Gene Watson Discography
'Matters of the Heart'
Hump Head Country HUMP 044 (2008)
'Matters of the Heart' was officially released by the Surrey, England-based
Hump Head Country on Monday 11 August 2008.
'Matters of the Heart' discography information is presented on this site for
educational purposes only & no infringement of copyright is intended.
About 'Matters of the Heart'...
Album Sleeve Notes
'Whenever country music aficionados discuss the genre's best traditional male
vocalists, Gene Watson's name is among those that suffice, along with the
likes of George Jones,
Vern Gosdin &
Merle Haggard. One of the most consistent hit-makers of the 1970s and
1980s, his breakthrough single, 'Love in the hot afternoon', made number 3
in the US country charts in 1975 and launched a successful run that included
21 top ten singles, among them 'Where love begins', 'Farewell party',
'Fourteen carat mind', 'This dream's on me', 'Paper Rosie', 'What she don't
know won't hurt her' and 'Sometimes I get lucky and forget'.
One of country music's all-time finest singers and performers, in his voice
is all the ache of existence. His speciality is songs of heartbreak,
unrequited love and regret. There are people who sing songs...and then there
are the singers' singers. Gene Watson is in that elite class. He not only
possesses a potent set of pipes, but an unerring song sense. The songs from
writers like Joe Allen, Dave Kirby, Tom T. Hall, Buzz Rabin and Harlan
Howard included here are mainly lesser known classic country songs. Though
some made it as hit singles, many more were hidden away on albums, but all
are well worth listening to again and again.
Among their best creations are 'Maybe I should have been listening', 'The
girl I used to run around on', 'Baby me baby', 'Three' and 'Come back home'.
The by-word of all those songs are meaningful lyrics that get to the very
heart and soul of human emotions and relationship issues. Among the genuine
hits here are 'Fourteen carat mind', a country chart-topper from 1982
in which Watson's voice masterfully pierces the music with strong effect,
ranging from redneck rawness to sensuous sensitivity. 'What she don't know
won't hurt her' which made the top ten in 1983 is poignantly understated and
Watson's vocals wring every drop of emotion out of this well-written ballad
about a man realising that his cheating is hurting him more than he can
stand.
There was a time, some twenty-odd years ago, when Gene was the lone torch
carrier for solid traditional Texas honky-tonk music. Whilst everybody
around him were drowning the music in lavish strings and getting all dressed
up like Urban Cowboys, he was quietly going about his business of performing
the real thing. He is still out there singing peerless country music. For no
one, but no one, can sing a country song like the Watson man can. He has
survived enough fads to know not to follow them. 'Oh, man, I've come through
everything - the pop-country thing, the rhinestone cowboys, the Outlaw
movement', he declares. 'But I never altered my style. I just sing good
country music and try to give fans their money's worth'.
Alan Cackett (Maverick
Country, Editor)
Overview
'Matters of the Heart' (compilation) on Hump Head Country is a (20 track)
celebration of Gene Watson's successful five-year (1980-1985) country music
career at MCA Records.
'Matters of the Heart' is a 20 track compilation (on Hump Head Country) of
tracks taken from four of Gene Watson's MCA Records albums ('Between
This Time & the Next Time' (MCA Records, 1981),
'Old Loves Never Die' (MCA
Records, 1981), 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, 1982) & 'Sometimes I Get
Lucky' (MCA Records, 1983).
Of the 20 tracks on this special compilation from Hump Head Country, 12 of
the tracks appear on CD for the first time, namely tracks 5
('You sure make cheatin' seem easy'),
6
('You're just another beer drinkin' song'),
7
('The girl I used to run around on'),
8
('Til Melinda comes around'),
9
('Roads & other reasons'),
10
('Old loves never die'),
14 ('Lonely me'),
15
('From cotton to satin'),
16
('Three'),
17
('Come back home'),
18
('Somethin' 'bout' bein' gone') &
19
('Thinkin' 'bout leaving').
The original version of track 11 ('Baby me baby') has not appeared on CD
before now, although Gene Watson re-recorded the track & included it on 'Gene
Watson: Then & Now' (Koch
Records Nashville, 2005).
The original version of track 13 ('If I were you, I'd fall in love with me')
has not appeared on CD before now, although Gene Watson re-recorded the
track & included it on 'Gene Watson: Then & Now'
(Koch Records Nashville, 2005).
'Matters of the Heart'
Hump Head Country HUMP 044 (2008)
Track Listing
1 'Fourteen carat mind'
Written by Dallas Frazier & Larry Lee
Published by Acuff-Rose Publications Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241,
1981)
2 'Sometimes I get lucky'
Written by Ernie Rowell & Bob House
Published by Blue Creek Music / Booth & Watson Music / On the House Music
(BMI)
Track originally included on 'Sometimes I Get
Lucky' (MCA Records,
MCA-5384, 1983)
3 'Maybe I should have been listening'
• *
Written by Buzz Rabin
Published by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Between This Time & the
Next Time' (MCA Records,
MCA-5170, 1981)
4 'What she don't know won't hurt her'
Written by Dave Lindsey & Ernie Rowell
Published by Booth & Watson Music / Crosstimbers Music / Blue Creek Music
(BMI)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, MCA-5302,
1982)
5 'You sure make cheatin' seem easy'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Dave Kirby & Warren Robb
Published by Millstone Music Company /
Baray Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, MCA-5302,
1982)
6 'You're just another beer drinkin' song'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Warren Robb & Dave Kirby
Published by Millstone Music Company (ASCAP) /
Baray Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Sometimes I Get
Lucky' (MCA Records,
MCA-5384, 1983)
7 'The girl I used to run around on'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by
Joe Allen
Published by Tree Publishing Company Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241,
1981)
8 'Til Melinda comes around'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Glenn Ray
Published by Gator Music (SESAC)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241, 1981)
9 'Roads & other reasons'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Buzz Rabin
Published by Window Music Publishing Company Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241,
1981)
10 'Old loves never die'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Dave Kirby & Warren Robb
Published by Millstone Music /
Baray Music Inc. (ASCAP/BMI)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241,
1981)
11 'Baby me baby'
Written by Harlan Howard
Published by Harlan Howard Songs /
Tree Publishing Company Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, MCA-5302,
1982)
12 'You waltzed yourself right into my life'
Written by Ron Moore
Published by Low Ball Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Sometimes I Get Lucky'
(MCA Records, MCA-5384,
1983)
13 'If I were you I'd fall in love with me'
Written by Dave Kirby & Warren Robb
Published by Almarie Music (BMI) / Millstone Music Company (ASCAP)
Track originally included on 'Sometimes I Get Lucky'
(MCA Records, MCA-5384,
1983)
14 'Lonely me'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Larry Booth
Published by Booth & Watson Music (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Old Loves Never Die'
(MCA Records, MCA-5241,
1981)
15 'From cotton to satin'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by David Chamberlain & Jim Vest
Published by Column One Music (ASCAP)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, MCA-5302, 1982)
16 'Three'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Tom T. Hall
Published by Newkeys Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Between This Time & the Next Time'
(MCA Records, MCA-5170, 1981)
17 'Come back home'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by
Joe Allen & Dave
Kirby
Published by Joe Allen Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'Between This Time & the Next Time'
(MCA Records, MCA-5170, 1981
18 'Somethin' 'bout' bein' gone'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Buzz Rabin
Published by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
(MCA Records, MCA-5302,
1982)
19 'Thinkin' 'bout leaving'
(this
track appears on CD for the first time)
Written by Randy Albright, Mark D. Sanders
& Butch Paulson
Published by Milene Music (ASCAP)
Track originally included on 'Sometimes I Get
Lucky' MCA Records, MCA-5384, 1983)
20 'This dream's on me'
Written by Fred Koller
Published by Coal Miners Music Inc. (BMI)
Track originally included on 'This Dream's on Me'
MCA Records, MCA-5302, 1982)
You can read a CMP review of Gene Watson's 'Matters of the Heart'
here. The
review, which was written by Al Moir, was published in the November 2008
issue of the United Kingdom monthly publication
Country Music People.
'Matters of the Heart'
Hump Head Country HUMP 044 (2008)