Gene Watson: CMP Album Reviews
Gene Watson has been singing professionally since the late 1950s & has been
a country music (album) recording artist since the late 1960s.
Gene Watson steps into a recording studio and, like a great chef, uses the
perfect ingredients to create an aural feast. When Gene Watson takes a step
behind the microphone, magic happens.
Gene Watson's contribution to the country music genre is immeasurable and it
is here that you have an opportunity to read a CMP review of Gene Watson's
'At Last' (Warner Bros. Records, 1991), as published in the
April 1991
issue of Country Music People.
Country Music People is the United Kingdom's No. 1 Award Winning Country
Music Magazine, and was the recipient of the Country Music Association's
2003 Wesley Rose International Achievement Award.
Country Music People was first published in 1970 and protects its integrity
fiercely. The magazine has always brought its readers detailed, honest
record reviews untainted by advertising considerations, as well as genuine
interviews with country stars that are not faked from interview discs sent
out by publicists and record labels.
Country Music People have
long ago nailed its colours to the mast where Gene Watson is concerned.
The magazine has rigorously championed Gene's cause down through the years
and have published a number of reviews of his album releases.
'At Last' (Warner Bros. Records, 1991)
This CMP review by Craig Baguley, which was published in the April 1991 issue of
Country Music People, is reproduced here with the kind permission of the
publishers.
Album Review by Craig Baguley
(** out of 5)
'A new album from one of the greatest honky tonk singers in the world, a
voice so pure and soulful that one wonders what it takes to get Gene Watson
back up there where he belongs. If veteran Vern Gosdin
can re-launch his
career against a backdrop of stetson hats and pretty boy faces, why not
Gene?
Watson's last album, 'Back in the Fire', was a fine piece of work that
failed to ignite and I certainly don't see this release helping any -
there's a lack of heavyweight songwriters and the material is much weaker
than on that last outing. There's just nothing in this set that makes one
sit up in awe and say 'Jeez, what a song'. There's no 'Chiseled in stone',
no 'Wind beneath my wings', no 'Where love begins', nothing, apart from that
perfect, passionate voice, to raise this album above the mundane.
And the inclusion of the pop ballad standard 'At last' seems cock-eyed.
Although Gene sings the heart out of it, it's more suited to Jack Jones than
a true blue country boy. There are just too many good songwriters in
Nashville for the need to revert to this, unless it was a tryout for a new
direction in Watson's recordings. Or maybe Gene can't get the monster songs
because he's not hot enough and Music City songwriters are nothing if not
royalty-minded.
That's not to say there isn't some pleasant listening here. The ballads 'A
gifted hand' and 'Only yesterday' are quite appealing, while the fast-paced
'You can't take it with you when you go' has a walloping backing track.
'You can't get arrested in Nashville' is probably a little too close to
Gene, telling of an old country music star who can't get a record deal any
more.
A rethink and an appeal to writers like
Buddy Cannon, Max D. Barnes and Troy
Seals is urgently required'.
Craig Baguley
Country Music People
April 1991
