Customer Reviews

Number Ones

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, so Kenny Rogers has a ton of "Hits" albums out, but this is possibly the best on one disc. Nearly every major hit is included, however, the #2's and 3's didn't make the cut. Mostly I miss "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", and a few other minor hits. But it's hard to complain when we get "Lucille", "Coward Of The County", "Lady", and numerous others. Plus this includes his perfect duet with Dolly "Islands In The Stream", and the infamous sing-a-long "The Gambler". It's still hard for me to get interested in new country when the classic songs sound this good. If you need more Kenny than this, you'll have to get the 42 track "Ultimate Hits".

I noticed that nearly every song on this CD has had maybe the last 3-5 seconds chopped. Im surprised noone has mentioned this, as it pretty much chops off the last chord of "Lady". The effect on most other songs is nearly unnoticeable though. And my god! Is that really the original recording of The Gambler? If it is, then they did an excellent job remastering it. It sounds legit so far to me. Save your money if possible though and get the Through The Years: A Retrospective box set which has everything this disc has (except "Buy Me A Rose") along with the #1's that didnt make this collection like "Tomb of Unknown Love" without the chop job at the end. Heck, the Retrospective box set sports just every one of his charted sings that I can think of all the way to 1997.

Give Kenny Rogers his due. In the '70s and '80s, he was one of the top artists placing more than 60 singles on both the pop and country charts. He was the first country artist to earn 20 RIAA gold records. In 1978 he had his first country chart topper with "Lucille," and more than twenty years later he had a country No. 1 with "Buy Me a Rose," making him the oldest country artist to top the chart at age 61.

Because this collection focuses only on his No. 1 hits (with a few exceptions), there are none of his hits with The First Edition. [You'll have to buy 2004's 42 ULTIMATE HITS to get those.] What you do get are some of his best known solo hits like "The Gambler," "Coward of the County," "Daytime Friends" and "Love or Something Like It." Plus there are his duets: "We've Got Tonight" with Sheena Easton, "Islands in the Stream" with Dolly Parton," "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" with Ronnie Milsap, and three hits with his favorite duet partner Dottie West--"Every Time Two Fools Collide," "All I Ever Need Is You" and "What Are We Doin' in Love."

My only complaint is the exclusion of his 1985 No. 1 "Tomb of the Unknown Lover." [Inexplicably, they include his duet with Kim Carnes ("Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer") which only reached No.3 along with two other solo hits ("Through the Years" and "Share Your Love with Me") that both peaked at No. 5.] So, while 21 NUMBER ONES may stretch the truth a bit, this is a solid collection of some of Kenny Rogers' best material. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The music on this CD is first rate. 21 Number One Hits by one of music all-time greats, Kenny Rogers!

This CD doesn't include all of hits chart-toppers ("What about me?", "Crazy In Love", etc are not here) but we get 21 of his chart-toppers and as a bonus we get the #2 smash hit "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer".

While their are no First Edition hits here (they never had a US Number one, despite topping pop and country charts around the globe in countries including Great Britain and New Zeland) this covers from 1977 with Rogers first solo chart topper "Lucille", right up to the present with the equally classic "Buy Me A Rose".

Very few artists during the 20th century saw the huge success of Kenny Rogers and this collection of chart-toppers shows why.

UPDATE: In repsonse to the reviewer (Steve Vrana) who claimed that the album title stretches "the truth", I have to correct you. ALL of these songs reached Number 1 on the charts in the USA. Capitol records are including the AOR chart where Rogers had several songs reach #1 (such as "Through the years") that didn't quite make it all the way on the pop or country list, hence this album DOES contain 21 bonafide Number one singles!! (plus the bonus track 22 - a top 5 hit duet with Kim Carnes)!

Those looking for Rogers' classic sides will find his latest greatest hits collection to be a generous single disc. Each of the 21 sides topped either the country or adult-contemporary charts, and the bonus 22nd track, a duet with Kim Carnes for "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" struck top-5 across AC, Country and Pop. By sticking to #1s, a few favorites are missed, including First Edition hits "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" and "Reuben James." Rogers' newly penned liner notes illuminate his view of each song, and with a song list that stretches from 1976's "Lucille" through 1999's "Buy Me a Rose," the disc covers a lot of ground. Whether singing twangy country-pop or straight-up adult contemporary, Rogers consistently displays the high level of craft that earned him sustained commercial success. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

The quality of this recording is excellent and includes some of the best of Kenny Rogers hits. If you are a Kenny Rogers fan, this is probably the ultimate disc to buy.

Kenny Rogers was at the peak of his career when I was growing up and he's always been a big favorite of mine. I've been looking for a good digitally remastered compilation to replace "20 Greatest Hits" which has got pretty poor audio quality when played alongside of music that was recorded more recently. I came across the CD "21 Number Ones" at Target. I was tempted to buy it but decided to wait until I got home and check the reviews on Amazon. After reading about the improved audio quality, I decided that I really wanted this collection and decided to download the mp3 version.

I was a bit disappointed to find that the mp3 version of the album that is available on Amazon contains six fewer tracks than the CD version, excluding all of Kenny's RCA recordings and the Sheena Easton duet "We've Got Tonight". I figured the RCA tracks were unavailable due to licensing restrictions, but why "We've Got Tonight" was exlcuded was a big mystery, since it was originally released on the Liberty label, as were most of the tracks in the collection. I deliberated about whether I should just order the CD, but then I discovered that most of the missing were available for download on another digitally-remastered set "A Love Song Collection". In the end, I was able to piece most of the album back together by purchasing "Number Ones" and some selected tracks from "A Love Song Collection." I'd already bought "Buy Me A Rose" from this set a while back, and I opted not to purchase "Islands In The Stream" since there's a perfectly good remastered version of this song on "The Essential Dolly Parton". The only track I couldn't get was the Ronnie Milsap duet "Make No Mistake, She's Mine", which was my least favorite song of this collection anyway, so that was no biggie. It took a little effort and ended costing $1 more than buying the CD, but it had the advantage of not having the tracks shortened to squeeze them onto one disk, as another reviewer had lamented.

Kenny Rogers recorded so many wonderful songs that have stood the test of time. Many of these songs could be hits today. Some may complain that they are more pop than country, but I think it is just great music -- and far better than the fodder that is spoon-fed to us by the sad state of affairs that is modern country radio. The oldest recordings in this set are over 30 years old ("Lucille" was released in 1977) but you would never know it from listening to them. They sound as if they were brand new recordings. I've never heard these songs sound so sharp and vibrant, which brings a whole new level of enjoyment to them. Listening to this album has brought back a lot of wonderful memories of when I was growing up. This collection is one that I will be playing quite a lot. I highly recommend it.

I am a big Kenny Rogers fan and this CD has a great selection of his hits. I really enjoy it.

THIS CD IS JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED! YOU POP IN THIS CD AND YOU IMMEDIATELY ENTER THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD OF MR. ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD. EVERY SONG'S A HIT. 100% KENNY ,NO FILLERS!

Love this CD. Love his voice and his songs, even though I don't consider myself to be a country music fan. Most of the big ones are here. There are some that aren't included, which I was surprised about, but maybe they were only #2? ;)

If you like Kenny Rogers, you will LOVE this collection. You've heard every song on it and it will surely bring back a lot of memories.