Kenny Rogers and the First Edition

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
Promotional photo of Kenny Rogers and The First Edition in early 1968
Background information
Origin	California
Genres	Rock, psychedelic rock, country rock
Years active	1967–1976 (reunions: 2010)
Labels	Reprise, Jolly Rogers
Associated acts	The New Christy Minstrels
Past members	Kenny Rogers Mickey Jones Terry Williams Mike Settle Thelma Camacho Mary Arnold Kin Vassy Jimmy Hassell John Hobbs Gene Lorenzo

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, previously named The First Edition, was a rock and roll-based band, who also performed R&B, folk music, and country music. Its stalwart members were Kenny Rogers (lead vocals and bass guitar), Mickey Jones (drums and percussion) and Terry Williams (guitar and vocals). The band formed in 1967, with folk musician Mike Settle (guitar and backing vocals) and the operatically trained Thelma Camacho completing the lineup.

As the 1960s counterculture was heating up, The First Edition signed with Reprise Records in the summer of 1967 and had its first big hit in early 1968 with the pop-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (US No. 5). After only one more chart hit, "But You Know I Love You" (US No. 19), the group, newly billed as "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition", once again hit the top ten, this time in the summer of 1969 with the topical "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" (US No. 6, UK No.2).

For the next six years, First Edition bounced between country rock, pop and mild psychedelia, enjoying worldwide success.

Kenny Rogers and The First Edition were (apart from Mickey Jones) made up of former New Christy Minstrels who felt creatively stifled. In 1967, with the help of Terry Williams' mother, who worked for producer/executive Jimmy Bowen, they signed with Reprise and recorded their first single together, "I Found A Reason", which picked up minor sales. Like much of the work by the original lineup, this was a distinctly contemporary composition with an intensely performed Mike Settle vocal. Settle had first come up with the idea of forming the band as his work took on the characteristics of rock. Over the previous seven years, Mike had been writing decidedly more folk-oriented songs, most notably the oft-covered "Sing Hallelujah".