Gene Watson's Peers: James Talley
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
James Talley,
which he submitted to this site on Sunday 2 July 2006.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
James Talley who has made a special contribution to a unique part of this
online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
James Talley
This quote was submitted on Sunday 2 July 2006
'Gene Watson was always grounded in the true country
music of working people. I remember one time in Atlanta, early in Gene's
career; he was at the Great Southeast Music Hall in Atlanta.
Gene was taking his equipment out of the trunk of his car. There were all
these body-working tools in the trunk that you would use to repair
automobiles. The proprietor of the Music Hall asked Gene why he still
carried all his body-working tools around with him, and he said, 'Well, in
this business, you never know when I might have to go back to them'.
He had a wonderful voice & wonderful phrasing in his songs from the outset'.
Thank you, James Talley, for your
support of Gene Watson.
About James Talley...
James Talley is an Oklahoma born
folk-country-blues singer/songwriter, whose career now spans nearly forty
years. His name has been mentioned alongside Woody Guthrie,
Merle Haggard & Bob Dylan & he has
been praised for the quality of his song-writing & wise, expressive voice.
As a youth, his family moved from their home state of Oklahoma to the state
of Washington, where his father worked as a chemical operator in the now
infamous Hanford plutonium factory. After five years in Richland,
Washington, and realising the hazards his father's employment presented, the
family relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico & the rich tri-cultured
environment of the Southwest.
After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in fine
arts, James, after encouragement from Pete Seeger, began to write songs that
drew upon the culture of the Southwest that he experienced growing up.
These early songs eventually became 'The Road To Torreòn', a saga of life &
death in the Chicano villages of northern New Mexico. These powerful
songs sat on the shelf in Nashville until Germany-based Bear Family Records
finally released the project in a beautiful box set edition in 1992, over
twenty years after it was originally written.
In 1968, James moved from New Mexico to Nashville to try & get his songs
recorded. The late John Hammond Sr. at Columbia Records in New York
was his first mentor & championed his writing in the early 1970s, as he had
the careers of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen & Bruce Springsteen.
When Hammond could not get James' more country-flavoured sound signed at
Columbia Records in New York, he sent him to Jerry Wexler, whose Atlantic
Records was starting a new country division in Nashville at the time.
Wexler signed James Talley to his first recording contract at Atlantic
Records in 1972 along with Doug Sahm & Willie Nelson. Atlantic Records' Nashville operation, however, did not do well at the time
& Atlantic closed its Nashville office.
James Talley then moved to Capitol
Records where he released four now legendary albums during the mid-1970s:
'Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money, But We Sure Got a Lot of Love' (Capitol
Records, 1975), 'Tryin' Like the Devil' (Capitol Records, 1976), 'Blackjack
Choir' (Capitol Records, 1977) & 'Ain't It Something' (Capitol Records,
1977). Rolling Stone & other music publications declared these albums
American classics.
During the 1980s, James recorded two albums that were released by Germany-based
Bear Family Records; 'American Originals' was released in 1985, while 'Love Songs
& the Blues' was released in 1989.
During the 1990s, James finally released 'The Road to Torreòn' (1992). 'James Talley: Live' (1994)
& 'Woody Guthrie & Songs of My Oklahoma Home'
(2000). He also released 'Nashville City Blues' in July 2000 & was named
Amazon's 'Folk Artist of the Year' in 2000.
In 2002, he released 'Touchstones', a re-recording of some of the classic
songs from his four 1970s Capitol Records albums & in 2004, James saw the
release of 'Journey', a live in-concert project recorded while on a tour of Italy.
In
2006 James' acclaimed first Capitol album, 'Got No Bread, No Milk, No Money,
But We Sure Got a Lot of Love', was reissued in a 30th Anniversary edition & was named in the Top 10 reissues of 2006 by No Depression magazine
&
The Nashville Scene.
James Talley performed twice at the White House for President Jimmy Carter & at
the Smithsonian Institution; he has also performed in other concert venues around the United
States & in Europe.
B.B. King played guitar on James' third album,
'Blackjack Choir', in 1976, marking the first time the legendary bluesman had
ever recorded in Nashville.
Johnny Cash, Johnny Paycheck, Alan Jackson,
Hazel Dickens, the late Gene Clark & Moby, among others,
have recorded James Talley's songs.
James Talley, who resides in Nashville is also a
real estate
practitioner.
Visit James Talley's Official Site