Gideon is the ninth studio album by American singer Kenny Rogers. It was released by United Artists Records in 1980. The album hit #1 on the Country albums chart and #12 on the main Billboard album chart. It includes the worldwide hit "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" (a duet with Kim Carnes, who co-wrote the entire album with her husband Dave Ellingson). Gideon was certified platinum by the RIAA.
Gideon is a concept album about a Texas cowboy, and all the songs stick to this theme. The album is a look back at his life in retrospect. In the first song "Gideon Tanner", it is known that Gideon is dead. This and most of the other songs are sung from the point of view of the character himself.
Although the album's only single release was "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", the song "Saying Goodbye" was issued on the B-side of Rogers' top five hit single "Love the World Away".
Track listing
Personnel Kenny Rogers – lead vocals Larry Butler – acoustic piano Bill Cuomo – acoustic piano Steve Glassmeyer – acoustic piano, backing vocals Eugene Golden – acoustic piano, backing vocals Edgar Struble – clavinet, synthesizers, backing vocals, horn arrangements (7) Randy Dorman – guitar Patrick Harper – guitar Billy Sanford – guitar, dobro Chuck Jacobs – bass guitar Bobby Daniels – drums, backing vocals Jerry Carrigan – percussion Bill Justis – string arrangements The Sheldon Kurland Strings – strings Lea Jane Berinati – backing vocals Kim Carnes – backing vocals, lead vocals (4) James Cason – backing vocals David Ellingson – backing vocals Wendy Suits – backing vocals Dennis Wilson – backing vocals
Production Producers – Larry Butler and Kenny Rogers Engineer – Billy Sherrill Mixing – Bill Schnee Recorded at Jack Clement Recording Studios (Nashville, TN) Mastered by Doug Sax at the Mastering Lab (Los Angeles, CA) Art direction – Bill Burks Cover and poster photos – Ken Kragen Back cover photo – Reid Miles
Charts
Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for Gideon Chart (1980) Peakposition Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 31 Canada Country Albums (RPM) 1
Year-end charts + Year-end chart performance for Gideon Chart (1980) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) 22 US Billboard 200 71
Certifications and sales
References
External links Gideon album page at Music.com