Kenny Rogers With Love CD

Kenny Rogers singing contemporary romantic standards? Why not--he's already tackled folk (with the New Christie Minstrels), pop psychedelia (with the First Edition), and mainstream country (songs too numerous to mention). For that matter, one of his very first appearances on record, the Bobby Doyle Three's 1962 IN A MOST UNUSUAL WAY, was, in fact, an LP of standards. Unsurprisingly, Rogers approaches the songs here rather conservatively, with smooth phrasing and nary a hint of swing. Then again, he's quite unabashedly crooning here, not trying to be Sinatra, and given that his warm baritone seems not to have aged a day, the results are listenable in the extreme. Celebrity cameo: Neil Young's longtime producer and collaborator David Briggs shows up here on piano.

Principally recorded at Creative Recording, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee.

12 Great Love Songs

Personnel: John Willis, Randy Dorman (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Pat Bergeson (electric guitar, harmonica); Ricky Harper (electric guitar); Cindy Reynolds Wyatt (harp); Nashville String Machine (strings); Jim Horn (flute, saxophone); Bobby G. Taylor (oboe, English horn); George Tidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Thomas McAninch (French horn); Shane Keister (piano, electric piano, synthesizer); Steve Glassmeyer (piano); Gene Golden, Warren Hartman (synthesizer); Farrell Morris (vibraphone, percussion); Bob Burns (electric bass); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Jana King, Lisa Silver, Bergen White (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Jim McKell.

Recording information: Candoc; Candock Studios, Surfside Beach, SC; Creative Recording, Nashville, TN; Reflections, Nashville, TN; Seventeen Grand Recording, Nashville, TN; The Reflections, Nashville, TN.

Arranger: Bergen White.

Personnel: Kenny Rogers (vocals); John Willis, Randy Dorman (acoustic & electric guitars); Pat Bergeson (electric guitar, harmonica); Rick Harper (electric guitar); Cindy Reynolds Wyatt (harp); Bobby Taylor (oboe, English horn); Jim Horn (saxophone, flute); George Tidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Tom McAninch (French horn); Shane Keister (piano, Hammond B-3 organ, electric piano, synthesizer); David Briggs, Steve Glassmeyer (piano); Gene Golden, Warren Hartman (synthesizer); Farrell Morris (vibraphone, percussion, timpani); Bob Burns (acoustic & electric basses); Paul Leim (drums, percussion); Lynn Hammann (drums); The Nashville String Section; Jana King, Lisa Silver.