4 of Kenny Rogers and Dottie West’s Most Stunning Duets

When people think of Kenny Rogers duets, they almost always think of Dolly Parton. Indeed, Rogers and Parton did have several hit duets together, including “Islands In The Stream”, “You Can’t Make Old Friends”, and more. But Parton isn’t Rogers’s only duet partner. He also released several songs with Dottie West, including these four, which are among the best country collaborations ever released.

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“Every Time Two Fools Collide”

“Every Time Two Fools Collide” is the title track of their first duets album together. Released in 1978, “Every Time Two Fools Collide” is written by Jan Dyer and Jeff Tweel.

The song says, “You lay the blame on me / And I put the blame on you / But why do we keep finding faults / In everything we do / And how long can we keep right and wrong / So cut and dried / And who picks up the pieces / Every time two fools collide.”

A No. 1 single, “Every Time Two Fools Collide” helped Rogers and West win their first of two CMA Awards for Vocal Duo of the Year, which they did in 1978 and 1979.

“’Til I Can Make It On My Own”

West first released “’Til I Can Make It On My Own” in 1976. The song is the title track of a solo album that came out the same year. In 1979, Rogers and West released a duet version of the same song.

“’Til I Can Make It On My Own” says, “And I’ll have no pride at all, from time to time / But they say, oh, there’ll be a brighter day / But ’til then I lean on you / That’s all I mean to do / ‘ Til I can make it on my own.”

“What Are We Doin’ In Love”

On West’s 1981 Wild West record is “What Are We Doin’ In Love”. Written by Randy Goodrum, the song is West’s final No. 1 single of her career.

A Top 15 pop hit, the song says, “You don’t have to like someone / To love someone / That rule was made to be broken / But if we have to say goodbye / To a life we’ve gotten used to / What are we doin’ in love then?”

“All I Ever Need Is You”

On Classics, their second duets album, is “All I Ever Need Is You”. Written by Jimmy Holiday and Eddie Reeves, the song is part of an entire project of previous hits by other artists. Before Rogers and West recorded “All I Ever Need Is You”, Sonny and Cher had a big hit with it in 1971.

“All I Ever Need Is You” says, “You’re my first love, you’re my last / You’re my future, you’re my past / Oh, loving you is all I ask, honey / All I ever need is you.”

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