Gene Watson's Peers: Eddy Raven
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 2005 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
Eddy Raven, which he submitted to
this site on Tuesday 1 November 2005.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Eddy Raven who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Eddy Raven
This quote was submitted on Tuesday 1 November 2005
'Gene is such a great singer. He has been my favourite
country singer for years.
I'm proud to call him my friend and feel lucky to have had him record a few
of my songs'.
Thank you, Eddy Raven, for your
support of Gene Watson.
About Eddy Raven...
Eddy Raven, who was born Edward
Garvin Futch in Louisiana on 19 August 1944,
picked up the name 'Raven' when he made his first record for Cosmos Records
in Georgia.
Eddy Raven moved from Louisiana to Nashville in the summer of 1970, and
song-writing, rather than recording, was his primary objective. Don
Gant got Eddy started at Acuff-Rose Music & one of Raven's greatest
achievements was when Roy Acuff recorded his 'Back in the country' on
Hickory Records in 1974.
Don Gibson recorded Eddy Raven's 'Country green' &
included the track on 'Country Green' (Hickory Records, 1971); the track
reached the Top 5 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1971
Jeannie C. Riley recorded Eddy Raven's 'Good morning country rain' &
included the track on 'Down To Earth' (MGM Records, 1972)
Jeannie C. Riley recorded Eddy Raven's 'Small country towns' & included the
track on 'Down To Earth' (MGM Records, 1972)
Don Gibson recorded Eddy Raven's 'Touch the morning' & included the track on
'Touch The Morning / That's What I'll Do' (Hickory Records, 1973); the track
reached the Top 5 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1973
Jeannie C. Riley recorded Eddy Raven's 'Sam' & included the track on 'Just
Jeannie' (MGM Records, 1973)
Roy Acuff recorded Eddy Raven's 'Old time sunshine song' & included the
track on 'Back To The Country' (Hickory Records, 1974)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'Somebody that good' (co-written with Ray
Baker) & included the track on 'It Was Always So Easy' (GRC Records, 1974)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'One thing leads to another' & included the
track on 'It Was Always So Easy' (GRC Records, 1974)
Connie Smith recorded Eddy Raven's 'Back in
the country' & included the track on 'I Got A Lot of Hurtin' Done Today'
(Columbia Records, 1975)
Connie Smith recorded Eddy Raven's 'You'll
see Jesus' & included the track on 'I Got A Lot of Hurtin' Done Today'
(Columbia Records, 1975)
Connie Smith recorded Eddy Raven's 'I don't
wanna talk it over anymore' & included the track on 'I Don't Wanna Talk It
Over Anymore' (Columbia Records, 1975)
Connie Smith recorded Eddy Raven's 'Latest
shade of blue' & included the track on 'I Don't Wanna Talk It Over Anymore'
(Columbia Records, 1975)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'I sure don't need that memory tonight' &
included the track on 'Bandy The Rodeo Clown' (GRC Records, 1975)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'Fais do do' & included the track on 'Bandy
The Rodeo Clown' (GRC Records, 1975)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'Goodbye on your mind' & included the track
on 'Bandy The Rodeo Clown' (GRC Records, 1975)
Moe Bandy recorded Eddy Raven's 'Please take her home' & included the track
on 'Here I Am Drunk Again' (Columbia Records, 1976)
Eddy Raven wrote 'Sometimes I talk
in my sleep' for Randy Cornor, which was included on Randy's 'My First Album' in
1976.
Eddy Raven first hit the Billboard county music singles chart as a recording
artist in 1974 & turned out a steady stream of records on a variety of
labels.
Faron Young recorded Eddy Raven's 'Please take her
home' & included the track on 'That Young Feeling' (Mercury Records, 1978)
Gene Watson recorded Eddy Raven's
'We robbed trains' & included the track on 'No One will Ever
Know' (Capitol Records, 1980)
It wasn't, however, until the release of the 'Desperate
Dreams' album in 1981 that Eddy Raven managed to crack the Top 20.
Eddy Raven then recorded an album for Elektra Records but it was never released.
He then took a year and a half off during which time he realigned his
management, established his own publishing company & gained a new recording
contract.
Eddy Raven was subsequently released from his Elektra contract when Elektra
& Warner Bros. merged in January 1983. It was also at this time that
the Oak Ridge Boys scored a Top 5 hit with Eddy's 'Thank God for kids'.
Eddy Raven moved to RCA Records where he achieved his first No.1 country hit
as an recording artist in his own right; 'I got Mexico' spent one week at
No.1 on Billboard in June 1984.
Between June 1984 & October 1987, Eddy Raven racked up eight Top 10 singles
on the Billboard country music singles chart,
including 'She's gonna win your heart', 'You should have been gone by now',
'Sometimes a lady' & 'You're never too old for young love'.
Waylon Jennings recorded Eddy Raven's 'Sweet mother
Texas' (co-written with Sanger D. Shafer) & included the track on 'Sweet
Mother Texas' (RCA Records, 1986)
Eddy Raven's next No.1 hit was 'Shine, shine, shine'; the track spent one week at
No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart in October 1987.
Further No.1 country hits on Billboard followed & included 'I'm gonna get
you' (No.1 for one week in May 1988), 'Joe know how to live' (No.1 for one
week in September 1988), 'In a letter to you' (No.1 for one week in July
1989) & 'Bayou boys' (No.1 for one week in November 1989).
Rhonda Vincent
recorded Eddy Raven's 'Good morning country rain' & included the track on
'New Dreams & Sunshine' (Rebel Records, 1989)
Overall, Eddy Raven enjoyed his time in the limelight as a country music
artist - he achieved seven No.1's, fourteen Top 10 hits & twenty-two albums
between 1984 & the end of the 1980s.
Eddy Raven is an acclaimed songwriter & has had his compositions recorded
by various country music artists including Don Gibson, Jeannie C. Riley, Waylon Jennings,
Merle Haggard, Tanya
Tucker, Chris LeDoux, Lorrie Morgan, Johnny Cash, Lynn Anderson,
Connie
Smith, Faron Young, Oak Ridge Boys & Moe Bandy.
George Jones recorded Eddy Raven's
'I should've called' (co-written with Linda Hargrove) & included the track on
'Shine On' (Epic Records, 1983)
Tommy Cash recorded Eddy Raven's 'Thank God for
kids' & included the track on 'Solid Gold Country' (Crazy Country Records,
1996)
Gene Watson recorded Eddy Raven's 'This circus that you call a rodeo'
(co-written with Monty Holmes & Michael
Huffman) & included the track on 'From the Heart' (RMG
Records, 2001);
RMG Records was co-owned by Eddy Raven & Larry Barnett & their wives.
Tony Booth recorded Eddy Raven's 'Sometimes I talk in my sleep' & included
the track on 'The Other Side of Love' (Heart of Texas Records, 2010)
Visit Eddy Raven's Official Site
