Gene Watson Meeting: Mon 4 August 2008
Sean & Lisa Brady met up with Gene Watson for a chat during his tour of
Northern Ireland on Monday 4 August 2008; the conversation concentrated on
Gene Watson's music & his career in country music, past, present & future...
August 2008
Monday 04
Prior to Sean & Lisa Brady's meeting, Gene Watson
& the Farewell Party Band had
graced the stage at the first UTV Country Festival in Dungannon Park,
Moy Road, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland
on Saturday 2 August 2008 & Sunday 3 August 2008.
Lisa & Sean Brady had the pleasure of attending the UTV Country Festival on Sunday 3
August 2008 & enjoyed a feast of country music from Moore & Moore, Vernon
Oxford, Stonewall Jackson, Nanci Griffith and Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky
Thunder.
However, the artist Sean & Lisa
were really there to see & hear perform was Gene
Watson, a man who has stayed true to the heart of traditional country music
for the best part of forty years. Gene was outstanding & was easily the star
attraction at the festival.
The Farewell Party Band, with Corky Owens on steel guitar, Woody Woodruff on
lead guitar, Todd Hines on drums, Steve Nelson on piano & Staley Rogers on
bass guitar) are a crack team of musicians & ably assisted fellow (FPB)
member Clinton Gregory when they graced the stage between 4.25pm & 4.35pm.
When he delivered two classic Merle Haggard songs ('The bottle let me down'
& 'A place to fall apart'), Clinton Gregory proved that he needs to re-enter
the recording studios soon in order to give us a new album.
Following Clinton's all-too-brief showcase of songs, Gene Watson stepped
onstage to rapturous applause & effortlessly worked his way through his
wonderful brand of traditional country music in a set that began at 4.35pm &
continued through to 5.50pm.
It's true to say that traditional country music is safe in Gene Watson's
hands as exemplified by his strong set of tunes as emphasised by the
selection below:
Gene Watson Playlist
1 ‘Should I come home (or should I go crazy)’
2 ‘Where love begins’
3 ‘No trash in my trailer’
4 ‘Baby me baby’
5 ‘It’s not love but it’s not bad’
6 ‘This dream’s on me’
7 ‘Love in the hot afternoon’
8 ‘In a perfect world’
9 ‘Memories to burn’
10 ‘I don’t go around mirrors’
11 ‘Paper Rosie’
12 ‘Today I started loving you again’
13 ‘You gave me a mountain’
14 ‘I don’t need a thing at all’
15 ‘One and one and one’
16 ‘Fourteen carat mind’
17 ‘Farewell party’
18 ‘Pick the wildwood flower’ (encore)
Lisa & Sean Brady had the pleasure of meeting and, having lunch with, Gene Watson
at his hotel on Monday 4 August 2008 between 11.30am & 1.20pm (Irish time).
What can be said! Gene was a delight to be with & he was a true Texas
gentleman.
It was (Gene's Day-to-Day Manager at Lytle Management, Nashville) Sarah
Brosmer who suggested to Sean that Gene &
he should have an opportunity to sit
down together (while he was in Northern Ireland) & have a discussion about
the Gene Watson Fan Site & piece together any segments of his life story that
Sean felt
were ‘missing’ from the online version of his biography.
Sean Brady's conversation with Gene Watson began with a discussion about the early
days of his country music career & about the record labels that he initially
recorded for.
It was Sean's assumption that Tonka Records was the first label that Gene had
recorded on back in 1965. However, it turned out that
Sean was incorrect with
this information.
Sun Valley Records was the first record label that Gene recorded with & it
was based out of Houston, Texas. Gene informed Sean that he only recorded one
45rpm single for this label & that the single was released on a very local
(Texas) basis around 1962; the 'a' side was 'If it's that easy' (LH-3184) &
the 'b' side was 'Leading me on' (LH-3185).
Sean informed Gene that
he had received an email (on Tuesday 10 June 2008) from a
gentleman called David Johnson in which he informed Sean about this 45rpm
single release on Sun Valley Records. Sean told Gene that David had informed
him
that he himself had this vinyl single in his record collection.
Sean's conversation with Gene then turned to Tonka Records which, like Sun
Valley Records, was based out of Houston, Texas & which was a label that
Gene recorded a number of 45rpm singles for in 1965 ('If you can't come,
just call', 'You're what's happened to me' & 'Please don't laugh at me').
According to the information displayed on these Tonka vinyl records, the
first two tracks ('If you can't come, just call' & 'You're what's happened
to me') were written by Gene, so Sean asked
Gene if he'd composed many songs in
the early days of his career & if he'd written any material in recent years.
Gene informed Sean that he wrote a number of songs himself in the early days &
that he recorded a number of these songs in order to try to get his country
music career established.
Gene also told Sean that Tonka Records was owned by a gentleman called Gabe
Tucker who was experienced in all aspects of country music as he had been a
bandleader, trumpet player, singer, comic, manager, disc jockey & record
label operator. Gabe Tucker had also been involved with legendary artists
Elvis Presley & Eddy Arnold.
Gene & Sean then spoke about
Gene's self-titled debut album ('Gene Watson') which
was released on Wide World Records (WWS2002) in 1969.
Wide World Records had been established by Russ Reeder (a record
distributor) & Roy M. Stone (a record store owner) & was based at 2817 Laura
Koppe, in Houston, Texas (TX77016); Gene initially met Russ Reeder & Roy M.
Stone around 1966.
Sean informed Gene that, when
he spoke with Jim Black in Ireland on Sunday 9 May
2004, he had informed Sean that he (Jim) had played piano on the (Houston &
Nashville) recording sessions for the 'Gene Watson' album on Wide World
Records in 1969.
(Sean discovered - online
- that Jim Black recorded an album
for Stoneway Records called 'Piano Styling').
Sean asked Gene if he could recall any of the names of the other musicians who
had been involved in the recording of his debut album. Gene told
Sean that he
could remember some of the names involved in the
recording sessions - they included Fred Hanna on steel guitar &
Danny Ross on guitar.
(Sean discovered - online - that guitarist Danny Ross recorded the albums
'Flattop x Two' & 'Still on the Flattop' for Stoneway Records).
Gene couldn't recall any of the other musicians but he advised
Sean to contact
Jim Black; Gene was sure that Jim would be in a better position to remember
the remaining musicians who worked on the 1969 recording sessions.
Initially, Gene's recording sessions for Wide World Records took place in
both Houston & Nashville. However, Gene informed Sean that Roy M. Stone preferred
that these recording sessions take place in Houston only but Gene insisted
that he preferred to use the studios in Nashville.
As a result of these differences, Russ Reeder & Roy M. Stone both decided to
go their separate ways. When the two managers split, Roy was given all the
masters that they had recorded with Gene and Russ was given Roy's part of
Gene's recording contract.
As a consequence, Roy M. Stone re-released the 'Gene Watson' album on his
own label - Stoneway Records (STY2002) - in 1973.
Things were changing for Gene at this time (in the early
1970s) so Sean asked him about what
happened next; Gene informed
Sean that Russ Reeder owned a company called Record
Service Company, so Gene & Russ formed a new record label called Resco
Records. It was Resco that released Gene's first successful 45rpm vinyl
single - 'Bad water' reached No.87 in July 1975.
Gene informed Sean that he now
retained sole ownership of all the Resco Records
masters, so Sean asked if he would ever consider re-releasing any of this fine
material on CD. Gene hadn't really thought about doing this, but he did say
that re-releasing the material on CD could be an option to consider one day.
Sean then brought up the subject of those Gene Watson songs that
had been
included on various movie soundtrack albums.
Sean reminded Gene that 'Paper Rosie', one of his most successful singles for
Capitol Records in 1978, had been included on the soundtrack of the 1990
movie 'Another 48 Hours', starring Eddie Murphy & Nick Nolte.
Sean informed Gene that
'Cowboys don’t get lucky all the time’, which Gene included on ‘Beautiful Country’
(Capitol Records, 1977),
had also been included on the ‘Convoy’ soundtrack album in 1978. The movie 'Convoy' had
been directed by Sam Peckinpah, but as far as Gene was concerned, he
believed that his recording had been included at the behest of fellow
country artist Kris Kristofferson.
Sean then spoke to Gene about his recording of ‘Any way you want me’ which
appeared on the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood movie ‘Any Which Way You
Can’ in 1980. Sean asked Gene about who approached him to record the song &
whether Clint made the final decision about Gene's inclusion on the
soundtrack. Sean also asked Gene if Clint Eastwood was familiar with his music
prior to this time.
Gene stated that the song 'Any way you want me' had been originally recorded
by the guy who wrote the song, a man by the name of L. Ofman; Gene had
actually produced the recording, but when Clint Eastwood heard the demo,
Gene informed Sean that Clint
wanted the track for his movie but stated that he wanted Gene to record it
instead of L Ofman.
At this time (1980), Gene Watson was on tour in Chicago, but upon hearing about
Clint's request, he flew out to Los Angeles in order to lay down the vocal
track for 'Any way you want me'.
Since a number of Gene's songs have been included on the soundtracks of
these aforementioned movies, Sean asked Gene if he had had any aspirations to
appear in a country music-related movie or if he had ever been approached to
do so. Gene responded by saying that he had never been approached to appear
in any movies & that it had never been his desire to do so.
On Tuesday 25 September 2007, Gene Watson saw the release on
Shanachie
Records of his highly acclaimed ‘In a Perfect World’ album with special
guests Joe Nichols,
Lee Ann Womack, Connie Smith,
Mark Chesnutt, Rhonda
Vincent & Vince Gill.
Sean asked Gene that if he had the opportunity to record with other artists, or
undertake a duets album, who would he choose to record with; Gene responded
by stating that recording with all of the aforementioned artists had been a
wonderful experience & that Rhonda Vincent's contribution to the set
completely floored him. Gene said that he would dearly love to record with
her again.
Gene & Sean then returned to the subject of song-writing;
Sean reminded Gene that
he recorded the song ‘Somewhere over you’ & included the track on
‘Back in the Fire’ (Warner Bros. Records,
1988).
Sean reminded Gene that he obtained a song-writing credit (with Dave Lindsey &
Jim Rushing) for this song, so Sean asked
Gene about his contribution to this
track.
Sean informed Gene that he had received an email from Dave Lindsey (on Saturday
15 April 2006); in this email, Dave told Sean that, upon receiving a copy of
the song, Gene requested that he be given the opportunity to rewrite the
chorus. Sean asked Gene if this was true & Gene responded by saying that it
was. Gene also said that he felt that the chorus could have been stronger,
so he asked Dave & Jim if he could rewrite the chorus.
Both Dave Lindsey & Jim Rushing agreed to this and, as a result, Gene
received a song-writing credit on the track & a share of the royalties.
Sean next spoke to Gene about his contribution to the Ernest Tubb tribute album
'The Legend & The Legacy', which was released on Pete Drake's First
Generation Records label in 1979 and asked whether or not he had recorded
more than the two tracks Sean knew about (‘Yesterday’s winner is a loser today’
& Willie Nelson’s ‘Sad songs & waltzes’).
Gene responded by saying that it had been his intention to record just one
track for this tribute album (Willie Nelson’s ‘Sad songs & waltzes’) & that
he was later asked to contribute to a second track (‘Yesterday’s winner is a
loser today’).
Gene also said that Ernest Tubb thought the world of Gene & stated that he
would do anything to help Gene's country music career.
Sean then mentioned that Gene had recorded ‘Silver bells’ with George Jones, a
track that appeared on ‘The Nashville Christmas Album’ in 1991.
Sean asked Gene if it was true that 'Honky Tonk Crazy'
(Epic Records, 1987)
had been intended to be a duets album with George.
Gene responded by stating that it was true; songs had been selected & studio
time had been booked, but contractual reasons prevented the album project
from going ahead as planned.
Sean informed Gene that one of the tracks planned to be included on this duets
album was ‘Too gone too long’, which was subsequently submitted to
Randy
Travis; Randy's version became a No. 1 Billboard country hit for him in
1988.
The next question Sean asked Gene was with regard to the songs ‘Old porch
swing’ & ‘Class reunion’ which were originally included on his ‘In Other
Words’ (Broadland Records/Mercury Canada, 1992).
Sean wanted to know why these tracks were also
included on ‘A Way to
Survive’ (Step One Records, 1997).
Gene responded by saying that he did not know why those tracks
had been used for
the second album, but he did let
Sean know that these tracks contained backings
that had been re-recorded.
Gene & Sean then discussed the song ‘Pick the
wildwood flower’ which was included on 'Reflections'
(Capitol Records, 1978).
Sean knew that the song had been written by
Joe Allen but
he wanted to know if
the song had intended to be autobiographical in nature as it clearly
mentions Gene's first name which is Gary.
Gene replied by stating that writer Joe Allen had recorded the track first
time around & that he had included his own name (Jody) within the song &
where Joe had referenced the city of Denver, Gene had substituted it for
Houston.
It was this point in their meeting that Gene spoke fondly of writers who had
made a lasting impression upon not only him but his country music career,
writers such as Joe Allen, Dave Kirby (RIP) & Warren Robb.
Sean reminded Gene that Tony Booth had written ‘One too many times’ (‘No One
will Ever Know’, 1980), Larry Booth had written ‘Lonely me’ (‘Old Loves
Never Die’, 1981) & ‘My Memories of You’ (‘Little by Little’, 1984) & Joe
Eddie Gough had written ‘Beautiful you’ (‘Should I Come Home’, 1979), ‘After
the party’ (‘Should I Come Home’, 1979) & ‘I’m telling me a lie’ (‘Between
This Time & the Next Time’, 1982).
Sean then poised the question: did Gene encourage his Farewell Party Band
members - mentioned above - to write songs for him? Gene responded by
stating that, in most instances, he had heard the writer performing the song
in a club & was so impressed with the quality of the writing that he then
decided to record the song in question.
On Tuesday 25 September 2007, Gene Watson saw the release on
Shanachie
Records of his highly acclaimed ‘In a Perfect World’ album.
Sean informed Gene that he &
Lee Ann Womack had produced an exquisite rendition of
Merle Haggard’s ‘Today I started loving you again’.
Sean reminded Gene that, on Friday 1 September 2000, while gracing the hallowed
stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, he had stated that Merle Haggard
could get more out of a phrase than anyone & that he would love to record
with Merle.
Sean asked Gene if he would like to record with Merle; the answer was an
emphatic 'yes' & that one day he would love to achieve this goal.
As Sean's time with Gene was drawing to a close,
Sean stated that Gene's 'From the
Heart' (RMG Records, 2001) featured beautiful
mandolin & fiddle work from Aubrey Haynie.
Sean felt that, as well as being a traditional country sounding album, 'From the
Heart' also had an acoustic feel about it.
Sean asked Gene if he had ever considered recording a bluegrass-flavoured album
or bluegrass versions of his greatest hits. Gene responded by saying that he
was indeed open to the idea of recording such a project but that, since he
is so stepped in traditional country music, he would have to get used to
working with a dobro as opposed to steel guitar.
Sean's time with Gene Watson was now drawing to a close so
Sean informed Gene that,
as a result of Sean emailing Jo Ashbridge (in December 2007) at Hump Head
Country in England, she had taken onboard Sean's idea of them releasing a
compilation of Gene's fine work with MCA Records in the 1980s.
Gene Watson recorded for MCA Records between 1981 & 1985; Hump Head Country
in England released ‘Matters of the Heart’ which includes 20 tracks,
12 of which appeared on CD for the first time.
Upon hearing this news & seeing a proof of the album sleeve on
Sean's laptop computer,
Gene was visibly delighted to see so many of his 'hard-to-find' tracks
contained within this generous collection.
On Monday 4 August 2008, Lisa & Sean
Brady had a wonderful visit with Gene
Watson for
the best part of two hours.
Sean was delighted to have been given this unique opportunity to meet Gene
Watson & speak with this fine artist.
Gene Watson has an amazing voice & over the years has held onto his musical
integrity & has never compromised the music he dearly loves. He was an
absolute delight to spend time with & it was my pleasure to meet him.
Sean Brady wishes to extend a special 'thank you' to Sarah Brosmer at
Lytle Management
in Nashville without whose help & kindness this meeting would never have
taken place.
Sean Brady also wishes to
add: 'Thank you, Gene, for graciously
allowing me to meet & spend time with
you'.
Source
Sean Brady, Gene Watson Fan Site