Name: Kenny Rogers Collection on Letterman, 1985-1998
Uploaded: 2020-03-21T22:36:44.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Kenny Rogers Collection on Letterman, 1985-1998' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-03-21. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Kenny Rogers Collection on Letterman, 1985-1998' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2020-03-21. Transcript available.

Kenny Rogers Collection on Letterman, 1985-1998

Thank you. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the
program.
Is there anything I have to announce before we begin the show? Is there
anything I've
overlooked? Well, I don't have the information on the special out here. I have
these three
blue cards and no special data. We'll just talk about it later then. All right,
we have
special data to come. Konnichiwa. Oh, this just in, by the way. The special,
Saturday, November
30th, 1130. Bette Midler will be here. Michael Keaton will be here. Harry Shearer
will be
here. Catherine O'Hara and Andrea Martin, all with films they have produced for
this very
telecast. That'll be exciting, won't it, Paul? It's going to be a great show.
That's right.
And remember, also at 10 here on NBC, it will be Roger Mudd's American Almanac.
Yes.
Now that show is going to get a big rating. So it's a full night of viewing for
you and
your family. Yeah. All right. Got a good show right here, as a matter of fact.
My first guest is a perfect guest for our Tokyo special because he's so quickly
becoming a
big star in Japan as he is right here in America. Or right there in America.
Over there in America.
This is his latest album. It's available in the United States. I don't know if
you can get it here,
though. It's called The Heart of the Matter. Please say hello to Kenny Rogers.
How you doing? Fine. Thank you very much for being here. Sure. I didn't realize
I was this big in Tokyo.
Now, now, now you, you have actually, you have actually, uh, performed in Japan
before, haven't
you? Yes. And it was frightening. Really? How long ago was this? Last, uh, two
months ago.
Mm-hmm. And a big, uh, arena? Well, it started out, the first thing we did was
at a place called
the Budokan. We had about 8,000 people there. And so that in itself, you know,
when you have that
many people, just by sheer numbers, you're going to end up with, uh, with a
decent volume. But,
you know, the Japanese, as a rule, are very polite people. And, and, and rightfully
so. You go in
and you sing your songs and they sit very quietly to the end. But then they
really respond at the end.
So it kind of makes up for it. Yeah. Now, did, did they know much about you
before the show?
Nothing. No, they, I think they, they knew some of the older songs, but none of
the more
contemporary things. I think they knew Lady. They called it Rady, which was
kind of unusual.
It was, uh, they did, uh, I felt responded very well. Someone had, apparently
they had shown an HBO
special that I did over there. And it showed the girls coming up, giving me
flowers. So all these
little Japanese girls came up and gave me all these beautiful flowers. And at
the end of the show,
they wanted them back. So, uh, it was kind of, it was fun. Did you give them
the flowers back?
Sure. Yeah. What was I going to do with them? Uh, and how long were you there?
Uh, seven days.
Yeah. Now, and what, what were you like out on the streets? You must, uh, uh,
be quite noticeable.
When I first got there, no one had any idea who I was, really. And so it was,
it was kind of a mixed
emotions. You know, anyone who's in the position that, that I'm in, usually you're
so used to this high
profile. And all of a sudden I walked around, no one said anything, no one
cared. And I got very paranoid,
but as a matter of fact, I said, yes, I'm Kenny Rogers. And they, they didn't
care at all. So, uh,
but then after I've been there for a week. But are there many people with beards?
I mean, did that,
was that a, uh. I'm the only person that's ever been there with a beard, I
think, because after
about three days, you, you could just see a, they would see the television show
that I had done and
the newspaper clippings. And I think they started recognizing that I was
someone from a strange land or
something. Yeah. Yeah. What, what about the food? What did you enjoy eating
there? Kobe steaks. Now,
what is that? That is unbelievable. There's a place, apparently it's a, uh, an
area in Japan called
Kobe. And, uh, they have, they raise these cattle specifically for the purpose
of, of, uh, making
steaks out of them. Trying to think of a nice way to say it. Yeah. But what
they do. Yeah. There's no
no nice way to do that. Yeah. Yeah. There's, boom. That's it. It's over. Yeah.
Right. They walk one
by. But, uh, they, they feed these cattle beer and corn, very high protein, and
they're massaged.
From the time they're, from the time they're born. Beer and corn. And, and they
massage them every day for hours. Each, each steer is massaged. So the meat
meat literally, you can cut it with a fork. It's exceptionally good. Yeah. Good
heavens. But that's
quite a life. I mean, if you got to end up that way. Well, give me the choice.
It's like a party at
Wendell's house. It'd be rubbing meat when you go over there. Um, uh, now, uh,
tell me a little bit
about, uh, um, is it the, the, the, the first musical group you were in was,
this is the new,
the new Christie. I was with the new Christie. I was, I was in a jazz group
before that. What
was the jazz group? Bobby Doyle three that was in Houston. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
now what year was
that? That was 60, somewhere around, in fact, starting about 1960. Yeah. Where,
where, what is
Bobby Doyle doing today? He lives in Austin or San Antonio. Still in music? Yes.
And he is, I think,
one of the singularly most talented people I've ever met. Yeah. It bothers me
that he hasn't done better
with a career than he, because he should have. Yeah. And, and then you went
from there to the
new Christie Minstrel. Now, what was the deal on these guys? These, this was,
was, this was folk music,
right? Folk music. And, and wholesome kind of men and women, young men and
women? At least on stage,
they were. Off stage, it was a totally different ball game. Uh, well, now, let's
get to that. What,
what kind of carrying on did we have off stage? Well, it was, it was, uh, just
seriously explicit stuff
that took place with this group. I mean, this is, this was the most bizarre
group of people I've ever met in my life.
The new, the new Christie Minstrel? I just want you to know that Kim Karnes was
a member of this
very group that I'm discussing here. So you can form your own judgment. Who
else was in the group?
Uh, uh, let's see. At the time, I was actually not one of the originals. I was
about 26th
generation. I had come in after they had forgotten some of the original guys.
They were dropping like
flies because of the, uh, off stage stuff. Sure. And I'm trying to think, uh,
Kim Karnes would,
would be the name that you would most likely remember, uh, from the group. And,
and what, and what was the
back porch, uh, majority? Was that a, a division of the
new Christie Minstrels? Well, Randy Sparks. A subsidiary of... A farm team.
But, uh, Randy Sparks, who originated the new Christie Minstrels, uh, when he
sold the Christie
name to, uh, George Greif and Sid Garris, he then went on to start the back
porch majority. And they
did, in fact, bring up some people out of the Christie, I mean, out of the back
porch majority to be with
the Christie. And, uh, was there any connection with the Chad Mitchell trio
here, or was that the Kingston
trio? The Chad Mitchell trio, uh, Mike Settle, who was a member of, no, I don't
think there was actually any
connection. It's very confusing. You have to know that. Uh, for some reason in,
in my memory,
I have them all sort of lumped together. Well, the timing was about the same.
They were,
we were all out there kind of at the same time, and the Kingston trio as well.
And, and you're
going to sing here tonight with, uh, with, uh, not our trio, but our, the
gentlemen in our band.
Excellent. All right. We're going to, we're going to do a commercial,
and then we'll be right back with, uh, Kenny Rogers. Konnichiwa.
All right. Uh, now what are you going to do here? Is this from the, the new
album?
Right. It's called Morning Desire. Morning Desire. Where is that? Which side is
that on, Kenny?
It's, uh, I don't see. Oh, there it is. Right there over in the corner. Morning
Desire. All right.
And this is just brand new release. This is about three weeks. Three weeks.
Doing all right?
Doing very well. All right. And Morning Desire with Paul and the band. You guys
ready?
Yes. Okay, folks. Kenny Rogers. Morning Desire.
Here it is, seven in the a.m. It's gonna take more than waking to rise me.
I wake up with this need again. To feel the love of the woman beside me.
It's just one of those days. When I wanna lay here with her. And love her
before I leave.
And listen to the rainfall along the road. And the thunder sounds like horses
hoes.
Oh, I listen to her breathe. And it makes me wanna wake her up. And tell her
that I'm on fire.
And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire with morning desire.
Looks like I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. But
the longer I keep stalling, the more I think about calling in and lying.
It's just one of those days. It's just one of those days. When I wanna stay
here with her. And watch her while she sleeps. And listen to the rainfall along
the road.
I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire.
And the thunder sounds like horses hoes.
I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire.
And I'm on fire. And I'm on fire. And the thunder sounds like horses hoes.
Oh, I love to hear the rain falling on the roof. And the thunder sounds like
horses hoes.
Oh, I listen to her breathe. And it makes me wanna wake her up. And tell her
that I'm on fire.
With morning desire. With morning desire. Listen to the rain.
We'll be right back after station identification. Kenny Rogers, Nice job, Kenny.
Thanks, Paul.
We're going into the, uh, we have a top ten? We don't have a top ten, do we?
Do we have it or we don't have it? I don't know if we have it. I don't think we
have it.
Also, you know what else we can't do in here, Paul? We don't have the Thrill
Cam anymore.
We don't have the Thrill Cam.
No, we don't. I'm sorry.
But, you know, we have that rotating heart.
But the Thrill Cam, apparently the ceiling is too low in here and we can't do
it, so we're pretty much screwed.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. I appreciate that. Well, we'll see what we can do.
What are we doing tonight? It's, uh, Brush with Greatness.
This, uh, audience members stand up and tell us about experiences they've had,
uh, with famous people in their lives here to Ford.
Do we have a Brenda Kirkland with us? Brenda, come on down and pick up the keys
to your new Buick. Brenda.
Hi, Brenda. How are you?
Fine. How are you?
Nice to see you. Where are you from?
Toronto.
Toronto. Oh, Toronto is, I keep saying this, one of the great cities in North
America, isn't it?
It is.
What do you do for a living in Toronto?
I work in a hotel as an administrative assistant.
What hotel is that?
Bramada Hotel.
Oh, is that the one who always burns down?
No, no. It's just, it's a joke. It's a fine hotel, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah. And is it, is it right in downtown Toronto or at the...
It's actually by the airport.
At the airport. Yeah.
Yeah.
I like staying by the airport whenever I travel.
Uh, Brenda, uh, you're in town on a little holiday, are you?
Yes, I am.
Nice to have you here. And tell us about your Brush with Greatness.
Well, a few years ago, I was out of, I'm, my, my hometown's London, Ontario.
London, Ontario. I've actually been there, too.
And Kenny Rogers in the first edition was there.
And after the show, a group of us was hanging around, kind of eyeing up one of
the other
members in the band, a little younger member.
And Kenny came up to me and sort of put his arm around and kissed me.
Ooh. Ooh.
And I was too young.
Kenny Rogers kissed you?
And I was really too young to really realize today, you know, what he is today.
And do you fully realize what he is today?
Yes.
And if you'd known then, you'd have had him arrested, right?
Probably not.
Uh, okay, but I understand, Brenda, the