Gene Watson's Peers: Irene Kelley
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 2006 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
Irene Kelley, which she submitted to
this site on Monday 31 July 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Irene Kelley who has made a special contribution to a unique part of this
online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Irene Kelley
This quote was submitted on Monday 31 July 2006
'I would be glad to provide a quote.
Gene Watson's voice rang through my AM radio like a bell in my hometown of
Latrobe, Pennsylvania before I decided to be a part of the Nashville music
community.
He was such an inspiration to me & his records set a high standard'.
Thank you, Irene Kelley, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Irene Kelley...
Irene Kelley, who hails from Latrobe, Pennsylvania cites Dolly Parton as one
of her influences. She began to pick guitar when she was nineteen years old & also
began to focus on her own song-writing ability.
Irene sent some of her songs to music publishers in Nashville which
generated a reply from Gordon Payne at CBS Records. It was Payne who asked
her to come to Nashville to cut some demos; musicians on her first recording
session included Marty Stuart,
Sonny Curtis & Jody Maphis.
After signing with the publishing company, Irene & her husband moved to
Nashville in 1983, promptly scoring cuts by Carl Jackson ('You are a rock &
I am a rolling stone') & the hit Ricky Skaggs/Sharon White duet 'Love
can't ever get better than this'.
Not long after moving to Nashville, Irene Kelley recorded an album for MCA Records.
It yielded two singles: 'Love is a hard road' & her own charting version
of 'You are a rock (and I am a rolling stone)'. The full version of the
album, however, was never released.
Undaunted, Irene discovered that, in Nashville, song-writing could be a
career. Her songs soon found homes on recordings by Loretta Lynn, Trisha Yearwood, Brother Phelps,
Rhonda Vincent, Claire Lynch,
the Osborne
Brothers, The Whites, Ricky Skaggs & Carl Jackson.
Loretta Lynn: 'Still Country' (Audium Records,
2000)
In 1999 Irene Kelley wrote, recorded & co-produced (with Scott Neubert) her own
album titled 'Simple Path' which was initially released on her own label &
was later made available on Relentless Records. her collaborators on the
album included Darrell Scott, Kim Richey,
Claire Lynch, Kim Patton-Johnson,
Mark Irwin & Michael Joyce.
It was while Irene was performing 'I'm a little bluer than that' from the
'Simple Path' album on the venerable Grand Ol' Opry that fellow country star
Alan Jackson caught the performance on WSM while he was driving home.
Alan called their mutual publisher & asked for a copy of the song.
He duly
recorded the track & included it on 'Drive' (Arista Records,
2002), his quintuple-platinum CMA
album of the year; Alan also asked Irene to add her lilting harmonies to his
version of the song.
Irene Kelley's compositions have been recorded by a number of her country
music peers, including
Trisha Yearwood, Little Big Town, Brother Phelps, Carl Jackson,
(You are a rock & I'm a rolling stone'), Stevens Sisters ('Run to the well,
Virginia'), The Whites, Claire Lynch, Loretta Lynn, Ricky
Skaggs & Sharon White, Pat Green & Bill Anderson.
Ricky Skaggs & Sharon White recorded Irene Kelley's
'Love can't ever get better than this' (co-written with Nancy Montgomery) &
included the track on 'Love's Gonna Get Ya' (Epic Records, 1986)
The Whites recorded Irene Kelley's 'Jesus, rock my baby' & included the
track on 'Ain't No Binds' (MCA Records, 1986)
Brother Phelps recorded irene Kelley's 'Not so different after all'
(co-written with Jeff Hughes) & included the track on 'Any Way The Wind
Blows' (Asylum Records, 1995)
Trisha Yearwood recorded Irene Kelley's 'O, Mexico' (co-written with Michael
G. Joyce) & included the track on 'Thinkin' About You' (MCA Records, 1995)
Claire Lynch recorded Irene Kelley's 'Silver & gold' &
Irene Kelley's 'Jealousy'; both tracks were included on
'Silver & Gold' (Rounder Records, 1997)
Loretta Lynn recorded Irene Kelley's 'Hold her' & included the track on
'Still Country' (Audium Records, 2000)
Claire Lynch recorded Irene Kelley's 'Keep my love there while I'm
gone' & included the track on
'Love Light' (Rounder Records, 2000)
Trisha Yearwood recorded Irene Kelley's 'Second chance' & included the track
on 'Inside Out' (MCA Records, 2001)
Alan Jackson recorded Irene Kelley's 'I'm a little
bluer than that' & included the track on 'Drive' (Arista
Records, 2002)
Little Big Town recorded Irene Kelley's 'Don't waste my time' & included the
track on 'Little Big Town' (Monument Records, 2002)
Pat Green recorded Irene Kelley's 'Somewhere between Texas & Mexico'
(co-written with Trent Summar) & included the track on 'Lucky Ones' (Universal/Mercury/Republic Records, 2004)
Bill Anderson recorded Irene Kelley's 'Cold all the time' & included the
track on 'The Way I Feel' (Varese Records, 2005)
Karen Lynne recorded Irene Kelley's 'It wasn't me'
& included the track on 'Changes' (Shoestring Records Australia, 2006)
Visit Irene Kelley's Official Site
Visit Irene Kelley's Official
MySpace Site
