Gene Watson's Peers: Harley Allen
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
Harley Allen, which he
submitted to this site on Sunday 24 June 2007.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Harley Allen who has
made a special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of
a Lone Star Hero'.
Harley Allen
This quote was submitted on Sunday 24 June 2007
'Gene Watson is still one of the top five best country
singers of all time'.
Thank you, Harley Allen,
for your support of Gene Watson.
About Harley Allen...
Harley Allen's
background is that of bluegrass music; Harley & his brothers toured &
recorded as the Allen Brothers. Harley’s late father, Red Allen, was not
only one of the great lead voices in bluegrass, but also sang the low
harmony part on some of the finest trios ever recorded with the Osbourne
Brothers, including 'Once more' & 'My destiny'.
Red was clearly an influence on Harley’s singing, but also gave him his
initial inspiration to write songs at an early age. By the time Harley was
in his late teens, his gift of song-writing started to take shape & he began
building what would become a gigantic catalogue of songs.
Harley listened to some of the great songwriters & singers in country music,
such as Hank Williams, Ira Louvin & Tom T. Hall & found kindred spirits in
these performers.
Harley Allen's move to Nashville’s Music Row from his home in Dayton, Ohio
was a very natural one for him & his song-writing talent earned him an
immediate staff writing position at the Ten Ten Music Group. Harley
also saw the release (in 1996) of 'Another River', a critically acclaimed
album on Mercury Records.
Harley Allen's acclaimed songs have been recorded by a
number of important artists within the country music genre:
Alan Jackson recorded Harley Allen's 'Who I am' & included the track
on 'Who I Am' (Arista
Records, 1994)
Hal Ketchum
recorded Harley Allen's 'No easy road' & included the track on
'Every Little Word' (Curb Records, 1994)
Garth Brooks recorded Harley Allen's 'Rollin' & included the track
on 'Fresh Horses' (Capitol
Records, 1995)
Wesley Dennis recorded Harley Allen's 'It ain't fair' & included
the track on 'Wesley
Dennis' (Mercury Records, 1995)
Ty England recorded Harley Allen's 'New faces in the fields' &
included the track on 'Ty
England' (RCA Records, 1995)
Sammy Kershaw
recorded Harley Allen's 'For years' & included the track on
'Politics, Religion &
Her' (Mercury Records, 1996)
Alan Jackson recorded Harley Allen's 'Everything I love' &
Harley Allen's 'Between the devil
& me'; both tracks were included on
'Everything I Love' (Arista Records, 1996)
Tracy Byrd recorded Harley Allen's 'Cowgirl' & included the track on 'Big Love' (MCA
Records, 1996)
Alison Krauss & Union Station recorded Harley Allen's 'It doesn't matter'
& included the track on 'So Long
So Wrong' (Rounder Records, 1997)
John & Audrey Wiggins recorded Harley Allen's 'The
dream' (co-written with Clive Williams) & included the track on 'The Dream'
(Polygram Records, 1997)
Alan Jackson recorded Harley Allen's 'Another good reason' &
included the track on 'High
Mileage' (Arista Records, 1999)
Gary Allan recorded Harley Allen's 'Bourbon borderline' & Harley
Allen's 'Learning to live with me'; both tracks were included on 'Smoke Rings in the Dark' (MCA Records, 1999)
Craig Morgan recorded Harley Allen's 'Paradise' & included the track
on 'Craig Morgan'
(Atlantic Records, 2000)
Mark Wills recorded Harley Allen's 'Still waiting' & included the
track on 'Permanently'
(Mercury Nashville, 2000)
Rhonda Vincent
recorded Harley Allen's 'In your
loneliness' & Harley Allen's 'When loves arrives'; both
tracks were included on 'Written in the
Stars' (Giant Records, 2003)
Gene Watson recorded Harley Allen's 'In a perfect
world' (co-written with
Tim Mensy) & included the track on
'In a Perfect World'
(Shanachie Records,
2007)
Gene Watson recorded Harley Allen's 'Still
they call me love'
(co-written with John Wiggins)
& included the track on
'A Taste of the Truth' (Shanachie Records, 2009)
Visit Harley Allen's
Official MySpace Site
