Don Schlitz, a hit songwriter whose solo composition “The Gambler” became a crossover smash for Kenny Rogers in 1978, died Thursday. He was 73. No cause was given, but a statement announcing his death said that he died at a hospital in Nashville following a sudden illness.
“The Gambler,” the first song Schlitz ever had recorded by an artist, told the story of an encounter with an old cardsharp on a “train bound for nowhere.” While the lyrics were rich in card-playing imagery, the song was a parable on navigating life. “You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em,” Schlitz wrote in the chorus. “Know when to walk away, know when to run.”
Schlitz wrote “The Gambler” in 1976 when he was just 23, after three years of dead ends in Nashville. Following a meeting with his mentor, the songwriter Bob McDill, who showed him how to play an open tuning on guitar, Schlitz was newly inspired and walked back to his apartment writing the lyrics to what would become “The Gambler” in his head before getting to his typewriter at home.
“I typed it out. Everything but the last verse,” Schlitz told the performing-rights organization ASCAP. “I spent six weeks writing scenarios for the end of the song. Finally, I decided to respect the listener, and I wrote the last eight lines and let the listener decide what happened.”
“The Gambler” made its way to producer Larry Butler, who oversaw recordings of the song by a slew of artists, including Johnny Cash and Rogers. Rogers’ version stuck and the crooner released it as the title track to his 1978 album. It became a Number One country hit, a pop crossover, and earned Rogers a Grammy for Best Male Country Vocal Performance. It also won Schlitz a Grammy for Best Country Song and Song of the Year honors from the Country Music Association in 1979. “All the versions were wonderful,” Schlitz said, “but the right one was the one that made it out, because of Kenny’s performance and Larry’s production.”
Born in 1952 in Durham, North Carolina, Schlitz made his way to Nashville at age 20 and pursued a career as a songwriter. He was a regular performer at the Bluebird Cafe, Nashville’s revered songwriter proving ground. Throughout his life, Schlitz would return to the Bluebird alongside venues around the city, including a 2015 residency at East Nashville’s the 5 Spot.
But Schlitz was always more of a songwriter than live performer. The impact his catalog had on country music was so immense, he became the only non-artist songwriter ever inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2022.
In addition to “The Gambler,” he co-wrote Randy Travis hits like “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “On the Other Hand,” and “Deeper Than the Holler.” For Keith Whitley, it was “When You Say Nothing at All.” For Alabama, “40 Hour Week (For a Livin’).” For the Judds, “Turn It Loose.” And for Mary Chapin Carpenter, “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her.” Schlitz scored 25 chart-topping singles as a writer. He also had his songs recorded by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Tanya Tucker, and Garth Brooks, among others.
In 2017, the Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Schlitz as a member, one of just a handful of songwriters to join the Hall. (This year, Schlitz’s frequent writing partner, Paul Overstreet, will be inducted.) Schlitz was also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, joining in 2012, and a decade earlier was inducted the Nashville Songwriters Association Hall of Fame.
Schlitz often marveled at the legacy of his most famous song. In addition to its radio ubiquity, “The Gambler” inspired a series of films, and its lyrics embedded themselves in the cultural lexicon. Schlitz laughed about times he would hear an anchor cite the lyrics on a newscast, unaware of their origin.
“’Oh, it’s like the old saying: ‘You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,’” Schlitz said. “I’m going, that wasn’t an old saying — I actually wrote that.”
