Kenny Rogers’ first posthumous album, Life Is Like A Song, due June 2 by way of UMe, is a heartfelt assortment of songs that have been close to and expensive to the late legend however typically by no means launched. One of the unreleased treasures, now accessible to stream and obtain is “Catchin’ Grasshoppers,” the centerpiece of the gorgeous and emotional new track cycle, that includes unreleased cuts and coveted rarities that inform the story of the love, life, loss and religion between Rogers and his household. You can hear it beneath.
Shop the perfect of Kenny Rogers’ discography on vinyl and extra.
A deeply private ode to Rogers’ twin sons with Wanda Rogers, Justin and Jordan, “Catchin’ Grasshoppers” was written by Laura McCall Torno and Earl Torno, with manufacturing work by Rogers and Randy Dorman (a member of Rogers’ band, Bloodline, for the reason that Nineteen Seventies). The transferring tune finds Rogers reveling within the quiet, treasured reminiscences made along with his younger youngsters, now aged 18. Rogers sings, “Years from now I won’t remember this day/I won’t recall the field/But I’ll remember my children’s eyes/Lighting up like stars when they were five/Yes, I’ll remember/Catchin’ grasshoppers.”
Curated and govt produced by the Country Music Hall of Famer’s widow, Wanda Rogers, the album options eight never-before-heard recordings, spanning 2008-2011, and showcases Rogers’ vary by means of an array of authentic materials and covers, together with interpretations of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and Lionel Richie’s “Goodbye,” in addition to the artist’s long-sought-after duet with Dolly Parton, “Tell Me That You Love Me.”
A digital deluxe version contains two bonus tracks: a canopy of the Mack Gordon/Henry Warren commonplace, “At Last” (made well-known by Etta James), and the Buddy Hyatt-penned authentic, “Say Hello to Heaven.” Life Is Like A Song will likely be accessible on CD and vinyl in addition to digitally. The launch marks the primary new non-Christmas studio album by Rogers in 10 years and the one non-compilation/non-reissued full-length album to be launched on vinyl since 1991.
“I think the record is fabulous, and it is going to make Kenny so proud,” mentioned Wanda Rogers. “These songs are such a beautiful reminder of his love ‘for the feelings a song can make’ for a person. He would often say that he wanted his songs to be ‘what every man wants to say, and every woman wants to hear.’ I think there are a lot of those moments on this album. This is a very special record to me and our family because it really tells the story of our life together, and I feel his fans will also relate to it in a big way because it walks the listener through the seasons of life that we all experience in one way or another. There is joy, there is love, there is family, there is uncertainty, there is pain, there is faith… it’s emotional and real. This is the kind of music Kenny loved to make.”
Rogers’ six-decade legacy contains greater than 120 hit singles and almost 40 studio albums. One of the best-selling artists of all time with worldwide album gross sales topping 120 million, Rogers was the consummate crossover star who discovered huge success throughout the pop, nation, AC, and rock charts.
That versatility was evident within the singer, songwriter, and musician’s earliest recordings – from his doo-wop period (The Scholars, Kenneth Rogers) and work with Columbia Records jazz trio The Bobby Doyle Three, to his time as a member of the celebrated folks ensemble The New Christy Minstrels and, beginning in 1967, with the eclectic psychedelic rock, nation, folks, pop, and R&B band, The First Edition. After almost a decade of hits with The First Edition, Rogers launched into a solo profession, throughout which he would soar to world superstardom, because of a string of chart-topping hits, together with “Lucille” (1977), “The Gambler” (1978), “Lady” (1980), and “Islands in the Stream” with Dolly Parton (1983).