Don Schlitz

I would love to play a song for you this morning.

But did you know the Gambler, that song was released back in 1978, written by songwriter Don Schlitz, and it became one of the defining songs of Kenny Rogers' career.

And here's something interesting.

Kenny Rogers wasn't actually the first person to record it.

Don Schlitz recorded his own version first, and Bobby Baird, also recorded it before Rogers turned it into the version everyone knows.

The Gambler went on to hit number one on the country chart.

It earned Rogers a Grammy and became so closely associated with him that it eventually inspired a series of television movies starring Rogers as Brady Hawks.

I, I think it's cool when you can keep your thoughts, um, pure, uh, t- uh, a- and yet leave that sort of, um, semipermeable membrane out there to be affected by that which is around you.

You know, if you're, um, uh, some of the great songwriters I've been with, um, uh, I, I think of one, um, uh, uh, and I'll take my hat off, um, because I'm talking about Don Schlitz.

And I miss Don.

I, I think the, the loss i- in, in country music of Don Schlitz, um, is a, um, is the calv- the calving of one of the biggest glaciers, um, of, uh, of, uh, of our, of our music.

It's just a...

It's a big change, uh, to, to live in a world that doesn't have this amazing voice pen in it, and I miss Don.

It came out in 1996 and went straight to number one, proving Naomi and Wynonna could turn a storm cloud into a sing-along.

Written by Don Schlitz, it's a mother-daughter harmony so good, even the thunder claps on beat.

Here is the Judds, Rockin' with the Rhythm of the Rain.

Exit country.

Oh, my.

The critic wrote, "The little boy who gave Nashville its greatest love song." Well, that song was penned out by the legendary Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, who had already had a different hit with this one artist.

The name of that song, On the Other Hand.

The inspiration from this song comes from Don's younger son, who always shared his bedtime prayers.

The critic wrote The Little Boy Who Gave Nashville Its Greatest Love Song.

Well, that song was penned out by the legendary Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, who had already had a different hit with this one artist.

The name of that song, On the Other Hand.

The inspiration from this song comes from Don's younger son, who always shared his bedtime prayers.

You just do it.

Did you ever hear a song Don Schlitz wrote called The Tattoo Redo? What was it? It's called The Tattoo Redo.

No.

When your tramp stamps expanded and no longer come...

I'm listening to that on the way home.

Who

sings that? Don Schlitz.

In the Tattoo

That's the debut of the single.

Next thing you know, Cragen's got Kenny Rogers doing a series of the gambler TV movies based on the Don Schlitz song.

That was a monster hit for Kenny in 78.

That's another Cragen thing.

around that.

And he says, I'll let you know what we find.

So I get a call a few weeks later and, um, he says, wait, uh, we found this Don Schlitz song about a little kid playing baseball called the greatest.

He says, send us some songs.

So the other day, I read an obituary in the paper for a man whose name I had never heard.

His name was Don Schlitz.

Now, Don Schlitz apparently was a prolific songwriter.

And in fact, after I wrote my piece on the website, a good friend of mine told me, you have to go and listen to a song called The Greatest by Don Schlitz.

And I did, and it is wonderful.

So after this podcast, after you've listened to the podcast and thought about it for a while, when you have a moment, go online and listen to Don Schlitz, The Greatest.

Very sweet song.

But the one I'm going to focus on today is not quite as quote sweet, but it's extremely meaningful.

He played me probably 30 songs and half of them were songs like Family Man, songs like Good Hurt, which is on the record and was a song co-written by Walker Hayes when Walker Hayes was working the overnight shift.

Echoes of Don Schlitz there, you know, he was like at FedEx all night and then trying to just stay awake and power through and write a song.

before sleeping a couple hours.

And that's a song, Good Hurt, that had been kicking around Nashville for 15 years, you know, trying to get cut.

I mean, yes, I'm touring with Vince and like two or the three or I think he wrote three songs of the year, the CMAs.

And I think two of them he wrote by himself, you know, like we need that.

Don Schlitz wrote the gambler by himself.

Uh, Eric Church lightning from Sinners Like Me record by himself.