i spent the night with...
kenny rogers.
so here is a little secret about me. i love kenny rogers. i love him in an i-loved-singing-his-songs-into-my-fisher-price-cassette-recorder-as-a-little-girl kind of way. i was probably two or three when i started singing, "oh ruuuuuby... don't take your love to town." and one of my favorite lyrics of all times comes from "coward of the county," "...but you could of heard a pin drop when tommy stopped and locked the door." the dramatic pauses in that line just make my heart happy. i have seen every kenny rogers made-for -tv movie. yes, i have. and i bet i am not alone. but coward of the county is the only one i have on tape somewhere. i love that movie.
tonight, my husband was excited to show me this on vh1.com (you can see videos online at this site). When our new paper delivery person didn't get the morning paper here in time for jon to read it before school, he started watching vh1 and mtv while eating breakfast - going back to his high school 80s days. there are a few favorite videos he wanted to share with me. i am kind of take it or leave it with videos. i love listening to music, but i don't always enjoy sitting and watching videos for a long period of time. but this was fun! and you can search for so many artists on this site. so yes, i searched for kenny rogers and enjoyed some old-school kenny videos. this led me to iTunes to share some of my favorite kenny songs with jon. which led me to download this, his twenty greatest hits.
i probably saw my first kenny rogers concert when i was three, and we went again and again throughout my childhood. i saw him with dottie west, crystal gayle, the gatlin brothers, gallagher (yes, that comedian with the exploding watermelon), ronnie milsap, and maybe a few others.
some of my favorite memories involving kenny
...my mother, father, and i are walking from the car to the ACC at Notre Dame (the basketball arena where concerts are held). my dad picks me up so i can ride on his shoulders. i am probably four. A tour bus pulls in. yes. oh yes. it is kenny. the back windows weren't tinted like they are now, and he is sitting in the back with the curtain open. he waves to me. to me! i remember giggling with delight and marveling later that the man singing all those songs i love waved at me. he knows who i am.
...i am visiting my grandparents. i am probably six. it is time for my grandfather to take the garbage to the dump, and that means one-on-one time with him in the car. i get to ride up front and help him. he starts singing, "you picked a fine time to leave me lucille" and adds words of his own. and i say, "no, no grandpa, that's not how the song goes." on other trips he will start singing and say, "now, who sings better me or that other guy?" the little girl inside me remembers just reveling in this attention. feeling amazement that my grandpa really thought he could sing as good as kenny. we laugh about this still.
...a few weeks before fourth grade, the summer of 1985. and my mom, my brother, my aunt, cousin, and i are all driving from indiana to south carolina for a family reunion. kenny is on the tape player singing "fighting fire with fire." you might not know this one, but at 10, i knew all the words. one line made my mother pause, turn her head around to the backseat (she was driving), and say, "do you know what that means?" the line: "any place he touches or kisses diana, is someplace i've already been." ahhh...no, i didn't so much know what that meant then.
...boarding school. over a weekend at home i find a pin that says: "i spent the night with kenny rogers." if you knew my parents you might find this to be kind of odd - how old was i when they bought that for me? i wear it as my kilt pin throughout my senior year. hiding it from the powers-at-be because it was definitely "non-reg" and not part of the wardrobe. could i have been any cooler with that pin? goody-two-shoes liz with her scandalous kilt pin.
...my wedding reception. i don't throw the bouquet. instead i present it to the couple who has been married the longest. my grandparents. fifty-seven years. and then i dance with my grandpa; jon dances with my grandma. the song. kenny singing "Always" by Irving Berlin. a favorite song of mine. a way to blend the sentiments of this song - love between my grandparents, my love for them, my love for jon - and the memories of kenny and my grandpa singing. this gave us one of the best moments of the evening. if i close my eyes, i can see the look of bewilderment, embarassment, pride, and love on my grandmother's face as i share with our guests how much she and my grandpa mean to me. the tears of joy as jon and i walk over to them and give her the bouquet. jon takes her hand. my grandpa takes mine. i hear my grandpa's laughter as i say, "grandpa, can you tell who is singing this song?"
and tonight, as i listen to these songs, i am reminded of words i have known for over 25 years. part of the soundtrack of my childhood. some words resonate with me even more now. other words make me giggle as i join kenny in a duet. a few words bring tears to my eyes. all of these words invite me to sing and sing and sing. tonight i wrap myself up in the memories of these songs...the words swirl around me...and i feel at peace. it has been a good life so far.
liz lamoreux
Reader Comments (22)
Thank you for taking me "there" Liz..that was nice..and you know what? I actually like Kenny Roger's too! I have seen all of his movies (TV ones) and have heard most of his songs - his duets with Dolly Parton of course! The Dottie West story (TV version) always breaks my heart and to see how sweet of a friend Kenny was to her always makes me bawl my head off. I love the fact that you wore that pin on your kilt...as Simon Cowell would say..."You naughty little manx." Peace out - Julia
About half way through this post, my eyes started to well with tears , I am not really sure why, they are beautiful memories tied to music. I don't know a lot of Kenny Roger's but I too link a lot of memories to music.
I was thinking that it would be great if you printed this post and sent it to Kenny Rogers. I bet he would be so touched.
I loved reading this, Liz. What a wonderful series of memories.
(And I like Thea's idea of sending a copy to KR if you could find an address.)
I love how certain songs, certain musicians, hold such powerful spots in our lives. I agree with Thea--I think Kenny Rogers would be absolutely thrilled to know about all of the wonderful memories that you assoiciate with him or his music!
I love Dolly Parton--another, not-so-popular-but-extremely-talented-artist. And one of my favorite memories is of sitting at the kitchen table with my family, playing Rummy, listening to The Gambler! Thanks for taking me back!
Oh Liz, this is just so wonderful. I especially am touched by the story of your wedding ... what a wonderful thing to celebrate! I love that you broke with tradition to honor these people you love so much. BTW, stumbled on this a few weeks ago on TV. Sounds like you would love it!
http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/cmt_crossroads/93865/episode_about.jhtml
Oh my gosh girl, what a memory! I needed to go down that road as well. Sometimes we just need taken back ya know? How else do we know where have come from or we where should go if we don't look at where we have been?
Amazing!
Wow, I am completely speechless by this post. It is beautiful beyond words. Thank you so much for sharing it with us....wow.
a.
P.S While I am not a fan of Kenny it is also a part of my husbands fabric having grown up on a farm and listening to it. In fact it was his first record. He has also serenaded me many times with some of his songs. :)
...hiding the kilt pin from the "powers that be" - yea, I bet they would not have liked to have imagined your spending the night anywhere but in your boarding school bed! :)) Some of the lyrics could have been a little much for a young girl, for sure! Can't wait to hear about the "woman being asleep!" LOL
Well, I love Kenny Rogers, too, but I am older - I enjoyed his music as far back as "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition."
I love that you grew up loving him! Your parents must have really enjoyed him for you to hear his music so often so young.
I lived not too far from his ranch in Georgia. The ranch was near Athens, GA (UGA), about an hour's drive from Atlanta. He lived there until his divorce, and I always imagined running into him somewhere. It never happened. He did open a fried chicken place in GA which was called Kenny Rogers' Roasters. The chain was later bought out by Nathan's (Coney Island dogs), except the CA operation. I never saw him there either! :(
The story about your wedding and "Always" and your grandparents was so touching. You certainly were lucky to have such a close connection to your grandparents, Liz.
Thanks for the reminder of Kenny's great music and for sharing such warm memories. I need to find my CDs now. We listened to him en route to CA a few months ago!
wonderful, sweet and very alive memories you share, Liz. I'm not a kenny rogers fan, but your recollection of your kenny-rogers-experiences made me smile. A big smile! :-D
Love the homeage to Kenny. I have the same kind of thing for Dolly.
Also, it was weird to read you going to Notre Dame ACC. I grew up in a town VERY near Notre Dame on the Michigan end. Surreal.
And finally, I love that you've listed John Denver as one of your favorite music items...I watch his PBS special every time it comes on.
Thanks for coming to my site...I'm liking yours!
GG
What great memories! Thank you for sharing this with us. Love that you've been seeing Kenny for so long!
I appreciate all of you understanding this little secret of mine...
I haven't seen Kenny in concert for a long, long time. Almost 20 years (I am getting old!). And I hadn't dialed in these memories for a while. It is nice when music just takes you back.
Thea - it would be a neat idea to send this to him. wonder how i would go about doing that.
Hobess - thanks for the link! I am going to have to watch for this.
Sky - i honestly don't think my parents liked him as much as me - but they let me sing away and embraced my love for him. I think it was something about the way he kind of talks in some of his songs that spoke to me as a kid. And the First Edition - yes, I know about them too (of course).
gogo - I grew up in south bend. lived near there my entire life until we moved out here in 2004. actually went to notre dame...how funny that you lived near there as well.
That is a marvellous post! You transported me almost to those concerts and that time - and I'm not even particularly a fan (until now). So beautifully described.
i must confess that i, too, have a secret love from my childhood - the one and only john denver. the first song i ever knew by heart was "rhymes and reasons," and my first concert was at the age of 4, when my parents took me to see j.d. at a local fair. thank you for sharing this post - it has brought a smile to my face, and a flood of memories. =)
Thank you for sharing the Kenny Rogers soundtrack of your life. I loved hearing how those songs remind you of particular times. I can only imagine how excited you were when he waved to you! That's so awesome.
And I'm so happy for you that you've had such a tender and loving relationship with your grandparents. That's such a special gift.
I wish you more beautiful memories on the road ahead.
Wonderful post!!! Good on Kenny for being such a good "friend" all these years.
I admit it too! I like some of his songs as well. Did you know he also has a fast food chain? Chicken, I think...I saw it when I was in Cypress in 1997! Weird, huh?
I love this post. What a beautiful tribute to Kenny, your grandparents and your past.
Thanks for sharing the memories
i was late on this one!
and i loved it!
i totally know what you are saying
i am the same way with
charlie pride,
kenny rogers,
truck driving songs,
big bad john...
and its so funny
how it can take you right back
to that age...
i mean,
i am a child of the eighties
and i relish all of that also
but
i am so a product of my father's
old records and eight-tracks too
:)
thanks for sharing that
:)
i found that pin at a yard sale the other day!! i actually found your blog while searching for a place i might find more...one kenny rogers is hardly enough. :)
One of my favorite childhood memories also involves Kenny's music...when I was about 9 and my brother was 6 we used to go to the bowling alley while my Dad bowled league. At that time you could be a kid and hang out in the bar which sometimes had a live entertainer. One night my brother got up and sang The Gambler on stage. The sight of him standing on a chair next to the guy playing guitar and them entertaining us all to this day makes me happy. My brother and I sang this song for my mom on her 60th birthday, almost 30 years later.