Album Sleeve Notes
'Gene Watson is a home-grown Texan whose background is pure country, and
whose future is simply Superstardom. He has played music 'ever since I
can remember' and, like the Country greats before him, has juggled
working days with nightly gigs in pursuit of that ‘star in the sky’.
A family man with a deep passion for life, he has solidified his sound
on his home turf by working the road with Country greats the Wilburn
Brothers, cutting discs for local labels, moving on to territorial
stardom, emerging with several hit records in the Houston area and,
finally, a regular gig at the Dynasty Club in that city.
His
association with the people he has met along the way have repeatedly
distinguished themselves in long lasting friendships and mutual respect.
His initial road experience with the Wilburn Brothers has never been
forgotten by them.
And when he approached Russ Reeder, then General Manager of the Record
Service Co. in Houston, in 1966, he began a lasting friendship and
business relationship that has seen them through Gene’s recording debut
in 1969 on Wide World Records, subsequent recordings on Reeder’s Resco
label in 1972, and finally today in 1975 this fine album for Capitol
Records.
After hearing 'Love in the Hot Afternoon' for the first time, I
immediately recognised the talent that was there and wanted to have this
gifted artist on Capitol. When Gene and Russ proved more than eager, the
association was happily established, adding myself and the whole of the
Capitol family to that list of friendships that have coloured Gene’s
career.
This first album of Gene's on Capitol speaks for itself. It is one of
the finest presentations I have heard in my years in the music business
and, thankfully, it is only a beginning for Gene and his
inevitable climb to Superstardom.
We at Capitol Records owe a debt of gratitude to radio stations KENR,
KIKK and KNUS in Houston for their part in exposing the talents of Gene
Watson,
to Russ Reeder for his guidance and care in developing those talents
and, of course, to Gene Watson himself, whose very talents we speak of.
Welcome to Capitol Records, Gene Watson, a fine artist, showman and of
course...a friend'.
Ed
Keeley
National Country Field Manager
Capitol Records, Inc.
The 'Love in the Hot Afternoon' album was produced by Russ Reeder and
Bob Webster.
The Recording Engineer was Jim Williamson.
'Love in
the Hot Afternoon'
Capitol Records ST11443 (1975)
Track Listing
1 'Love
in the hot afternoon' ●
Written by
Kent Westberry &
Vince Matthews (RIP)
Published by
Jack Music Inc. / BMI
2
'Through the eyes of love'
Written by
Jack Clement
Published by
Jack Music Inc./BMI
3
'Bad water'
Written
by Jackie
DeShannon / Holiday / Myers
Published by
Unart Music Corporation/BMI
4
'Long enough to care'
Written by
Bobby Sykes
Published by
Sidewalk Productions/BMI
5
'Harvest time'
Written by
Emerson / Moore / Dunham
Published by
Golden Horn Music / ASCAP
6
'Where love begins'
Written by Ray Griff
Published by
Blue Echo Music/ASCAP
7
'This just ain't no good day for leaving'
Written
by
Dallas Frazier &
Sanger Shafer
Published by
Acuff-Rose
Publishing Inc. / BMI
8
'For the first time' ●●●
Written by
Jessi Colter
Published by
Baron Music
Publishing Company / BMI
9
'You could know as much about a stranger' ●●
Written by
Nadine Bryant
Published by
Hotel Publishing
Company / ASCAP
10 ''This is my year for Mexico'
Written by
Vince Matthews (RIP)
Published by
Jack Music Inc./BMI
Musician Credits
Rhythm Guitar:
Tommy Allsup, Leon Rhodes & Charlie
McCoy
Lead Guitar:
Jimmy Colbart, Pete Wade and Dale Sellers
Steel Guitar: Lloyd Green
Dobro: Lloyd Green
Harmonica: Charlie McCoy
Marimba: Charlie McCoy & Kenny Malone
Piano:
Hargus 'Pig' Robbins
Fiddle: Buddy Spicher
Bass: Joe Allen, Henry Strylecki
& Leon Rhodes
Drums:
Kenny Malone, Jimmy Isabel & Buddy Harman
Horn:
Jerry Tuttle
Voices:
The Nashville Edition
A
re-recording of 'Love in the hot
afternoon' (track indicated
thus ●)
can be found on 'The Good Ole Days' album, which was released on Step One Records in 1996.
A
re-recorded version of 'You could know as much about a stranger' (track
indicated thus ●●)
can be found on the 'Gene Watson: Then & Now' album, which was released
on Koch Records Nashville in June 2005.
'For
the first time' (track indicated thus
●●●)
was written by Jessi Colter & was originally included on
her debut album ('I'm Jessi Colter'), which was released on
Capitol Records (ST11363) in 1975.
Gene
Watson is held in such high esteem by his fellow peers that 'Love
in the hot afternoon' (track indicated thus
●) was recorded by a fellow Texan country music artist some twenty-five
years after Gene originally recorded the song.
Mark
Chesnutt, who hails from Beaumont in Texas, recorded the song for his 'Lost in
The
Feeling' album for MCA Records (MCA 088 170 125 2) in
2000.
Mark
Chesnutt graciously provided a quote about Gene
Watson and you can read it here.
The
'Love in the Hot Afternoon' album was released by Hux Records (London, England) on Tuesday 3rd December 2002 as
a special
2-on-1 CD, along
with the original 'Paper Rosie' (Capitol Records) album from 1978.
'Love in the Hot
Afternoon'