C Instrument - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.1415672 By Kenny Rogers. By Don Schlitz. Arranged by John Fries. 20th Century,Country,Pop,Standards. Lead Sheet / Fake Book. 2 pages. John Fries #997392. Published by John Fries (A0.1415672). TYPE JOHN FRIES IN THE SEARCH BAR TO SEE ALL I HAVE TO OFFER. Thanks, John. The Gambler is a song written by Don Schlitz and recorded by several artists, most famously by American country singer Kenny Rogers. Schlitz wrote the song in 1976 when he was 23 years old. It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album Bare at the urging of Shel Silverstein. Bare's version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but that version failed to chart higher than No. 65. Other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album Gone Girl. It was Rogers, however, who made the song a mainstream success. His version was a No. 1 country hit, and made its way to the pop charts at a time when country songs rarely crossed over. It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album The Gambler, and won him the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1980.
