\n<\/p>\n
\n\tDon Schlitz<\/a>, a hit songwriter whose solo composition \u201cThe Gambler\u201d 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.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe Gambler,\u201d the first song Schlitz ever had recorded by an artist, told the story of an encounter with an old cardsharp on a \u201ctrain bound for nowhere.\u201d While the lyrics were rich in card-playing imagery, the song was a parable on navigating life. \u201cYou got to know when to hold \u2019em, know when to fold \u2019em,\u201d Schlitz wrote in the chorus. \u201cKnow when to walk away, know when to run.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSchlitz wrote \u201cThe Gambler\u201d 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 \u201cThe Gambler\u201d in his head before getting to his typewriter at home.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI typed it out. Everything but the last verse,\u201d Schlitz told<\/a> the performing-rights organization ASCAP. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n