Gene Watson: Biography - 1980s
It is difficult to imagine the world of country music without the vast
contribution that Gene Watson has made to it. Between his major label debut
on Capitol Records in 1975 and the present day, Gene Watson has excelled
with his traditional slant within country music.
Biography: 1980s
Gene Watson celebrated five years with Capitol Records in 1980. Many agree
that Gene Watson’s tenure with the label between 1975 & 1980 produced some
exquisite country music & that these years of Gene’s musical life are
considered to be his 'glory days'.
Gene Watson began 1980 with 'Nothing sure looked good on you', which reached the
Top 5. However, his next three releases namely 'Bedroom ballad', 'Raisin’
cane in Texas' & 'No one will ever know' only achieved Top 20 status on the
charts.
At the time, Gene felt that these latter recordings for the label could have
attained a higher chart position than they did had Capitol Records promoted
them adequately. Gene also felt aggrieved that Capitol Records appeared to
be unwilling to properly promote him the way he felt they should have been.
Capitol Records apparently felt that there was no need to invest heavily in
promoting Gene as his records were selling consistently & his concert
appearances were sell-out events.
Gene was so annoyed at the attitude of Capitol Records that he was simply
uninterested as to what the label called his last album; as it turned out,
the album in question was called 'No One Will Ever Know'
(Capitol Records, 1980).
Gene Watson felt that he was at a crossroads as far as his career was
concerned and so he took some time off to contemplate his options. A number
of record labels, including MCA Records & Curb Records, became interested in
adding Gene to their roster. Gene decided that his next musical home would
be MCA Records, so he signed to the label in 1981.
However, before his career got underway at MCA Records, the single 'Any way
you want me', from the soundtrack of the
Clint Eastwood movie 'Any Which Way
You Can' reached the Top 40 of the Billboard country music singles chart.
Somewhere along the way,
Clint Eastwood had heard the song as a demo recording by its writer L. Ofman,
but he insisted that Gene should record the song.
Gene flew to Los Angeles, California to record 'Any way you want me', which
was co-produced by Gene, Snuff Garrett & Russ Reeder.
Gene Watson’s first release
for MCA Records was the title track of 'Between
This Time & the
Next Time' and it was another
exquisite song written by Canadian Ray Griff. The song reached the Top 20 &
was followed by the Top 25 single 'Maybe I should have been listening'.
Gene Watson began 1982 on the ultimate high. He achieved his first (and only) No. 1
on the Billboard country music charts. 'Fourteen carat mind', co-written by
Dallas Frazier & Larry Lee, spent one week at No. 1 in January 1982.
Sadly, Larry Lee, a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, passed away at his
home in Lebanon, Tennessee on Saturday 26 May 2001 as the result of a heart attack.
Sheer determination though was responsible for Gene even hearing the demo of
'Fourteen carat mind'. One night, while his Farewell Party Band members were
asleep, Gene was spending his time listening to demo tapes. In the bottom of
a large box of demo tapes, he discovered that someone had sent him a song on
a reel-to-reel tape. He wondered who in the world would have sent him a demo
in such an antiquated format.
However, Gene was determined to hear the track, so he dug out an old
reel-to-reel machine and managed to thread the tape up. Upon hearing the
opening sixteen bars of 'Fourteen carat mind', Gene knew that he had a hit
song on his hands & was determined to record it as soon as he could. It was
also around this time that Gene’s entire appearance changed, from the
slicked-back 'Elvis' look, to the longer-haired, facial haired presence of
today.
It was such a radical change, that it became the focal point of nearly every
interview & article printed about him at the time. Gene & his Farewell Party
Band had been playing in Lake Norman, North Carolina, when the police
arrived & impounded his tour bus. Someone had booked Gene in North Carolina
& he had to cancel the gig because he was ill & was on medication. Someone
else informed this guy that Gene was playing somewhere else the same night,
so he filed a suit against Gene. A warrant was issued stating that if Gene
came into the state of North Carolina, his bus would be seized & he would be
taken to court.
The police officers allowed Gene & the band members to get a few changes of
clothes, along with whatever instruments they could carry off the bus.
Gene’s next gig was at the Lone Star Café in New York City, but he & the
band had to fly there because the engine of the impounded tour bus froze.
With all the commotion going on, says Watson of the incident which was
thrown out of court, but whose impounded bus engine froze, Gene forgot all
his shaving gear, so he decided to quit shaving & stopped getting his hair
cut. The next time his fans went to buy his next album release, 'Old
Loves Never Die', they didn't even recognise who was on the cover.
Gene Watson’s brand of beautiful country produced three more hits in 1982
with 'Speak softly (you're speaking to my heart)' (Top 10 hit), 'This
dream's on me' (Top 10 hit) & 'What she don't know won't hurt her' (Top 5
hit).
Gene’s reign at country music radio continued in 1983 with the hit singles
'You're out doing what I'm here doing without' (Top 3), 'Sometimes I get
lucky' (Top 10) & 'Drinkin’ my way back home' (Top 10). Gene’s hit songs in
1984 included 'Forever again' (Top 10) & 'Little by little'.
The song 'Got no reason now for goin' home', which reached No.7 in the early
part of 1985, was written by Johnny Russell, who sadly passed away on
Tuesday 3 July
2001 at the age of 61.
Johnny pitched the song to Gene one night when they were both guests on
Ralph Emery's 'Nashville Now' television show the previous year (1984).
Johnny was one of Gene’s best friends in the music business & he said he
wanted Gene to take a tape of the song back to Houston, learn it and come
back to Nashville and record it.
Gene told Johnny that he would listen to it. Johnny replied by saying that
he could get anyone to listen to it. He wanted Gene to take the song, learn
it and immediately record it. Gene did indeed record the song - it was
included on 'Heartaches, Love & Stuff'
(MCA Records, 1984).
In 1985, Gene moved to Epic Records & returned to the Top 5 with the western
swing-influenced 'Memories to Burn', which was also the title of his first
album for the label.
The album also included the song 'Cold summer day in Georgia', a track which
features Leona Williams (the ex-wife of
Merle Haggard) on backing vocals
along with the exquisite guitar work of Dave Kirby.
Sadly, Dave Kirby passed away on Saturday 17 April 2004 at the age of 63. Dave, a
native of Brady in Texas, where he was born on Sunday
10 July 1938, was a masterful
songwriter & had the privilege of having twenty-four of his compositions recorded by
Gene Watson.
Speaking of Leona Williams, she recorded 'Memories to burn‘
&
included the track on 'Honorary Texan'
(Heart of Texas Records, 2003).
In 1986, Gene Watson made a number of concert appearances in Europe. He
appeared at Wembley Arena in London, England on Sunday 30 March; in the
King's Hall, Belfast on Tuesday 1 April; at the Festhall in Frankfurt,
Germany on Saturday 5 April, and at The Hallen Stadium in Zurich,
Switzerland on Sunday 6 & Monday 7 April.
Subsequent album releases for the Epic Records label were 'Starting New
Memories' in 1986 & 'Honky Tonk Crazy' in 1987. Although Gene maintained a
heavy touring schedule with his Farewell Party Band, none of his other
record releases got as high as the Top 20.
Epic Records were devoting their energies & resources toward 'younger'
artists and, as a result, Gene didn’t seem to quite 'fit' the record label
image any longer. After a three-year absence from the Top 10 of the
Billboard country music singles chart, Gene’s disillusionment with his
career grew & he seriously considered retirement.
It was during his heavy touring schedule with his Farewell Party Band that
he began playing dates with a new, young artist called
Randy Travis. It was
Randy Travis' manager, Lib Hatcher, who convinced Gene to stay in the
business.
Lib began managing Gene (he signed a personal management/booking contract
with her) & secured a recording contract for him with Warner Brothers
Records, the same label that had Randy Travis on its roster.
In order to secure the deal for Gene with Warner Brothers Records, he & Lib
recorded a four-song demo tape. Ironically, these recordings have, to date,
not seen the light of day.
On Tuesday 23 January 2007, Gene Watson informed Sean
Brady that, in order to secure
the deal for him with Warner Bros. Records in 1988, he & Lib Hatcher
recorded a four-song demo tape. He could, however, only remember the titles
of three of these tracks; 'Reasons I cheat' (a Randy Travis
composition), 'The strength to lose control'
& 'A fallen star'.
The track, 'Reasons I cheat', was written by Randy Travis & was included on
his debut album. 'Storms of Life' (Warner Bros. Records, 1986) went on to spend
twelve weeks at No.1 on the
Billboard country music album chart; the album went
on to sell four million copies.
Special thanks to Sarah Brosmer (Gene Watson's Day-to-Day Manager at
Lytle
Management in Nashville) for the acquisition of this information.
Gene Watson’s debut album for Warner Brothers Records, 'Back in the Fire', was released in the latter part of 1988. The album is unique in that it is
the only Gene Watson release that features a song that he had a hand in
writing. The track in question is 'Somewhere over you' & it was co-written
by Gene along with Jim Rushing & Dave Lindsey.
On Saturday 15 April 2006, Sean Brady received an email from songwriter
Dave Lindsey in Nashville & he informed him that 'Somewhere over you' was one
of his favourite songs that he had written.
Dave had co-written the song with Jim Rushing. When he sent it to Gene, he
loved the song overall, but he thought that the chorus could be simpler &
asked if he could rewrite it. Dave & Jim agreed that Gene could rewrite it,
so that's how Gene earned a song-writing credit on 'Somewhere over you'.
'Don't waste it on the blues', the debut single from
'Back in the Fire',
climbed to No.5 - the Gene Watson name was back in the American country music
Top 10 after a three year absence.
Gene’s revived career also introduced him to a new generation of country
music fans. Two further singles from 'Back
in the Fire' charted, namely 'Back in the
fire' (Top 20) & 'The jukebox played along' (Top 25), but subsequent
releases on Warner Brothers Records failed to break the Top 40.
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