Luck or Something Like It (12 page)

Photo Section

I love this early family photo. It takes me back to my family roots in Houston. I’m second from the left, with my father beside me and my mother leaning in front of me. You can see what a big family I came from and how it was always an adventure.
Courtesy of Sandy Rogers

This picture from grade school is the one that Mary Gwynne Davidson Ridout mentioned in her very kind letter. I’m the one in the second row from the back, second from the right in the white shirt, and she’s the brunette two people to my right.
Courtesy of Mary Gwynne Davidson Ridout

I was proud to be the first person in my family to graduate from high school.
Courtesy of the author

The group I was a part of as a teenager, the Scholars, gave me my first taste of the music industry and helped me discover my passion for music.
Courtesy of the author

Imperial Records sent the Scholars to Los Angeles to record, and our experience there turned out to be a major turning point for me. I realized that L.A. was where I needed to be to truly pursue my music career.
Courtesy of the author

I am particularly fond of my sisters’ hair in this shot from a family reunion in the ’70s, and my brother Billy’s pants were always a big hit. In the photo are
(from left to right)
Billy Rogers, Randy Rogers, Geraldine Rogers Houston, Roy Rogers, Lucille Rogers, me, Edward Floyd Rogers, Leland Rogers, Barbara (Rogers) Thumann, and Sandy Rogers.
Courtesy of Sandy Rogers

The First Edition played our last scheduled shows in Las Vegas in the fall of 1975. The breakup was more of an evolution than a falling apart. At that time I never could have imagined the wild ride that awaited me as a solo artist.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

The First Edition was a big part of my life. The success we enjoyed for nearly a decade was a good thing, and so was the opportunity to grow as an artist, but what I cherish most from that time are the great laughs, good friendships, and incredible experiences we had together.
Dick Barnatt/Redferns/Getty Images

Following the success of hits like “Something’s Burning” and “Tell It All Brother,” the First Edition performed live in 1971 on NBC’s
Make Your Own Kind of Music
, just one of the countless television performances we gave.
NBC
/
NBCUniversal/Getty Images

I performed “The Gambler” on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
on November 16, 1978, the day after the song was released as a single. Soon after, it shot to the top of the charts. It was a thrill to receive a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. “The Gambler” is more than just a song about gambling; it’s a philosophy of life, which I think we can all follow.
NBC/NBCUniversal/Getty Images

I saw Ray Charles perform when I was twelve, and it changed my life. I knew then what I wanted to do. To meet him and perform together later in life was truly an honor, because I was such a big fan. Ray brought that “feel good” with him everywhere he went, and it was contagious.
CBS Photo Archive/CBS/ Getty Images