Rogers' hit list. However, both albums remained in catalog side by side for over two decades. Also in 1983, HBO re-released the Greatest Hits package on special picture discs. The track listing remained identical to the 1980 US release.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Track listings

US release

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s)Original release Length
1. "The Gambler"  Don SchlitzThe Gambler, 1978 3:32
2. "Lady"  Lionel RichiePreviously unreleased 3:54
3. "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" (With Kim Carnes)Carnes, Dave EllingsonGideon, 1980 3:39
4. "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town"  Mel TillisTen Years Of Gold, 1977 2:48
5. "She Believes in Me"  Steve GibbThe Gambler, 1978 4:11
6. "Coward of the County"  Roger Bowling, Billy Edd WheelerKenny, 1979 4:18
Total length:
 22:19
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s)Original release Length
1. "Lucille"  Bowling, Hal BynumKenny Rogers, 1977 3:34
2. "You Decorated My Life"  Debbie Hupp, Bob MorrisonKenny, 1979 3:37
3. "Reuben James"  Barry Etris, Alex HarveyTen Years Of Gold, 1977 2:37
4. "Love the World Away"  Morrison, J. WilsonPreviously unreleased 3:11
5. "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (With Dottie West)John Dyes, Jeffrey M. TweelEvery Time Two Fools Collide, 1978 3:00
6. "Long Arm of the Law"  Bowling, WheelerPreviously unreleased 4:17
Total length:
 20:16

UK release (Lady)

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Lady"   3:51
2. "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer"   3:39
3. "Lucille"   3:34
4. "She Believes in Me"   4:11
5. "You Decorated My Life"   3:37
6. "Coward of the County"   4:18
Total length:
 23:10
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "Goodbye Marie" (from Kenny, 1979, written by Mel McDaniel) 2:47
2. "Every Time Two Fools Collide"   3:00
3. "Sail Away" (from Love or Something Like It, 1978, written by Rafe van Hoy) 3:31
4. "The Gambler"   3:32
5. "Love the World Away"   3:11
6. "Long Arm of the Law"   4:17
Total length:
 20:18

Chart performance

Chart (1980) Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 1
U.S. Billboard 200 1
Canadian RPM Country Albums 2
Canadian RPM Top Albums 3

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[1] gold 20,000[1]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 "Kenny Rogers" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2013-08-28.

See also

Preceded by
Honeysuckle Rose by Willie Nelson
Greatest Hits by Ronnie Milsap
Greatest Hits by Ronnie Milsap		 Top Country Albums number-one album
November 15 - December 13, 1980
December 27, 1980 - January 17, 1981
January 31 - February 7, 1981 		Succeeded by
Greatest Hits by Ronnie Milsap
Greatest Hits by Ronnie Milsap
9 to 5 and Odd Jobs by Dolly Parton
Preceded by
Guilty by Barbra Streisand		 Billboard 200 number-one album
December 13–26, 1980 		Succeeded by
Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
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