Gene Watson's Peers: Steve Wariner
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 2010were 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
Steve Wariner, which he submitted
to this site on Monday 25 January 2010.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Steve Wariner
who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online
'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
Steve Wariner
This quote was submitted on Monday 25 January 2010
'I would be honoured to give a quote
about one of my very favourites, Gene Watson.
At the risk of sounding clichéd, Gene Watson is like fine wine; just getting
better & better! He is the consummate professional...Gene is the real
deal.
I love Gene Watson. He is a real deal country singer. You always
know he's gonna deliver! Besides that, he's one of the nicest guys in
the world'.
Thank you,
Steve Wariner, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Steve Wariner...
Steve Wariner,
fresh from winning his fourth Grammy Award, is the hotshot Nashville
guitarist & million-selling country star who is paying homage to the most
recorded solo instrumentalist in history.
'Steve Wariner, c.g.p., My Tribute to Chet Atkins' (SelecTone Records, 2009)
is a loving reflection of the many playing styles that the late Country
Music Hall of Fame member performed during his journey from Appalachian
obscurity to international superstardom. On this outstanding
collection, Steve even plays some of the guitars that Chet gave him over the
years.
'Chet was an
amazing man', remarks Steve. 'Nobody who plays the guitar has ever
forgotten him. He played with so much heart. In doing this
project, I found myself replaying some of his performances over and over,
listening closely and wondering, ‘How in the world did he do that?’.
Until you put the microscope on it, you kind of take his playing for
granted. He'll do this backwards roll on the strings or something.
It might go right by your ear, but then you try to imitate it. It
sounds simple, but it’s not simple. Try to do what he does
technically. Then try to do it with his touch, tone and feeling, and
you’re reminded that you can’t out-Chet Chet. He was something else'.
The legendary Chet Atkins, (Friday
20 June 1924 - Saturday 30 2001), recorded more than 100 instrumental
albums. He could and did play mountain music, swing, rockabilly, pop,
folk and jazz. 'Steve Wariner, c.g.p., My Tribute to Chet Atkins'
touches all of these bases as the fleet-fingered Steve Wariner moves from
track to track.
Sometimes Steve performs the same music that Chet Atkins did - 'Back Home
Again in Indiana', 'Producer’s Medley' and the tricky 'Blue Angel', for
instance. But more often, Steve has written and recorded original
tunes that emulate the distinctive Atkins styles. 'Leaving Luttrell'
reflects Chet’s East Tennessee childhood. 'Leona' is a gorgeous pop
tune dedicated to the guitarist’s widow.
'Tuned In' pays homage to Chet’s late-career, contemporary jazz style on
albums such as 1984’s 'Stay Tuned' (Columbia Records, 1984). 'Silent
Strings' is a ballad Steve wrote about the loss the music world felt with
Chet’s passing. The only full vocal performance on the disc is Steve’s
upbeat rendering of 'Chet’s Guitar'.
'Reeding Out Loud' tips its hat to one of Chet’s greatest discoveries,
Jerry Reed
(Saturday 20 March 1937 - Sunday 31 August 2008).
Not long before Jerry passed away last year, Steve took a copy of 'Reeding
Out Loud' to the elder guitarist’s home. Jerry put the headphones on,
leaned back and shut his eyes. A the tune ended, he smiled with his
eyes still closed and wisecracked, 'This is why I hate you so'.
Few in Nashville, or anywhere else, are as envied on so many levels as Steve
Wariner. He has been acclaimed for his guitar prowess, his heartfelt
singing, his expert producing and his hit song-writing. Steve's
lengthy recording career began with the kindness and vision of Chet Atkins.
'I’d just turned
18 and was playing bass in Dottie West’s band', Steve recalls. 'I took
my first airplane ride, and it was to go to London to do a tour called The
Cavalcade of Stars. Dottie was on RCA Records and so were all of the
others – Bobby Bare, Jim Ed Brown and Danny Davis & The Nashville Brass.
I was excited to death, because Chet was on part of that tour.
My dad had all his albums, and
I’d grown up putting the needle down on the tunes over and over again,
trying to figure out how Chet did what he did. Just like I’m still
doing today.
We were in the back of the dressing room at Wembley Stadium in London, and
that was my opportunity. I remember it was freezing. There was
no heat, and we all had colds. I walked in and introduced myself.
He was so nice. I remember being struck by the fact that he treated me
like I was somebody. He was so kind.
A few years later, I was working in Bob Luman’s band. He was making a
comeback, and he was thrilled that Johnny Cash was going to be producing an
album on him. Bob was picking up on my song-writing, so he wanted me
to play bass on the record and to sing some of my songs'.
Bob Luman (Thursday 15 April 1937 - Wednesday 27 December 1978)
released the Johnny Cash-produced 'Alive & Well' (Epic Records, 1977);
the album included four Steve Wariner compositions namely 'Got to have room
to change my mind', 'Blond haired woman', 'Labour of love' & 'He's got a way
with women'.
'I came to the session and played my songs in front of Johnny Cash and
everybody. Bob wound up recording four of my songs. On that
recording session was guitarist Paul Yandell, who was Chet’s right-hand guy
for many years. He took me aside and said, ‘I’m going to take a tape
to Chet, because I think he’d really like your picking and singing.
Well, Chet called me at my mom and dad’s
house. I picked up the phone. He said, ‘This is Chet Atkins'.
I said, ‘Shut up, Kenny'. I thought it was my brother messing with me.
Chet laughed and said, ‘No, it really is me. Paul told me to call
you'. He wanted to hear more, so I came down to Nashville from
Kentucky immediately.
He took me into RCA Studio B to make a
test recording. He said, ‘Play some guitar. I'll record that'.
And I played one of Chet’s songs, with him sitting right there. What
an idiot I was. I'm so embarrassed even now I can’t remember what the
song was.
He started
talking about someone else to produce my records. I said, ‘Nope.
I want you to produce me, Chet'. I learned later, years down the line,
that he was stepping away from RCA at the time and really wasn’t wanting to
take on anybody. The very first thing I recorded with Chet producing
was my song ‘I’m already taken' (co-written with Terence Ryan). It
flopped. But 20 years later, when
I re-recorded it for Capitol Records, it was a big hit. So that tells
you that Chet really had an ear. He really knew what he was doing'.
Steve Wariner recorded 'I'm already taken' & included the track
on 'Steve Wariner' (RCA Records, 1982); he re-recorded the track & included
it on 'Two Teardrops' (Capitol Records, 1999).
With his early RCA singles faltering on the charts and
Bob Luman having died
on Wednesday 27 December 1978, Steve was out of
work for the first and only time in his life. His mentor Chet Atkins
came to the rescue.
'I travelled with Chet for a year and a
half, starting in 1979. He hired me to play bass in his band. We
went to Hawaii, Europe, England. In the middle of the show, he’d
feature me on guitar doing some songs. It was so generous of him and
very cool.
Then two things happened. He called me
in one day and said, ‘You’re never going to have a hit with me producing
you, because I’m stepping away from the label'. I was devastated, of
course. But Chet was right. I got with Tom Collins. The
first single with Tom was ‘Your memory'. It immediately became my
first Top 10 hit, bang, right out of the chute. Chet called me back in
and said, ‘Your record is going into the Top 10 next week. You're
fired'. I went, ‘What? Why?’ He said, ‘You need to go out and do
your own thing and get your own band. Get out of here'. I said,
‘Holy crap! I've just been fired by Chet Atkins. Chet loved to
tell that story. He used to tell it all the time'.
Conway Twitty recorded Steve Wariner's 'I'm already taken' (co-written with
Terry Ryan) & included the track on 'Mr. T' (MCA Records, 1981)
Steve Wariner's 'Your memory' reached No.7 on the Billboard
country music singles chart in 1982 & was included on 'Steve Wariner' (RCA
Records, 1982).
'On
the 1994 'Read My Licks' album by Chet Atkins (Columbia Records, 1994), when
I played my solo, you can hear him in the background. He says, ‘Steve,
I thought I fired you'. So that was always a joke between us'.
After seven years with RCA and hits such as 'All roads lead to you' and his
remake of Luman’s 'Lonely women make good lovers', Steve Wariner moved to
MCA Records and stardom. Between 1984 and 1990, he topped the charts
consistently with self-penned smashes like 'You can dream of me', 'Where did
I go wrong' and 'I got dreams', plus hits such as 'Lynda', 'Life’s highway',
'The weekend' and 'Some fools never learn'. To date he has over 30 Top
10 singles to his credit, including 14 No.1 hits.
Steve Wariner took home his first Grammy Award for his 1991 performance of
'Restless' with Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Mark
O’Connor, a track included on Mark's 'New Nashville Cats' (Warner
Bros. Records, 1991).
His 1991-1992 hits on Arista Records - 'Tips of my fingers', 'Leave him out of
this' and 'A woman loves' - led to a gold record for his CD 'I Am Ready' (Arista
Records, 1991). In 1996, Steve was invited into the prestigious cast of
the Grand Ole Opry.
His
tenure at Capitol Records in 1997-2000 resulted in gold records for 'Burnin’
the Roadhouse Down' (Capitol Records, 1998) and 'Two Teardrops' (Capitol
Records, 1999). Steve's self-written
1998 hit 'Holes in the floor of heaven', which was included on 'Burnin' the
Roadhouse Down' (Capitol Records, 1998) was named 'Single of the Year' and 'Song of the
Year' by the Country Music Association (CMA), and 'Song of the Year' by the Academy
of Country Music (ACM).
During this phase of his career, Steve also scored notable
hits with songs he wrote for Garth Brooks ('Longneck bottle', which was
co-written with Garth Brooks & was included on 'Sevens' for Capitol
Nashville in 1997), Clint Black ('Nothing but the taillights', which was
co-written with Clint Black & was included on 'Nothing But The Taillights'
for RCA Records in 1998) and Keith Urban ('Where the blacktop ends', which
was co-written with Allen Shamblin & was included on 'Keith Urban' for
Capitol Records in 1999).
Collaborating with his fellow stars has also led to two more Grammy Awards.
Steve's 1999 'Bob’s breakdown' western-swing instrumental with Asleep at the
Wheel. which was included on 'Ride with Bob' (DreamWorks Records, 1999), earned the music world’s highest accolade.
His 2009 Grammy win was for
'Cluster pluck', an instrumental collaboration with Brad Paisley and other
stellar guitarists, a track which was included on Brad Paisley's 'Play' (Arista
Records, 2008).
In the new millennium, Steve Wariner and his wife Caryn formed their own
label, SelecTone Records.
'Steve Wariner, c.g.p., My Tribute to Chet Atkins'
is his fourth collection for the company, following 'Steal Another Day'
(2003), 'Guitar Christmas' (2003) and 'This Real Life' (2005).
'I’ve been thinking about doing this for a long time', says Steve.
'Chet
meant so much to me, so much to the world. Aside from his body of work as a
player, a great artist and musician, look at his work as a record producer
and a label executive. It's astounding. There will never be anybody who will
touch what he did on all levels'.
Chet Atkins gave himself the title 'c.g.p.' (for Certified Guitar Player).
Only four other men were so honoured by the legendary picker: Tommy Emmanuel,
John Knowles, the late
Jerry Reed…and the great Steve Wariner, whose
'My
Tribute to Chet Atkins' is his personal statement of deepest gratitude.
Biography courtesy of Robert K. Oermann
& Karen Byrd Public Relations
Photo of Steve Wariner courtesy of Karen Byrd Public Relations, Franklin, TN
The 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the Los Angeles' Staples Centre
on Sunday 31 January 2010 & was broadcast 'live' on the East Coast (of the
US) and on tape delay on the West Coast (of the US).
Steve Wariner was announced at the winner of the 'Best Country Instrumental
Performance' for 'Producer's Medley', a track from his highly acclaimed
'Steve Wariner, c.g.p., My Tribute to Chet Atkins' (SelecTone Records,
2009).
Steve Wariner can boast of an extraordinary list of song-writing credits
including the following:
Bob Luman recorded Steve Wariner's 'He'll be the one (who's hurtin')' & included the track
on 'Bob Luman' (Polydor Records, 1978)
Mark
O’Connor included Steve Wariner's 'Now it belongs to you' on 'New
Nashville Cats' (Warner Bros. Records, 1991)
Kenny Rogers recorded Steve Wariner's 'I'm missing you' & included the
track on 'If Only My Heart Had a Voice' (Giant Records, 1993)
Clay Walker recorded Steve Wariner's 'Love me like you love me' & included the track on
'Hypnotise The Moon' (Giant Records, 1995)
Lisa Brokop recorded Steve Wariner's 'At the end of the day'
(co-written with Billy Kirsch) & included the track on
'Lisa Brokop' (Capitol Records, 1996)
Alabama recorded Steve Wariner's 'Christmas in your arms' (co-written
with Bill Anderson) & included the track on
'Christmas 2' (RCA Records, 1996)
Clint Black recorded Steve Wariner's 'You know it all' (co-written
with Clint Black) & included
the track on 'Nothin' But The Taillights' (RCA Records, 1997)
Collin Raye recorded
Steve Wariner's 'Make sure you got
it all' (co-written with Bill Anderson)
& included the track on 'The Walls Came Down' (Epic Records, 1998)
Lila McCann recorded Steve Wariner's 'You're gone' (co-written with Bryan White) & included
the track on 'Something in the Air' (Asylum Records, 1999)
Clint Black recorded Steve Wariner's 'Where your love won't go' (co-written with
Clint Black) & included
the track on 'D'Electrified' (RCA Records, 1999)
Kathy Mattea recorded Steve Wariner's 'Trust me' & included
the track on 'The Innocent Years' (MCA Records, 2000)
The Statler Bros. recorded
Steve Wariner's 'Darlin'
I do' (co-written with Gordon Kennedy) & included the track on 'Showtime' (Crossroads
Records, 2001)
Diamond Rio recorded Steve Wariner's 'Make sure you got it all' (co-written with Bill Anderson)
& included the track on 'Completely' (Arista Records, 2002)
Gene Watson recorded Steve Wariner's 'Make sure you got it all'
(co-written with Bill Anderson)
& included the track on 'Gene Watson...Sings'
(Intersound Records, 2003)
Clint Black recorded Steve Wariner's 'Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic' &
included the track on 'Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic' (Equity Records, 2005)
Garth Brooks recorded Steve Wariner's 'You can't help
who you love'
(co-written with Marcus Hummon) & included the track on 'The Lost Sessions'
(Pearl Records, 2006)
Steve Wariner has achieved quite a remarkable run of hit songs on the
Billboard country music singles chart, as evidenced by this extraordinary
list:
'Your Memory' Top 10 hit, 1980
'By now' Top 10 hit, 1981
'All roads lead to you'
No.1 for one week in December 1981
'Kansas City lights' Top 15 hit, 1982
'Midnight fire' Top 5 hit, 1984
'Lonely women make good lovers' Top 10 hit,
1984
'Why goodbye' Top 10 hit, 1984
'What I didn't do' Top 5 hit, 1985
'Heart trouble' Top 10 hit, 1985
'Some fools never learn' No.1 for one week in November 1985
'You can dream of me' (No.1 for one week in March 1986)
'Life's highway' (No.1 for one week in June 1986)
'That's how you know when love's right' (duet with Nicolette Larson)
Top
10 hit, 1986
'Starting over again' Top 5 hit, 1986
'Small town girl' No.1 for one week in March 1987
'The weekend' No.1 for one week in July/August 1987
'The hand that rocks the cradle' (duet with Glen Campbell)
Top 10 hit, 1987
'Lynda' No.1 for one week in November 1987
'Baby I'm yours' Top 5 hit, 1988
'Hold on (just a little longer)' Top 10 hit,
1988
'Where did I go wrong' No.1 for one week in June 1989
'I got dreams' No.1 for one week in October 1989
'When I could come home to you' Top 5 hit,
1989
'The domino theory' No.1, 1990
'Precious thing' Top 10, 1990
'Leave him out of this' Top 10 hit, 1991
'Tips of my fingers' No.1, 1992
'A woman loves' Top 10 hit, 1992
'If I didn't love you' Top 10 hit, 1993
'What if I said' (duet with Anita Cochran)
No.1, 1998
'Holes in the floor of heaven' No.1, 1998
'Burnin' the roadhouse down' (duet with Garth Brooks)
Top 15 hit, 1998
'Two teardrops' Top 5 hit, 1999
'I'm already taken' Top 5 hit, 1999
'Been there' (duet with Clint Black) Top 5
hit, 2000
'Katie wants a fast one' Top 15 hit, 2000
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