Gene Watson's Peers: Kathy Mattea
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 2005 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
Kathy Mattea, which she submitted to
this site on Sunday 13 November 2005.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Kathy Mattea who has made a special
contribution to a unique part of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star
Hero'.
Kathy Mattea
This quote was submitted on Sunday 13 November 2005
'Gene Watson has one of the most pure country voices of
anyone out there. And, he's also one of the nicest guys in the business'.
Thank you, Kathy Mattea, for your
support of Gene Watson
About Kathy Mattea...
Kathy Mattea, who hails from Cross
Lanes, West Virginia, has an instantly recognisable style, her music
encompassing country & folk. Kathy, who was born Kathleen Alice Mattea on 21
June 1959, began playing playing guitar in her early teens, first performing
publicly in church.
Kathy moved to Nashville in 1978, initially securing a job at the Country
Music Hall of Fame as a tour guide before she gained employment singing
commercials, demos & jingles.
In 1982, Combine Music began using Kathy's vocals regularly to record its
song demos. She also sang backup in Bobby Goldsboro's road show.
In 1983, Kathy put some of her best demos together and, assisted by producer
Byron Hill, sent the tape to Frank Jones.
When Kathy secured a recording contract with Mercury Records/Polygram in
1983, she was signed to the label by Frank Jones (President & Head of the
Country Music division), the same gentleman who signed Gene Watson to
Capitol Records back in 1975.
Kathy's first single, 'Street talk', was released in October 1983 & peaked
at No.25 on Billboard's country music singles chart. She saw the release of
her self-titled debut album ('Kathy Mattea') on Mercury Records in 1984.
Kathy Mattea's first hit single was 'Love at the five & dime' (with
Don
Williams providing harmony vocals), a song that peaked at No.3 on
Billboard's country music singles chart & remained on the charts for
twenty-two weeks.
'Love at the five & dime' was written by
Nanci Griffith & had been
originally included on her 'Last of the True Believers' album on Rounder
Records in 1986; Kathy Mattea's recording of the song brought Nanci Griffith
wider recognition as a songwriter.
Kathy's second album for Mercury ('From the Heart') was released in 1985,
but commercial success took a little longer - Kathy achieved this feat with
the release of her third album 'Walk the Way the Wind Blows', which proved
to be a resounding critical & commercial breakthrough in 1986, peaking at
No.13 on Billboard's country music album chart.
The 'Walk the Way the Wind Blows' album also produced three other Top 10
country hits; 'Walk the way the wind blows' reached No.10, 'You're the
power' reached No.5, while 'Train of memories' reached No.6.
Subsequently, Kathy Mattea was nominated for the Country Music Association's
(CMA) 'Horizon Award' & won Billboard's 'Top New Country Artist' honour.
With the release of her 'Untasted Honey' album on Mercury Records in 1987,
Kathy Mattea savoured her first No.1 country single on Billboard; 'Goin'
gone' spent one week at No.1 in January/February 1988.
Once again, Kathy returned to Nanci Griffith's back catalogue; 'Goin' gone',
which was co-written by Pat Alger, B. Dale & Fred Koller, was originally
included on Nanci Griffith's 'Last of the True Believers' (Rounder
Records, 1986).
Kathy Mattea's 'Eighteen wheels & a dozen roses' (No.1 for two weeks in
May/June 1988) earned 'Single Record of the Year' honours from the Country
Music Association (CMA) & the Academy of Country Music; the ACM also named
it the 'Song of the Year'.
'Eighteen wheels & a dozen roses' was also included in the dialogue of the
Dustin Hoffman/Tom Cruise movie 'Rain Man'. Kathy's next two singles,
'Untold stories' & 'Life as we knew it', both peaked at No.4 on Billboard's
country music singles chart.
Kathy Mattea's 'Willow in the Wind' album on Mercury Records in 1989
provided her with two No.1 country singles on Billboard; 'Come from the
heart' spent one week at No.1 in July 1989, while 'Burnin' old memories'
spent one week at No.1 in November 1989.
Kathy Mattea's 'Willow in the Wind' (Mercury Records, 1989) also included an
exquisite version of Claire Lynch's 'Hills of
Alabam'.
In the years that followed, Kathy Mattea enjoyed a number of hit country
singles on the Billboard charts, namely 'She came from Fort Worth' (1990),
Larry Cordle's 'Lonesome
standard time' (1992), 'Walking away a winner' (1994), 'Nobody's gonna rain
on our parade' (1994), 'Maybe she's human' (1994) & '455 Rocket' (1997).
The heartrending 'Where've you been', which was co-written by Jon Vezner
(Kathy's husband) & Don Henry, reached No.10 on the Billboard country music
singles chart & earned Kathy a 1990 Grammy for 'Best Female Country Vocal'.
Kathy Mattea's 'Time Passes By' album was released by Mercury Records in
1991; singles released from it included the title track (which reached
No.7), 'Whole lotta holes' (which reached No.18 & 'Asking us to dance'
(which reached No.27).
Kathy Mattea's 'Lonesome Standard Time' album was released by Mercury
Records in 1992. None of its singles were Top Ten country hits; the
title track was its lead-off single, peaking at No.11, which followed by the
Top 20 hit 'Standing knee deep in a river (dying of thirst)', then 'Seeds'
(Kathy's first single since 1985 to miss the Top 40) & 'Listen to the
radio', which also failed to make the country music Top 40.
Kathy Mattea's 'Walking Away a Winner' album was released by Mercury Records
in 1993. The title track, which peaked at No.3 on the Billboard Hot
Country Singles & Tracks charts in late 1994, was also Kathy's final Top Ten
country hit. Following this single were 'Nobody's gonna rain on our
parade' (which reached No.13), 'Maybe she's human' (which reached No.34) &
'Clown in your rodeo' (which reached No.20).
Katy Mattea won another Grammy in 1993 for her gospel-flavoured Christmas album
'Good News'. Her first single form the album, 'Mary, did you know?', went on
to be recorded by Kenny Rogers with Wynonna Judd, as well as by Reba McEntire.
Kathy Mattea's 'Love Travels' album was released by Mercury Records in 1997
& was her final album for Mercury Records, the label to which she had been
signed since 1984.
Three singles were released from 'Love Travels': '455 rocket', 'I'm on your
side' & 'Love Travels'. '455 rocket' was the highest charting,
reaching a peak position of No.21 on the Billboard country charts, while
'Love travels' was her final Top 40 country entry at No.39. Suzy
Bogguss sang background vocals on 'Further & further away'.
Kathy Mattea subsequently moved to MCA Nashville & saw the release
of 'The Innocent Years' (MCA Nashville, 2000), an album which was a
tribute to her then ailing father; the album includes 'Trust me',
a track written by Steve Wariner.
Kathy Mattea always had a deep interest in Celtic music so she switched labels
to Narada for whom she recorded the 'Roses' album in 2002.
Kathy Mattea’s album 'Right out of Nowhere', which was released to high
critical acclaim in 2005, is also highly recommended.
Gene Watson &
Kathy Mattea pictured at the Country Music Hall of
Fame in Nashville on Tuesday 25 March 2008
Visit Kathy Mattea's Official Site
Visit Kathy Mattea's Official
MySpace Site