Gene Watson Peer's Quote from Lee Ann Womack: July 2007
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 Watson's Peers who were contacted during 2007 were most gracious with their time and words. It is here, within this special part of the Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Lee Ann Womack, which she submitted to this site on Wednesday 18 July 2007.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to Lee Ann Womack who has made a special contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Sean Brady would also like to express a heartfelt 'thank you' to Sarah Brosmer at Lytle Management in Nashville without whose assistance this quote would not have been possible.
Lee Ann Womack
This quote was submitted on Wednesday 18 July 2007.
'In my dad's eyes, I hadn't really made it in the music business until now. I've sung with Gene Watson'.
Thank you, Lee Ann Womack, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Lee Ann Womack...
Lee Ann Womack was born on Friday 19 August 1966 in Jacksonville, Texas and is best-known for her old fashioned-styled country music songs.
From an early age, Lee Ann was interested in country music; her father, who was a radio disc jockey, often took his daughter to work with him to help choose records to play on the air.
Lee Ann Womack was the second of two daughters, born to Anne and Aubrey Womack; her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was also a high school principal. As a child, Lee Ann studied the piano and later graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1984. After graduating, she attended South Plains Junior College in Levelland, Texas. The college was one of the first in the nation to offer country music degrees and soon she became a member of the college band, Country Caravan.
A year later, in 1985, Lee Ann left the college and, after an agreement with her parents, she enrolled at Belmont University in Nashville, where she studied the commercial ways of the music business. In Nashville, Lee Ann interned at the A&R department of MCA Records. She studied at the college until 1990, leaving the school a year before graduation.
It was while she was attending Belmont University that she met fellow musician/singer/song-writer Jason Sellers. Lee Ann and Jason married in 1990 and together they had one daughter; Aubrie Lee Sellers was born in 1991. Lee Ann Womack and Jason Sellers divorced in 1996.
In January 1999, Lee Ann's daughter Anna Lise Liddell was born and in November 1999 she married record producer Frank Liddell.
Lee Ann Womack spent a few years raising her daughter before re-entering the music business in the mid 1990s. In 1995, she began performing her music in song-writing demos and at showcase concerts. At one of these showcase concerts, she was spotted by Tree Publishing, who signed her after listening to one of her original demo recordings.
Ricky Skaggs recorded Lee Ann Womack's 'I Don't Remember Forgetting' (co-written with Billy Foster and Jason Sellers) and included the track on 'Life Is A Journey' (Atlantic Records, 1997).
Lee Ann Womack then decided to pursue a career as a country music artist. She auditioned for MCA chairman, Bruce Hinton, who praised her talents. Shortly afterward, she accepted a contract from MCA Records' sister record company, Decca Nashville, in 1996.
In 1997, Lee Ann Womack saw the release, on Decca Records, of 'Lee Ann Womack' (Decca Records, 1997), her self-titled debut album, which was produced by Mark Wright.
'Lee Ann Womack' (Decca Records, 1997) was a superior set of neo-traditional country music, including the Billboard hit singles 'Never Again, Again' (written by Monty Holmes and Barbie Isham), 'The Fool' and 'You've Got To Talk To Me'.
'Lee Ann Womack' (Decca Records, 1997) also included 'Make Memories With Me', a glorious duet with fellow Texan Mark Chesnutt.
It was also in 1997 that Lee Ann Womack won major awards from the country music community; 'Top New Female Vocalist' Award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and 'Top Artist Of The Year' from Billboard Magazine; she was also nominated for the 'Horizon Award' by the Country Music Association.
Ricky Skaggs recorded Lee Ann Womack's 'I Don't Remember Forgetting' (co-written with Billy Foster and Jason Sellers) and included the track on 'Life Is A Journey' (Atlantic Records, 1997).
Decca Nashville decided to close its doors in 1998; as a consequence, Lee Ann Womack moved to MCA Nashville Records that year.
In 1998, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her second album; 'Some Things I Know' (MCA Nashville, 1998) was also produced by Mark Wright. The album's first two singles, 'A Little Past Little Rock' and 'I'll Think Of A Reason Later' both climbed to No.2 on the Billboard country music singles chart. Two additional singles, 'Now You See Me (Now You Don't)' and 'Don't Tell Me' were released in 1999 and the album was certified 'Gold' by the RIAA soon after.
It was also in 1999 that Lee Ann Womack won 'Favourite New Country Artist' from the American Music Awards.
In 2000, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her third album, 'I Hope You Dance' (MCA Nashville, 2000). The album had a totally different sound to her previous releases; it used pop music elements instead of traditional country music.
'I Hope You Dance' was met with major success. The title track, which was released as the lead single, reached No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart where it stayed for five weeks; the song also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, becoming a major crossover pop music hit, reaching No.14.
Towards the end of 2000, 'I Hope You Dance' won the Country Music Association's 'Song Of The Year' and 'Single Of The Year' Awards. With the pop music success of 'I Hope You Dance', Lee Ann Womack drew the attention of the magazines 'People' and 'Time', both of which praised the single. The song later won awards in 2001 from the Grammy and Academy of Country Music Awards.
'I Hope You Dance' (MCA Nashville, 2000) went on to sell three million copies in the United States of America; the album's follow-up single, a cover of Rodney Crowell's 'Ashes By Now' peaked at No.4 on the Billboard country music singles chart, while a third single, 'Why They Call It Falling', was also successful, reaching the Billboard country music Top 15.
Lee Ann Womack's 'I Hope You Dance' (MCA Nashville, 2000) also included a glorious rendition of Bobbie Cryner's 'Stronger Than I Am'.
In 2002, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her fourth album; 'Something Worth Leaving Behind' (MCA Nashville, 2002) made a stronger attempt at a pop-flavoured style. However, reaction to the album was negative, which lead to poor record sales and only one major hit. Following its release, Lee Ann Womack's career stalled.
Lee Ann Womack's 'Something Worth Leaving Behind' (MCA Nashville, 2002) included 'I saw Your Light' (written by Gretchen Peters) and 'He'll Be Back', which was written by Hank Cochran (Friday 2 August 1935 - Thursday 15 July 2010), Red Lane and Dale Dodson.
In the latter half of 2002, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of a Christmas album, 'The Season For Romance' (MCA Nashville, 2002). She also collaborated with Willie Nelson on his single, 'Mendocino County Line', which won a Grammy Award and a Country Music Award in 2002; the track was included on Willie Nelson's 'Songs' (Lost Highway Records, 2005).
'Mendocino County Line' was later included on Lee Ann Womack's 'Greatest Hits' (MCA Nashville, 2004), which also included two new songs, 'The Wrong Girl' and 'Time For Me To Go'.
In early 2003, Lee Ann Womack gained a small recurring role on 'The District', a popular television police drama which aired on CBS, in the United States, the first episode aired on Saturday 7 October 2000 and the last episode aired on Saturday 1 May 2004.
In 2005, Lee Ann Womack saw the release of her fifth album, 'There's More Where That Came From' (MCA Nashville, 2005); many people within the country music industry hailed the album as 'a return to tradition' as it featured songs about drinking and cheating with a distinctive older country twang. The album won the (CMA) Country Music Association's 'Album Of The Year' Award in 2005.
The lead single, 'I May Hate Myself In The Morning', was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard country music singles chart in 2005 and it also won 'Single Of The Year' at the CMA Awards later that year. Two additional singles were released from the album in 2005 that became minor Billboard hits; 'He Oughta Know That By Now' and 'Twenty Years And Two Husbands Ago'.
George Strait recorded Lee Ann Womack's 'Good News, Bad News' (co-written with Dean Dillon and Dale Dodson) and included the track on 'Somewhere Down In Texas' (MCA Nashville, 2005); Lee Ann Womack was a guest vocalist on the track.
In 2006, Lee Ann Womack announced plans for the release of her sixth album for MCA Nashville. The lead single, 'Finding My Way Back Home' was released in the late summer of 2006 and debuted at No.46 on the Billboard country music singles chart; the single later peaked at No.37.
As a consequence, the album release date was pushed back to 2007 as Lee Ann had found more songs that she wanted to record.
On Tuesday 17 October 2006, Vince Gill saw the release of 'These Days' (MCA Records, 2006), a groundbreaking, four-CD set featuring forty-three new recordings of diverse musical stylings. Each album in the set explored a different musical mood: traditional country music, ballads, contemporary, up-tempo music and acoustic/bluegrass music.
Vince Gill's 'These Days' (MCA Records, 2006) was released as a four-CD set as follows:
'Workin' On A Big Chill' (The Rockin' Record)
'Workin’ on a Big Chill'
'Love’s Standing'
'Cowboy Up' (featuring Gretchen Wilson)
'Sweet Thing'
'Bet It All On You'
'Nothin’ For A Broken Heart' (duet with Rodney Crowell)
'Son Of A Ramblin’ Man' (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
'Smilin’ Song' (featuring Michael McDonald)
'The Rhythm Of The Pourin’ Rain' (featuring Bekka Bramlett)
'Nothin’ Left To Say'
'The Reason Why' (The Groovy Record)
'What You Don't Say' (with LeAnn Rimes)
'The Reason Why' (with Alison Krauss)
'The Rock Of Your Love' (with Bonnie Raitt)
'What You Give Away' (with Sheryl Crow)
'Faint Of Heart' (with Diana Krall)
'Time To Carry On' (with Jenny Gill)
'No Easy Way'
'This Memory Of You' (with Trisha Yearwood)
'How Lonely Looks'
'Tell Me One More Time About Jesus' (with Amy Grant)
'Everything And Nothing' (with Katrina Elam)
'Which Way Will You Go'
'These Days'
'Some Things Never Get Old' (The Country and Western Record)
'This New Heartache'
'The Only Love'
'Out Of My Mind' (featuring Patty Loveless)
'The Sight Of Me Without You'
'I Can’t Let Go' (featuring Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski)
'Don’t Pretend With Me'
'Some Things Never Get Old' (featuring Emmylou Harris)
'Sweet Little Corrina' (featuring Phil Everly)
'If I Can Make Mississippi' (featuring Lee Ann Womack)
'Take This Country Back' (duet with John Anderson)
'Little Brother' (The Acoustic Record)
'All Prayed Up'
'Cold Gray Light Of Gone' (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
'A River Like You' (featuring Jenny Gill)
'Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve'
'Molly Brown'
'Girl' (guest vocalist: Rebecca Lynn Howard)
'Give Me The Highway' (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
'Sweet Augusta Darling'
'Little Brother'
'Almost Home' (duet with Guy Clark)
In 2007, Lee Ann Womack was a guest vocalist on Merle Haggard's 'If I Could Only Fly'; the track was included on Joe Nichols' 'Real Things' (Universal South Records, 2007).
Lee Ann Womack contributed a beautiful harmony vocal to Merle Haggard's classic 'Today I Started Loving You Again', which was co-written with Bonnie Owens (Tuesday 1 October 1929 - Monday 24 April 2006), a track which was included on Gene Watson's 'In a Perfect World' (Shanachie Records, 2007); the album was officially released on Tuesday 25 September 2007 and is considered to be one of the more important country music album releases of 2007.
In 2008, Lee Ann Womack announced plans for a new single for the first time in three years, once again on MCA Nashville. 'Last Call' was released on Monday 30 June 2008 and served as the lead-off single to Womack's seventh album, 'Call Me Crazy' (MCA Nashville, 2008), which was released on Tuesday 21 October 2008.
'Call Me Crazy' (MCA Nashville, 2008) was issued as a vinyl LP at the time of its release, as well as on CD.
'Call Me Crazy' (MCA Nashville, 2008), which was produced by Tony Brown, featured 'Everything But Quits', a duet with George Strait.
'Call Me Crazy' (MCA Nashville, 2008) also featured a re-make of the George Strait classic, 'The King Of Broken Hearts' (written by Jim Lauderdale), which was originally included on the 'Pure Country' (MCA Records, 1992) soundtrack album in 1992.
In 2011, Lee Ann Womack was a guest vocalist on the track 'Songs For Sale', which was included on David Nail's 'The Sound Of A Million Dreams' (MCA Records, 2011/Hump Head Country, 2011).
In 2011, Lee Ann Womack provided guest vocals on the track 'Travelin' Kind', which was included on Stoney LaRue's 'Velvet' (Self Release, 2011); the album was produced by Frank Liddell (lee Ann Womack's husband) and Mike McCarthy.
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