Biography: 1990s

The legal wrangle with Lib Hatcher lasted for about a year, during which time Gene could not sign any management/booking deals with anyone else.  Warner Brothers Records became aware of the situation and, following the release of the 'At Last' album in 1991, dropped Gene from their roster.

The major label recording career of a country music legend had ended - something that the country music industry should never have allowed to happen & something that they should be thoroughly ashamed of.

Gene then turned to veteran manager Jack McFadden in Nashville.  Jack, who had established himself in Nashville in 1983, was renowned as a formidable talent manager & had worked with the likes of Merle Haggard, Freddie Hart, Susan Raye, Keith Whitley (RIP) & Lorrie Morgan.  It was also Jack who brought Billy Ray Cyrus, and the 'Achy Breaky Heart' phenomenon, to the world of country music.  Jack was aware of Gene’s situation, but he agreed to manage him.

Jack approached a number of major record labels in Nashville, but none of them were willing to take a chance on an artist with a lawsuit hanging over his head.  However, an independent recording project was agreed with Canadian record producer & former recording artist Gary Buck.  There were several provisions within the contract, which meant that if no major label acquired the rights to the recording, Gary could release it on Mercury/Polygram Records in Canada.

The album, which was recorded in Nashville in December 1991 & February 1992, was entitled 'In Other Words' & initially gained release only in Canada on Gary Buck’s own label Broadland International Records.

The album later gained a release (on Broadland Records) in the United States in 1993, when a single from it, 'One & one & one' managed to make its way into the American country music charts, stopping a little outside the Top 50.

On a sad note, Gary Buck passed away at his home in Didsbury, Alberta in Canada on 14th October 2003 at the age of 63.

In the early 1990s, the country music market place was quite different to how it was when Gene Watson emerged on the country music scene in 1975.  Garth Brooks was now the major country music artist, most new country acts were young & Gene’s new manager, Jack McFadden, was now busy promoting his new discovery Billy Ray Cyrus.

Sadly, Jack McFadden passed away in Nashville, Tennessee on 16th June 1998 at the age of 71.

It was around 1993 that Gene Watson became despondent and seriously considered quitting the country music industry for good.  He had no management & felt that he didn’t have anything to look forward to.  He had had no major hit songs since 1989 & felt that the country music industry had turned its back on him.  While he was considering retiring from the business he contributed so much to, a name was thrown at him, that of an old friend & booking agent by the name of Allen Whitcomb.

Gene traveled to Nashville to meet with Allen.  They talked, a deal was struck & Gene once again had a recording home.  Gene signed a recording contract with singer/songwriter/producer Ray Pennington and joined the roster at Step One Records in September 1993. 

Step One Records, which was based in Nashville, was also owned by Ray who acted as the company’s chief executive.

Gene’s debut album for Step One was called 'Uncharted Mind' and the first single released from it was a song called 'Snake in the house'.  This track was written by a then new artist called Wade Kimes who, in later years, recorded under the name of Royal Wade Kimes.  Once again, Gene Watson brought a new songwriter to prominence.

Gene Watson’s relationship with Ray Pennington at Step One Records was one of mutual respect & admiration.  Gene was now wearing less hats in the recording studio than he was in the 1970s & 1980s.  In the old days, Gene was looking for material, organising the musicians & working on his own musical arrangements.

At Step One Records, he simply arrived at the recording studio & Ray did all the rest.  The release of Gene’s debut Step One Records album ('Uncharted Mind') opened some doors for Gene, in that some American country music radio stations were willing to add some if its tracks to their play-lists.  It very much appeared that Gene Watson was back from the dead in musical terms & that a revival of his career looked distinctly possible.

In 1996, Gene’s second album for Step One Records was released.  'The Good Ole Days' was an album of exquisite Texas swing & tasteful balladry & included a track which would ultimately put the Gene Watson name firmly back on the American country music singles charts after an absence of some four years. 

The song in question, 'Change her mind', entered the Billboard American country music singles chart on Saturday 25 January 1997.  By March of 1998, the single had reached No.44, thanks in no small part by the work carried out by an excellent promotion team at Step One Records.

One of the reasons for the revival in Gene’s career at this time can be attributed to the fact that many of the people programming the song for American country music radio did not know who Gene Watson was & thought that he was a new, young artist.  Most listeners to American country music radio thought the same thing.

The follow-up single, 'No goodbyes', didn’t achieve as high a chart position, only reaching the Top 70.  'The Good Ole Days' album release also afforded Gene the opportunity to re-record three of his hit songs for a new generation of fans, namely 'Love in the hot afternoon', 'Speak softly (you're talking to my heart)' & 'I don't need a thing at all'.

1997 also saw the release of Gene’s third album for the Step One Records label.  The 'Jesus is All I Need' project was an album that Gene had been wishing to record for some time - a collection made up entirely of religious material.  The recording of the album was also very much a family affair.

Six of the ten featured tracks had been written by Gene’s cousin Bobbie Bost (RIP), while his sisters, Virginia Ruth Watson Thompson & Mary Lois Watson Templeton, provided wonderful harmony vocals.

The 'Jesus is All I Need' album was re-released by Intersound Records under the title 'The Gospel Side of Gene Watson' in 2004, and by Gusto Records as 'Gene Watson: Gospel at its Best' in 2006.

Gene Watson’s final album for Step One Records was titled 'A Way to Survive' & was released in 1997.  The album included seven new tracks, along with a re-recording of 'Fourteen carat mind' (Gene’s first - and only - No. 1 Billboard country hit from January 1982).

The track had been originally included on Gene's 'Old Loves Never Die' album for MCA Records in 1981.

The 'A Way to Survive' album also included, for some inexplicable reason, two tracks from his 1993 Broadland Records release 'In Other Words', namely 'Class Reunion', & 'Old porch swing'.  The album demonstrated, however, that Gene Watson still possessed his extraordinary vocal ability.

A compilation of eighteen of Gene’s previous glorious hit singles was released on Tee Vee Records in 1999 under the banner 'Eighteen Greatest Hits' & introduced his unique voice to a whole new audience of listeners.

It would be a further two years, however, before an album of new material would be released carrying the name of Gene Watson.

Gene Watson Timeline...

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