Gene Watson's Peers: Hugh Prestwood
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 2004 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
Hugh Prestwood, which he
submitted to this site on Tuesday 21 September 2004.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Hugh Prestwood who has made a
special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone
Star Hero'.
Hugh Prestwood
This quote was submitted on Tuesday 21 September 2004
'Not living in Nashville, I have not had the pleasure
of meeting Gene, but I've been an admirer of his for many years.
He is the 'real thing' and has, it seems to me, managed to hold on to his
authenticity and integrity in an age where 'selling out' has become pretty
routine.
Gene has recorded two songs of mine, for which I am very proud. And, what's
even better, I love the cuts'.
Thank you, Hugh Prestwood, for
your support of Gene Watson.
About Hugh Prestwood...
Hugh Prestwood waited until he
was thirty years old before he left El Paso, Texas for a musical future in
New York. A teacher by day & club performer by night, Hugh was discovered in
1978 by Judy Collins, who gave him his first hit ('Hard times for lovers') &
subsequently recorded five more of his songs.
A staff songwriter for BMG Music, Hugh has penned No.1 hits for
Randy Travis ('Hard rock bottom of
your heart'), Trisha Yearwood ('The song remembers when'), Michael Johnson
('The moon is still over her shoulder' & 'That's that'), Shenandoah ('Ghost
in this house'), Crystal Gayle ('The sound of goodbye') &
Collin Raye ('On
the verge').
Hugh Prestwood has also composed hits for Highway 101 ('Bing bang boom'), Anne Murray
('Feed this fire'), Ty England ('Smoke in her eyes'),
Kathy Mattea ('Asking us to dance'), Conway Twitty, Lee
Greenwood, Don Williams, Jackie De Shannon,
Vern Gosdin, Maura O'Connell,
Tanya Tucker & The Judds.
Crystal Gayle recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'The sound
of goodbye' & included the track on 'Cage The Songbird' (Warner Bros.
Records, 1983); the track was No.1 for one week on the Billboard country
music singles chart in January/February 1984
Michael Johnson recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'The moon is still over her
shoulder' & included the track on 'Wings' (RCA Records, 1986); the track was
No.1 for one week on the Billboard country music singles chart in May 1987
Michael Johnson recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Roller coaster run', 'It must
be you', 'That's that' & 'The moon is still over her
shoulder'; all tracks were included
on 'That's That' (RCA Records, 1988)
Randy Travis recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Hard rock bottom of your heart' &
included the track on 'No Holdin' Back' (Warner Bros. Records, 1989); the
trached reached No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1990
Suzy Bogguss recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Under the
gun' & included the track on 'Moment of Truth' (Liberty Records, 1990)
Shenandoah recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Ghost in this house' & included the
track on 'Extra Mile' (Columbia Records, 1990); the tracked reached No.5 on
the Billboard country music singles chart in 1990
Anne Murray recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Feed this fire' & included the track
on 'You Will' (Capitol Records, 1990); the track reached No.5 on the
Billboard country music singles chart in 1990
Gene Watson recorded High Prestwood's
'You can't get arrested in Nashville' & 'This country's bigger than Texas';
both tracks were included on 'At Last' (Warner
Bros. Records, 1991)
Highway 101 recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Bing bang boom' & included the track on 'Bing
Bang Boom' (Warner
Bros. Records, 1991)
Kathy Mattea
recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Asking us to dance' & included the track on 'Time
Passes By' (Mercury Records, 1991)
Trisha Yearwood recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'The song remembers when &
included the track on' 'The Song Remembers When' (MCA Records, 1993)
Collin Raye recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'On the
verge' & included the track on 'I Think About You' (Records, 1995); the
track reached No.2 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1995
Ty England recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Smoke in her eyes' & 'Is that you';
both tracks were included on 'Ty England' (RCA Records, 1995)
Randy Travis recorded Hugh Prestwood's 'Love is a gamble'
& included the track on 'Around The Bend' (Warner Bros. Records,
2008)
In 1991, Hugh Prestwood was honored at the annual BMI Awards with the 23rd Robert J.
Burton Song of the Year award for 'Hard rock bottom of your heart' (as recorded
by Randy Travis). Hugh was also selected by Billboard Magazine as the No.2
country songwriter of that year. Billboard currently lists 'Hard rock bottom of
your heart' as the 5th biggest country hit of the 1990s.
Hugh Prestwood made his recording debut on RCA records in 1993 with the
album 'Signatures 3', which featured five of Nashville's top writers doing
their own songs.
In 1994, Hugh won a Prime Time Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual
Achievement in Music & Lyrics' for his composition 'The song remembers
when', which was featured in the Disney special 'Trisha Yearwood -
The Song Remembers When'. The song was also nominated for a Cable ACE Award
for Best Original Song & was voted Song of the Year by members of the
Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI).
In 1997, Hugh's song 'On the Verge' (performed by
Collin Raye) was listed by Billboard magazine as the
4th biggest country hit of the year. Three of Hugh Prestwood's songs have
been nominated for Grammy Awards in the 'Best Performance' Category: 'Sound
of goodbye' (performed by Crystal Gayle), 'Hard rock bottom of your
heart'
(performed by Randy Travis) &
'Ghost in this house' (performed by Shenandoah).
Born & raised in El Paso, Texas & a graduate of the University of Texas at
El Paso, Hugh Prestwood currently resides on Long Island, New York. Since
1982, he has taught advanced song-writing at The New School in Manhattan.
Additionally, each year, Hugh teaches song-writing workshops for the NSAI in
various locations throughout the United States.
Visit Hugh Prestwood's Official Site
Visit Hugh Prestwood's
Official MySpace Site
