Don Schlitz, Success Never Sleeps

The golden words that rolled off Don Schlitz’s tongue in 1979 were the lyrics to “The Gambler,” the blockbuster country-pop hit for Kenny Rogers. Schlitz--who has since co-written Randy Travis’ “On the Other Hand” and “Forever and Ever, Amen”--came to town in 1973, moonlighting as a computer operator at Vanderbilt University, while trying to pitch some of his songs.

Nothing clicked for six years. Then “The Gambler.” It was his first published song--and he was suddenly in style on 16th Avenue. Among his other subsequent hits: “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” (recorded by the Judds), “I Only Love You” (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) and “Old School” (John Conlee).

Schlitz, 35, was working with fellow songwriter Paul Overstreet in 1985 on a song called “Greedy Heart” when they detoured into “On the Other Hand.” According to Schlitz, they were discussing a line in a song when he suddenly said, “Well on the other hand.” Overstreet followed with, “there’s a golden band,’ and Schlitz countered with, “to remind me of someone who would not understand.” Back and forth it went; the whole thing was finished in 20 minutes.

They felt so sure they had a smash that they were unhappy, Schlitz recalls, when they learned that some newcomer at Warner Bros. Records was going to record it. He and Overstreet wanted a “name” singer--someone like Merle Haggard or George Jones. You can never guarantee a hit in the record business, but with Haggard and Jones you at least know it’ll get played on the radio. Who, they asked themselves two years ago, is Randy Travis?

“But then we got a tape of Randy’s version and it was good, really good,” Schlitz recalled, sitting in a no-frills office a short distance from Music City Row. “Then, I saw Randy on TV and really liked him. I liked the fact that he was just right there . . . no affectations.”

Thanks to credits like “On the Other Hand,” Schlitz is now one of the hottest songwriters in town--and the story of his “overnight” success with “The Gambler” serves as much as a symbol to hopeful young songwriters as Travis’ success inspires young singers.

“People come here with dreams and some of them come true, but it’s the most competitive business I have ever seen . . . even at this point in my career,” Schlitz said. “Every time I write a song, it’s like competing with 10,000 other songs.

“If I had a kid, I’d take a load of bricks and start throwing them at him one at a time and ask him after each one if he wanted to be in the music business. If he went through all that, I’d say, ‘OK, maybe you are hard-headed enough.’ ”