My favorite prank we played on Kenny involved the audience. First, I have to tell you how a portion of the show normally ran. In the middle, Kenny used to do a song with his classical guitar while sitting stage center on a stool. The song was usually one he wrote called “Sweet Music Man.” Before the show it was Randy’s job to tune Kenny’s guitar, then place it in a stand on stage where Kenny could grab it when he was ready for it. When he did this he would sit on his stool and strum a chord. Sometimes the guitar would be slightly out of tune from sitting under the hot stage lights. When this happened, Kenny would have to retune the guitar. Sometimes the audience would get restless while waiting, so Bobby, whose drum riser was directly behind Kenny, would say, “Kenny, when you get it where you want it, weld it.” To which Kenny would reply, “Bobby, if I got it where I wanted it, you’d be very uncomfortable.” After which he would finally do the song.
One night I went out to the audience before the show started. After telling them the story I just told you, I gave them their instructions. Then I told Randy and Bobby what I was up to without letting the other band members in on the joke. I made sure Kenny’s guitar was so out of tune, he would never be able to retune it. When Kenny hit the chord before the song, his two-thousand dollar classical didn’t sound half as good as a child’s Mickey Mouse wind-up. Daggers and question marks were coming out of his eyes, and they were aimed at Randy. After Bobby felt Kenny had panicked enough, he stood and gave the audience their cue. They all stood in unison in front of Kenny and said, “Kenny, when you get it where you want it, weld it.” Kenny dropped his guitar, and needless to say, he was floored for the length of his aborted song, along with the other band members.
Another incident took place during the same slot in the show. Randy got a classical guitar which had been cut down the center, lengthwise, so it could be taken apart to show the bracing inside. Kenny was now having Randy hand him his guitar once he was in position on the stool. This night, Rick and Randy, who were on each side of Kenny at opposite ends of the stage, both went for the guitar. When they grabbed it, the guitar separated, and they each tried to hand their half to Kenny. Imagine a cartoon of Kenny Rogers showing him trying to look two directions at the same time. That is what he looked like.
On other occasions, the humor revolved around one of Kenny’s biggest hits with The First Edition, “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” which he always closed the show with. That is almost always. I used to run the lights for Kenny’s shows. Out at the lighting console were the buttons which opened and closed the curtains. One night Kenny finished the song before “Ruby” and I closed the curtain and headed backstage. When I reached the stage, Kenny said, “I wasn’t done!” The band was cracking up, and it was only then that I realized he hadn’t done “Ruby” and I had closed the show.
The beginning of the last verse to “Ruby” starts, “She’s leavin’ now ‘cause I just heard the slamming of the door…” So once while Kenny was doing a show I got the soundman to put microphones on few of the backstage dressing room doors. When he sang “Ruby” and reached the line mentioned above, we started slamming the doors again and again. They were not only out of time with each other, but out of tempo with the song as well. Since we had this coming out of the sound system, the band was not able to continue. Again the show ended before it was done, but Kenny and his audience had a good laugh together.
Another time, Kenny and Steve Wynn, owner of the Golden Nugget, cooked up some free publicity for the hotel and Kenny’s set in the lounge. After an early show one night, Kenny and Steve went out in the casino to one of the gaming tables. Kenny would be the dealer and ask the players what cards they needed. Steve would tell Kenny to give them the cards and then say, “They win. Pay ‘em!” Word of mouth spread fast that Kenny Rogers was giving away free money at the Golden Nugget.
The first few times we played the Nugget, it was just a casino with a lounge. They hadn’t built their own hotel yet. So we stayed at various places down the street. Once, late at night, some of us were in one of our rooms watching television when we heard back-firing noises coming from outside. Gene and I stuck our heads out the door to see what was going on. The night clerk had just been robbed and he and the thief were shooting at each other up and down the hallway. The others said we looked like we’d seen a ghost when we pulled our heads in and slammed the door (“Ruby” one last time?). They stopped laughing when they realized real bullets had been whizzing by outside.
(Excerpt from “Blood Is Thicker Than Diet-Coke” © 2011 by Garth Shaw)
Kenny Rogers plays "Sweet Music Man" in the dressing room. (Photo Credit: © Garth Shaw)
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