While best remembered for country hits like “The Gambler”, to remember Kenny Rogers solely as a country star does his legacy a disservice. The four-time Grammy Award winner was a master of reinvention, combining his love and knowledge of genres like R&B, pop and jazz into a truly unique sound. Prior to his country music success, the Houston, Texas-born artist helmed Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, which fused country, rock and even psychedelic pop on fan favorites like “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)”. In fact, it was on July 11, 1967 that the First Edition came into being—all because of Rogers’ staunch refusal to fit his musical influences neatly into a singular box.
Kenny Rogers Was Feeling Creatively Stifled
In 1965, Kenny Rogers joined well-known folk-pop group The New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player. A popular feature on The Andy Williams Show, the Grammy-winning group found success with covers of songs like “This Land Is Your Land” and “Green, Green”.
Videos by American Songwriter
However, Rogers soon began getting the itch to write and perform his own material. He wasn’t the only member who felt this way, either. Guitarist-vocalists Terry Williams and Mike Settle, along with singer Thelma Camacho, also felt creatively stifled“They wouldn’t let us record our own songs,” Rogers said, “and they wouldn’t let us sing on the records because they didn’t want to pay us royalties. We didn’t really see a future there for us.”
When it became clear that the four musicians wouldn’t find the fulfillment they sought with the Minstrels, they decided to leave the band and strike out on their own. So they joined forces with former Bob Dylan backup drummer, Mickey Jones, and the First Edition was born.
With the help of Williams’ mother, who worked for music executive Jimmy Bowen, the First Edition signed with Reprise Records.
“We left on a Saturday night from Vegas,” Rogers recalled. “Monday morning, we were in the recording studio in Los Angeles.”
He Had to Change His Look
In order to appeal to the younger demographic that the First Edition was courting, Kenny Rogers grew out his brown hair, pierced his ear, and began sporting pink sunglasses, leading his bandmates to affectionately dub him “Hippie Kenny”.
The First Edition broke through with 1968’s “Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was In),” a psychedelic-pop cautionary tale about the dangers of using LSD.
Written by Mickey Newbury, the song peaked at number five on the Billboard charts.
More hits followed, including 1969’s “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town”. In the mid-1970s, Williams and Jones both left to pursue solo creative endeavors.
Kenny Rogers also began recording as a solo artist, and soon the First Edition was no more.
[RELATED: 4 Amazing Kenny Rogers Songs That Hardly Anyone Remembers Anymore]
But his time with the group helped lay the foundation for one of the most successful country music careers in history, selling more than 100 million records before his death in 2020 at age 81.
Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images