Tony Booth is a native of
Tampa, Florida where he was born on
7 February in 1943. He won a
contest in New Port Richey, Florida
for playing guitar when he was 14
years old.
After high school, Tony attended the
University of New Mexico with the
intention of becoming a
schoolteacher, but he decided to
give music a try & began his music
career with the Mel Savage Band &
later began touring with Jimmy
Snyder.
Tony Booth's first single 'Wishful
thinking' (which was backed with 'I
think I can') & the 'Country 67'
album were released under the stage
name 'Johnny Booth' by Universal
City Records in 1967.
Tony's first album did not yield a
chart position, so he formed a band
called Modern Country in 1968 &
performed for a time in Las Vegas,
Nevada before moving to Los Angeles,
California. The band, which
renamed itself The Tony Booth Band
became the house band at LA's
Palomino Club & included members Jay
Dee Maness (who went on to become a
member of The Desert Rose Band) &
Tony's younger brother Larry.
Tony recorded a single with K-Ark
Records - 'Big lonely world' backed
with 'It's alright' failed to
achieve chart success.
Things changed for the better in
1979 when Tony recorded Merle
Haggard's song about interracial
love 'Irma Jackson' (backed with
Tony's own composition 'One too many
times') which reached the charts.
Tony's band also won an Academy of
Country Music award, which they
would take home for three
consecutive years.
The album 'On the Right Track'
followed soon after on MGM Records &
in 1971 Tony won the Academy of
Country Award for 'Most Promising
Male Vocalist'. Tony signed
with Capitol Records & became one of
several artists to record under Buck
Owens.
Tony Booth released two albums a
year for Capitol Records between
1972 & 1974. The first was
'The Key's in the Mailbox' which
included three hit singles.
The 'Lonesome 7-7203' album was
released in 1972 & the title track
was a hit single too. Tony was
also nominated for the Academy of
Country Music 'Male Vocalist of the
Year' Award in 1973.
Tony's cover of Jim Croce's 'Workin'
at the car wash blues' made it to
No.22 on the country charts while
the album of the same name won an
ASCAP Award in 1974. Tony
Booth departed the Capitol Records
label in 1975 & was picked up by
United Artists Records the following
year.
Tony Booth then went on tour with Gene Watson's Farewell
Party Band where he remained a
member for twelve years; he played
bass guitar & sang backup on many of
Gene's mid-1980s album releases.
Tony
Booth's composition 'One too many
times' was included on Gene Watson's
'No One
will Ever Know'
album, which was released on Capitol
Records in 1980.
Tony
Booth's younger brother Larry played bass guitar on Gene
Watson's 'Sometimes
I Get Lucky' album, which was
released on MCA Records in 1983.
This album was the first Gene Watson
release that featured the Farewell
Party Band.
Tony
Booth played tic-tac bass & his
younger brother Larry played bass
guitar on Gene
Watson's 'Heartaches,
Love & Stuff' album, which was
released on MCA Records in 1984.
Tony
Booth played tic-tac bass & his
younger brother Larry played bass
guitar on Gene
Watson's 'Little
by Little' album, which was
released on MCA Records in 1984.
The album includes 'My memories of
you' which was co-written by Daniel
T. Rainwater & Larry Booth.
Tony
Booth played bass
guitar on Gene
Watson's 'Memories
to Burn'
album, which was
released on Epic
Records in 1985.
The album was
co-produced & mixed
by Gene Watson &
Tony's younger
brother Larry Booth.
At the time of the
acquisition of this
Gene Watson quote
(January 2008), Tony
was living in Alvin,
Texas & was
appearing regularly
in the band at
The
Alvin Opry with his
brother Larry.
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