20 Great Years

Personnel includes: Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes (vocals); Rick Harper, Randy Dorman (guitar); Steve Glassmeyer (piano); Edgar Struble, Gene Golden (synthesizers); Chuck Jacobs (bass); Lynn Hammann (drums); Dottie West (background vocals); The Nashville String Machine.
Personnel: Kenny Rogers (vocals); Randy Dorman, Ricky Harper (guitars); The Nashville String Machine (strings); Chuck Jacobs (bass instrument); Lynn Hammann (drums); James 'Val' Valentini, Dottie West, Edgar Struble, Gene Golden, Steve Glassmeyer (background vocals); Carl Gorodetsky.
Additional personnel: Kim Carnes (vocals).
Released in 1990 (and later repackaged by Warner in 2007), 20 Great Years chronicles the years of Kenny Rogers' superstardom - roughly picking 1970 as the beginning of his superstardom, although the First Edition was active before then, and ending with the release of this comp. This might suggest that 20 Great Years is a compilation of previously released material, but it is not. Kenny had hits for Liberty (now owned by EMI) during the '70s and '80s, but this was released by Reprise, and he re-recorded such hits as "Lucille," "Lady," "The Gambler," "Coward of the County," and "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" for this collection. They're perfectly serviceable new versions, often closely adhering to the original hits, but they're not nearly as good as the originals, nor are they reinterpretations: they're passed off as the originals when they're not. Chances are, these versions won't offend casual fans who don't really care whether they have the original versions or not, but if you have a choice, get one of the many, many collections of original Kenny hits instead of this. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine