"Kentucky Gambler" is a 1974 song written and performed by

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...

. "Kentucky Gambler" was issued as a track from Dolly Parton's ''

The Bargain Store ''The Bargain Store'' is the fifteenth solo studio album by Dolly Parton. It was released on February 17, 1975, by RCA Victor. In the Parton-penned title track, one of her best-known compositions, she used worn, second-hand merchandise in a disc ...

'' album from 1975.

Content

A classic Dolly Parton story song, "Kentucky Gambler" tells the story of a miner from Kentucky who abandons his wife and children for the bright lights of

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, where he initially does very well at gambling, "winning at everything he played". Eventually, however, his winning streak comes to a halt, as he loses all of his winnings. Broke, he returns home, only to find that his wife has found someone else and has moved on without him. He concludes that "a gambler loses much more than he wins".

Merle Haggard recording

That same year,

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

and

The Strangers Strangers are people who are unknown to another person or group. Strangers or The Strangers may also refer to: History * Elizabethan Strangers or Strangers, a name applied to French and Belgian immigrants to Norwich, East Anglia, England, during ...

covered "Kentucky Gambler" and it was their nineteenth number one song on the country chart. The Merle Haggard and

version stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of eleven weeks on the chart. Coincidentally, Parton's ''The Bargain Store'' album featured a cover of a Haggard composition, "You'll Always Be Special to Me". The following year, Haggard would cover another Dolly Parton song, " The Seeker".

Personnel for Merle Haggard version

– vocals, guitar

: *

Roy Nichols Roy Ernest Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix o ...

– lead guitar * Norman Hamlet – steel guitar, dobro *

Tiny Moore Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard during the ...

– mandolin * Ronnie Reno – guitar * Mark Yeary – piano * Johnny Meeks - bass *Biff Adam – drums *Don Markham – saxophone

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1974 singles Songs written by Dolly Parton Dolly Parton songs Merle Haggard songs Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) Capitol Records singles 1974 songs Songs about Kentucky {{1970s-country-song-stub