The Kirby Stone Four (with the Bobby Doyle Three) - Featuring Kenny Rogers

In 1960, Texan native Bobby Doyle, along with Don Russell and a young Kenny Rogers formed the vocal group The Bobby Doyle Three.

The group came to the attention of Kirby Stone, who was instrumental in them being signed to Columbia Records in 1962, with Stone becoming what Rogers described as "an early mentor of mine (who) taught me valuable lessons about the music business."

Rogers also remembered some advice Stone gave him early on. "He sat me down and said, ‘Kenny, let me tell you something: This is not all wet towels and naked women," Rogers said with a laugh. "I was really disappointed ... until I realized what he said. What he was saying is, this is a business, and if you don’t treat it like a business, it will eat you up. "So I’ve always tried to do that: I’ve tried to be on time. I’ve tried to deliver. I’ve tried to be nice to people," Rogers explained. "And I’ve tried to work with people that bring me pleasure."

In 1962, The Kirby Stone Four and The Bobby Doyle Three joined forces and recorded the song Empty Pockets Filled With Love from Irving Berlin's final musical, 'Mr. President'. Like the musical itself, the song was a flop.

The Bobby Doyle Three became the semi-regular support act for the Kirby Stone Four, with some reports indicating that Rogers even became the KS4's bass player (although he was never an official member of the group) before joining the folk group The New Christy Minstrels in 1966. As the story goes, when Stone heard that The Christys were recruiting a couple of new members, he told them that they would do well to consider Rogers. "He's a versatile singer and plays stand-up bass." One of the best known and successful folk groups around, The New Christy Minstrels had already helped to launch the careers of Barry McGuire ("Eve Of Destruction") and Gene Clark, who went on to join The Byrds. On Kirby Stone's recommendation, they decided to do exactly that ... and, in perhaps one of the most unusual auditions in history, Kenny Rogers won his spot in The New Christy Minstrels by singing to them over the pay phone in a busy hotel lobby of The Houstonaire Hotel!

The rest, as they say, is history, with Rogers ultimately carving out an extremely successful solo career, with hits such as The Gambler, Coward Of The County, Lucille, Islands In The Stream, and many others, before retiring in 2017.

Kenny Rogers passed away on 20 March 2020, aged 81

As a tribute to Kenny, here are The Kirby Stone Four with The Bobby Doyle Three and their version of Empty Pockets Filled With Love, which has never been available in any form since its initial single release in 1962.

Enjoy!