Kenny Rogers: “The Greatest”

A modest baseball song by Kenny Rogers, “The Greatest,” offers a heartwarming lesson.

Kenny Rogers Greatest Baseball

Anyone who was not an all-star in Little League Baseball will have to appreciate Kenny Rogers’s ode to the hopeful optimism of childhood with “The Greatest.” Released in 1999, it is one of the more heartwarming baseball songs, turning the strikeout tale of “Casey at the Bat” on its head.

Kenny Rogers always had a talent with story songs. If you discount his talent as being too pop, just compare his version of his greatest hit “The Gambler” to the recording of the song by Johnny Cash. Both versions were released in 1978, and while I think Cash is one of the all-time greats, there is a reason that Kenny Rogers’s version of “The Gambler” is the one we remember.

Rogers never had a story song surpass “The Gambler.” Around a year after that song’s release, his revenge tale “Coward of the County” became a top-ten hit in 1979. It is a catchy tune and became a TV movie in 1981, but it has not aged as well as “The Gambler.” The Chipmunks also covered “Coward of the County,” of course not near as well as Rogers, although their version has the advantage of being more chipmunky and deleting the rape.

“The Greatest” did hit the country charts in 1999, but was not much of a hit. It did spawn a book but no movie. I’d never even heard the song until very recently. That’s probably okay, as the song seems not to be trying to hard. It presents a modest tale about a young kid, with no life-and-death events as in “The Gambler” and “Coward of the County.”

Like “The Gambler,” the song “The Greatest” was written by Don Schlitz. Schlitz also co-wrote Randy Travis’s “Forever and Ever, Amen” and Keith Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing at All” (also recorded by Alison Kraus).

Three Strikes!

“The Greatest” tells the tale of a young boy one afternoon tossing a baseball in the air and trying to hit it. Alas, he misses three times, striking himself out. Like many young children, the boy was dreaming of being “the greatest” while playing with the bat and ball We imagine his disappointment at striking out.

But a twist comes at the end. “The greatest” realizes he can still call himself “the greatest” as the greatest pitcher.

It is a sweet message about adjusting one’s perspective to see the best in ourselves. Check it out.

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    Michael Stanley Band: A National Treasure

    Michael Stanley, often categorized as a local rock legend, created some great music and meant a lot to people in the Cleveland area.

    Michael Stanely Band

    For those, like me, who spent the 1980s in Cleveland, the Michael Stanley Band played a large role in your life. The Cleveland radio stations played MSB songs so often, many of us in those pre-Internet days would be surprised to learn that the band was not well-known outside the Midwest. So, hearing that Michael Stanley died recently on March 5, 2021 from lung cancer at the age of 72, brought back a flood of memories.

    Headlines announcing Stanleys’ death refer to him as “Cleveland’s Hometown Rock Hero,” “Cleveland Music Legend,” and “Cleveland rock legend.” There almost seems something unfair about localizing the importance of regional bands. The music Michael Stanley made with MSB, by himself, and with other bands, stands on its own as great rock music without a local qualifier.

    Yet, I doubt Stanley would mind that the headlines emphasized his importance to people living on the North Coast, which coincidentally, was the name of the first Michael Stanley Band record album that I purchased. Stanley was proud of his connection to Cleveland, having made the choice to remain in that city as opposed to seeking wider fame by moving to New York or Los Angeles.

    After the Michael Stanley Band dissolved in 1987, Stanley still performed music, sometimes with his old band members. And he stayed in Cleveland, working first on local news shows like PM Magazine. I remember it seemed odd to me to see the talented musician as a TV host, but he did a great job. His rock past and his voice, though, seemed more fitting for his job as a classic rock radio disc jockey, which he did from 1991 until his death.

    Not surprisingly, Cleveland named a stretch of a major road after Stanley. There is no shame in being a local hero, and Cleveland was able to retain Michael Stanley even if the city could not keep LeBron James. Stanley made his stand in the Land in earnest, not long after Randy Newman started singing about Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River catching on fire in “Burn On.” He brought us together during tough economic times as our sports teams broke our hearts and when others outside Cleveland made jokes about the city. Stanley’s love of this town helped make us all proud of it.

    Those who have the most impact on the world often work in smaller communities, helping their neighbors and bringing joy to those around them. Michael Stanley did all that and more.

    And for those who listened in the 1980s and those yet to discover him, he left us with some great rock music. Some songs by the band did make the national charts, like “He Can’t Love You” (written and sung by Cleveland-born band member Kevin Raleigh).

    And in 1983, the band had a 40 song, “My Town.” It earned Michael Stanley Band an appearance on the pop TV show Solid Gold and a rocking video of Stanley driving around Cleveland.

    Michael Stanley Band also put on great shows, and I remember having a blast at a downtown free concert they gave one year. One of my favorite songs by MSB is “Lover,” which is one of the greatest songs of the decade anywhere.

    So I like to think that somewhere in heaven right now, there are angels singing along, “thank God for the man who put the white lines on the highway.”

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Jackson C. Frank’s Beautiful Music From a Tragic Life

    Jackson C. Frank’s life featured a lot of pain, but he also created great beauty with his 1965 folk album, which featured “Blues Run the Game.”

    Jackson Carey Jones was born on March 2, 1943, later taking the surname of his stepfather to become Jackson C. Frank. Between the birth and his death at age 56 on March 3, 1999, Frank encountered many tragedies and released one of the great “lost” folk albums of the 1960s.

    Paul Simon produced Frank’s 1965 album, Jackson C. Frank. The album failed to launch the career that Frank’s music deserved, although it influenced other artists and is loved by man today. The leadoff track, “Blues Run the Game” has been covered by several artists and appeared on TV and in movies.

    Livin’ is a gamble baby,
    Lovin’s much the same;
    Wherever I have played, and
    Whenever I’ve thrown those dices,
    Wherever I have played,
    The blues have run the game.

    A number of singers have since covered the song. Artists who covered “Blues Run the Game” include Nick Drake, Sandy Dennis, Counting Crows, and John Mayer. The wonderful TV series featured Frank’s original version over a montage giving the heartbreaking backstory of one of the characters.

    Paul Simon would also record “Blues Run the Game” with Art Garfunkel. The song appeared on the Simon & Garfunkel box set Old Friends.

    Frank would never release another album during his lifetime, although he did create more music (now available). His life seemed to be haunted. When he was eleven, a furnace exploded at his school, severely burning Frank and killing fifteen of his classmates, including his young sweetheart.

    After recording his 1965 album, Frank suffered from depression and other mental and physical health problems. At one point he was homeless. He died of pneumonia in Massachusetts in 1999.

    The following short clip from a Buffalo news stations gives a little more information about his life.

    I only discovered Frank’s music recently after seeing a reference on Twitter. It is clear he was a great talent, so it is no wonder that he is well-respected despite the unfortunately small amount of music we have from him. Check out more of his music if, like me, you are new to his work.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge: “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (Duet of the Day)

    Make It Through the Night

    In 1970, Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge met on an airplane flight, leading to Kristofferson getting off the plane with Coolidge in Memphis instead of continuing on to his planned destination of Nashville. The two would eventually marry. Although the marriage would not last, the two made some great recordings, including performances of Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

    In the 1972 UK live performance below, a viewer can easily see that the two are captivated by each other. Kristofferson does not take his eyes off Coolidge and the two are touching or nearly touching throughout the song.

    The performance appears to capture two people intensely in love in the time leading up to their marriage the following year. Or maybe they were just acting. You be the judge.

    In 1978, Kristofferson and Coolidge both appeared on an episode of The Muppet Show. During that episode, Coolidge sang her hit song “We’re All Alone.”

    On the episode, Kristofferson did sing “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” But he had a new partner, Miss Piggy.

    Kristofferson and Coolidge divorced in 1980 after a rocky marriage reportedly marred by Kristofferson’s alcoholism and infidelities. The two had a child, created some great music, and got through some lonely nights together.

    “Help Me Make It Through the Night” originally appeared on Kristofferson’s self-titled 1970 album. The album also features other classics written by Kristofferson, who recently retired.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Cover of the Day: Mo Pitney Sings “If Hollywood Don’t Need You”

    Singer-songwriter Mo Pitney performs an acoustic cover of Don Gibson’s classic song “If Hollywood Don’t Need You.”

    Mo Pitney Hollywood

    You may never have heard of Mo Pitney or the Don Gibson record “If Hollywood Don’t Need You.” But if that is the case, and you love a great country ballad, you need to watch Pitney’s acoustic performance of the song alone with his guitar in the woods.

    I recently discovered Pitney and his wonderful voice. So I only recently ran across this pandemic video he posted on Facebook in October 2020. The young Illinois native is early into what looks to be a promising career. The singer-songwriter has released two studio albums:  Behind This Guitar (2016) and Ain’t Lookin’ Back (2020). Both are worth checking out for both Pitney’s voice and his songwriting.

    This performance of “If Hollywood Don’t Need You,” with nothing but a guitar and the trees behind Pitney, reveals the depth of Pitney’s talents. He takes a great song, which has been one of his favorite songs since he was a kid, and he breaks your heart.

    Don Gibson released his version of the song — also known with a parenthetical as “If Hollywood Don’t Need You (Honey I Still Do)” — in 1982. Originally appearing on Gibson’s album Listen to the Radio, “If Hollywood Don’t Need You” went to number one on the country charts for Gibson, who passed away in 2003.

    Pitney made a video for the song back in 2016. But in this 2020 performance and video, the setting in the woods highlights the aching in the song’s tale. The singer professes his love in a letter to the woman who left him to pursue her dreams. He knows he has to let her go, hoping  she makes “the big time” and that her dreams come true. But, he reminds her, if Hollywood doesn’t need her, he will be there waiting for her.

    The song was written by Bob McDill. The songwriter wrote country classics, including Gibson’s “Good Ole Boys Like Me,” which we previously wrote about.

    Here,”If Hollywood Don’t Need You” has several layers. On the surface, the singer is wishing the best to his former lover while letting her know he misses her. But underneath it all one may hear the words as an appeal asking her to return.

    And no matter how you interpret the lyrics, there also is a cool reference to actor Burt Reynolds: “Oh, and if you see Burt Reynolds / Would you shake his hand for me? / And tell old Burt, I’ve seen all his movies.” Check it out.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.