Gene Watson Fan Site:
Lawton Williams - An Appreciation
The Gene Watson Fan Site has been online since September 2004 & is an
online attempt to reach out to Gene's existing army of fans, with the added
intention of drawing in new fans too.
The intention of the Fan Site is to
bring together an online community of Gene's fans and, with the assistance
of the Official Gene Watson Site
based in Nashville, further the music career of Gene Watson.
July 2007
Legendary country
music songwriter Lawton Williams, writer of 'Farewell party', passed away at The Harris Hospital in
Fort Worth, Texas at 2.00pm CST on Thursday 26 July 2007.
'Farewell party' was written by Lawton Williams & was originally included on
Gene Watson's 'Reflections'
(Capitol Records, 1978).
When released as a single (Capitol 4680) in 1979,
'Farewell party' reached No.3 on the Billboard country music singles chart.
Lawton Williams was born on Monday 24 July 1922 in Troy, Tennessee.
He was the son of a fiddler & was influenced by Roy Acuff & movie cowboy
Gene Autry.
Lawton was stationed in Houston, Texas during
World War II; it was there that he learned how to write songs from Floyd
Tillman. His first cuts came with performers Cliff
Bruner & Laura lee McBride.
Lawton Williams made early recordings in the late 1940s for independent
labels Sultan Records & Fortune Records. Later, he signed with
Four-Star Records, Coral Records & Imperial Records.
Lawton Williams charted with 'Anywhere there's people' (written by Steve
Karliski) on Mercury Records in 1961 & 'Everything's OK on the LBJ' on RCA
Records in 1964.
A number of country music artists have recorded Lawton's songs:
Bobby
Helms' recorded Lawton Williams'
'Fraulein', as his first single,
in 1957; it went to
No.1 on the Billboard country
music singles chart
& stayed on the
listings for fifty-two weeks.
'Fraulein' also made it into the
Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The track was later included on 'The Best of Bobby Helms' (Columbia Records,
1963)
Hank Locklin recorded
Lawton Williams' 'Geisha girl', as his first single,
in 1958;
'Geisha girl' went to No.4
on the Billboard country music
singles chart
& made it to No.66
on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
'Geisha girl'
was included on 'Foreign Love' (RCA Records, 1958)
Kitty Wells
recorded Lawton Williams' 'I'll always be your Fraulein'
(co-written with Roy Botkin & Wally Jarvis), which was a follow-up to Bobby
Helms' 1957 No.1 hit 'Fraulein'.
Kitty Wells' 'I'll always be your
Fraulein' reached No.10 on the Billboard country music singles chart in
1961; the track
was included on
'Golden Favourites' (Decca Records, 1961)
Marty Robbins recorded Lawton Williams' 'Paper face' (co-written with Hank
Locklin) & included the track on 'Marty Robbins' (Columbia Records, 1958)
Bobby Bare recorded Lawton
Williams' 'Shame on me'
in 1963;
'Shame on me' reached No.18 on the
Billboard country music
singles chart
& reached No.23
on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track
was included on 'Detroit City' (RCA Records, 1963)
Bobby Bare recorded Lawton Williams' 'Shame on me' (co-written with
Bill Enis)
& included the track on 'Detroit City' (RCA Records, 1963); the track
reached No.18 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1963
Loretta Lynn recorded Lawton Williams' 'Colour of the blues' (co-written
with George Jones) & included the track on
'Loretta Lynn Sings' (Decca Records, 1963)
Jim Reeves recorded Lawton Williams' 'Senor Santa Claus' & included the
track on 'Twelve Days of Christmas' (RCA Records, 1963)
George Jones recorded Lawton Williams'
'Colour of the blues' (co-written with George Jones) & included the track on
'Blue & Lonesome' (Mercury Records, 1964)
Roy Drusky
recorded Lawton Williams' 'Fraulein' & included the track on
'Country Music All Around The World' (Mercury Records, 1965)
Roy Drusky
recorded Lawton Williams' 'Geisha girl' & included the track on
'Country Music All Around The World' (Mercury Records, 1965)
Skeeter Davis recorded Lawton Williams' 'Lost to a Geisha girl' & included
the track on 'Blueberry Hill' (RCA Records, 1965)
George Jones recorded Lawton Williams'
'Colour of the blues' (co-written with George Jones) & included the track on
'Starday Presents George Jones' (Starday Records, 1965)
Dave Dudley recorded Lawton Williams' 'Geisha girl' & included the track on
'There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere' (Mercury Records, 1966)
Dave Dudley recorded Lawton Williams' 'Fraulein' & included the track on
'There's a Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere' (Mercury Records, 1966)
Jack Greene recorded Lawton Williams'
'Fraulein' & included the track on 'You Are My Treasure' (Decca Records,
1968)
Roy Drusky recorded Lawton Williams' 'Fraulein' & included the track on 'My
Grass is Green' (Mercury Records, 1969)
However, the song that Lawton Williams will be remembered most for is the
exquisite 'Farewell party', a highly emotional suicide saga of unrequited
love.
Little Jimmy Dickens was the first artist to record the track - it was
the 'B' side of his 'Talking to the wall' single on Columbia Records in May
1961 (catalogue number: 4-42013), with Walter Haynes on steel guitar.
Johnny Bush also recorded Lawton
Williams' 'Farewell party' & included the
track on 'Sound of a Heartache'
(Stop Records, 1967)
Waylon Jennings
also recorded Lawton Williams'
'Farewell party' & included the track on
'Just to Satisfy You' (RCA Victor Records,
1969)
Gene Watson was the fourth artist to record Lawton
Williams' 'Farewell party'
& included
the track on 'Reflections'
(Capitol Records, 1978); when released as a single, the song reached No.5 on
the Billboard country music singles chart in
1979.
'Farewell party' would go on to become Gene Watson's signature tune & the
name of his highly acclaimed touring band.
Gene Watson's version of 'Farewell party' is considered by many to be the
definitive version of the song, with Lloyd Green playing the legendary steel
guitar part - 'Farewell party' was the last
Gene Watson track that Lloyd played steel
guitar on, having played on a number of his Capitol
Records recordings.
'Farewell party' should have been the foundation on which the recording
session was based, but the track was apparently a last minute addition to
the recording session. Gene Watson also recorded 'Farewell party' in one
take.
When contacted by Sean Brady at the
Gene Watson Fan Site for inclusion in the 'Peers' section of the site,
Lloyd Green graciously submitted a quote about
Gene Watson on Thursday 28
October 2004 & you can read
Lloyd's words about Gene
Watson here.
Walter Stettner in Austria has established a fine fan site for Lloyd Green &
you can check it out here.
Without Walter's assistance, acquisition of the Lloyd Green quote would not
have been possible.
Fellow country stars Alan Jackson & Joe Nichols (both admirers of Gene
Watson) have both honoured Gene Watson with their tasteful renditions of 'Farewell party':
Alan Jackson recorded
Lawton Williams' 'Farewell party' (with Paul Franklin on steel)
& included the track on
'Under the Influence' (Arista Records,
1999)
Joe Nichols
recorded Lawton Williams' 'Farewell party' & included the track on
‘Revelation’ (Universal South Records,
2004)
Lawton Williams' last recording was included on
'The Influence' (Heart of Texas Records,
2004), a tribute album
honouring the music of Floyd Tillman - Lawton recorded his own song
'It just tears me up' with Floyd.
Marti Brom recorded Lawton
Williams' 'Alone at a table for two' & included the track on 'Marti
Brom Sings Heartache Songs' (Goofin' Records, 2005)
Patty Loveless recorded Lawton Williams' 'Colour of the blues' (co-written
with George Jones) & included the track on
'Sleepless Nights' (Saguaro Records, 2009)
Lawton Williams' final album was 'Mending Fences' for
TIMA Records.
Visitation for Lawton Williams took place on
Sunday 29 July 2007 between 5.00pm & 7.00pm in the Lourel Land Funeral
Chapel at 7100 Crowley Road
in Fort Worth, Texas.
Lawton Williams' funeral service
took place
on Monday 30 July 2007 at 2.00pm CST.
Source
Tracy Pitcox, Heart of Texas Records, Brady, Texas
Jim Eaves
Country Music People,
England
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