''Gideon'' is the

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

-selling ninth studio album by American singer

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

. Issued by

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

in 1980, it hit #1 on the Country albums chart and #12 on the main ''Billboard'' album chart. It includes the worldwide hit "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" (a duet with

Kim Carnes Kim Carnes (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a sess ...

, who co-wrote the entire album with her husband Dave Ellingson). ''Gideon'' is a concept album about a Texas cowboy, and all the songs stick to this theme. The album is a look back at his life in retrospect. In the first song "Gideon Tanner", it is known that Gideon is dead. This and most of the other songs are sung from the point of view of the character himself. Although the album's only single release was "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", the song "Saying Goodbye" was issued on the B-side to Rogers' top five hit single "Love the World Away". ''Gideon'' reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Country charts in 1980.

Track listing

Personnel

* Kenny Rogers – lead vocals * Larry Butler – acoustic piano * Bill Cuomo – acoustic piano * Steve Glassmeyer – acoustic piano, backing vocals * Eugene Golden – acoustic piano, backing vocals * Edgar Struble –

clavinet The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tension ...

, synthesizers, backing vocals, horn arrangements (7) * Randy Dorman – guitar * Patrick Harper – guitar * Billy Sanford – guitar,

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

* Chuck Jacobs – bass guitar * Bobby Daniels – drums, backing vocals *

Jerry Carrigan Jerry Kirby Carrigan (September 13, 1943 – June 22, 2019) was an American drummer and record producer. Early in his career he was a member of the original Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and later worked as a session musician in Nashville for over ...

– percussion *

Bill Justis William Everett Justis Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 16, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and arrangement, musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy (instrumental), Raunchy". As a ...

– string arrangements * The Sheldon Kurland Strings – strings * Lea Jane Berinati – backing vocals *

– backing vocals, lead vocals (4) * James Cason – backing vocals * David Ellingson – backing vocals * Wendy Suits – backing vocals * Dennis Wilson – backing vocals

Production

* Producers – Larry Butler and Kenny Rogers * Engineer –

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

* Mixing –

Bill Schnee William S. Schnee (born July 4, 1947) is an American musician, music producer, and audio engineer. Schnee has been nominated 11 times for the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Award and worked on a multitude of other Grammy nominated an ...

* Recorded at Jack Clement Recording Studios (Nashville, TN) * Mastered by

Doug Sax Doug Lionel Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three of The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six of Pink Floyd's albums, including ''The Wall''; Ray Charles ...

at the Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA) * Art direction – Bill Burks * Cover and poster photos – Ken Kragen * Back cover photo –

Reid Miles Reid Miles (July 4, 1927 – February 2, 1993) was an American graphic designer and photographer best known for his work for Blue Note Records in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Reid Miles was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 4, 1927 but, fo ...

* Management – Kragen & Company

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

Gideon album page at Music.com
* Gideon album page at Allmusic 1980 albums Kenny Rogers albums United Artists Records albums Albums arranged by Bill Justis Albums produced by Larry Butler (producer) Concept albums {{1980s-country-album-stub