Gene Watson's Peers: Collin Raye
Gene Watson's peers within the country music industry
believe in the sheer talent of this unassuming man from east Texas, so much
so that Gene is regarded by many of them as 'the singer's singer' - and
rightly so!
All of Gene's Peers who were contacted in 2007 were most gracious with their
time & words. It is here, within this special part of gene-watson.com, that
you have an opportunity to read a quote from
Collin Raye, which he submitted to
this site on Friday 28 September 2007.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Collin Raye who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Collin Raye
This quote was submitted on Friday 28 September 2007
'I believe Gene Watson possesses one of the most
natural, smoothest, pure & authentic voices in the history of the country
genre.
He influenced everybody from my generation of singers. 'Fourteen carat mind'
& 'I don't need a thing at all' have been like essential listening for me.
And 'Farewell party' should be required, mandatory study, for anyone wanting
to do this for a living'.
Thank you, Collin Raye, for your
support of Gene Watson.
About Collin Raye...
Collin Raye is a native of DeQueen,
Arkansas where he was born in August 1959 with the name Floyd Collin Wray.
Both of Collin's parents were musical & Collin's mother, Lois Wray, was a
regionally popular performer in east Texas who opened shows for Elvis
Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis & Carl Perkins in the 1950s.
Collin Raye grew up steeped in traditional country music & regularly heard
the music of Johnny Horton, Porter Wagoner,
Merle Haggard,
George Jones, Charley Pride, Conway Twitty,
Buck Owens & Ray Price.
By the time he was seven years old, Collin was onstage performing with his
mother. His family moved from Arkansas to Texas & by the time he was
thirteen years old, he & his older brother Scott had formed The Wray
Brothers & were performing in the roadhouses of the Lone Star State. They
soon progressed to a headline act in Portland, Oregon & in the casinos of
Reno, Nevada.
Collin Raye first attracted the attention of Nashville as the lead vocalist
on a string of independent singles in the 1980s; The Wrays released a couple
of singles on Mercury Records in 1986/1987. Scott became tired of the road &
they broke up.
Epic Records signed Collin Raye as a solo artist in 1990 & released his
acclaimed debut album 'All I Can Be' which, a year later in 1991, yielded
the Billboard No.1 hit 'Love, me', along with the No.2 hit 'Every second'.
Collin Raye enjoyed a successful ten year period with Epic Records where he
achieved 21 Top 10 hits for the label. He also saw the release of several
acclaimed albums for the Epic Records label including 'In This Life' (1992),
'Extremes' (1994), 'I Think about You' (1995), 'The Walls Came Down' (1998),
'Counting Sheep' (1998) & 'Can't back Down' (2001).
Following his departure from Epic Records, Collin saw the release of several
independent albums in 2005 including 'Twenty Years & Change' (Aspirion
Records) & 'Fearless' (Country Road Records).
The 'Twenty Years & Change' album includes Collin's tasteful interpretations
of classic songs including the Bellamy Brothers' 'Let your love flow' &
Conway Twitty's 'It's only make believe'.
Collin Raye has enjoyed an illustrious career within country music; he has
proudly achieved 5 platinum albums, 25 Top Ten hits, 15 No.1 hits & 12
chart-topping videos.
Visit Collin Raye's Official Site
Visit Collin Raye's Official
MySpace Site