Vern Gosdin (October 2006)
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 2006 were most gracious with
their time & words. It is here, within this special
part of gene-watson.com, that you have an opportunity to
read
Vern Gosdin's
quote, which
he submitted to this site on Thursday 12 October 2006.
I (Sean Brady)
would like to take this opportunity to say 'thank you' to
Vern Gosdin who has made a special contribution to a unique part
of this online 'celebration of a Lone Star Hero'.
 Vern
Gosdin
This quote was submitted on Thursday 12 October 2006
'Gene Watson is truly one of the great
voices in country music.
His unique style sets him apart from all others & defines the
true meaning of country music & what it stands for in our hearts
& lives'.
Thank you,
Vern Gosdin, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Vern Gosdin...
Vern Gosdin
was born in Woodland,
Alabama & is known as 'The Voice'. Vern
idolised The Louvin Brothers & The Blue Sky Boys as
a young man & sang in a gospel quartet called The
Gosdin Brothers.
When Vern was in his late teens, his family moved to
Birmingham & began hosting the Gosdin Family Gospel
Show on a local radio station WVOK. Vern & his
brother Rex moved to Long Beach, California in 1961
& began performing bluegrass music, joining a group
called The Golden State Boys that evolved into The
Hillmen, featuring future Byrds' member
Chris Hillman.
Vern & Rex teamed up to
sing country music as The Gosdin Brothers, enjoyed a
Top 40 country hit in 1967 with 'Hangin' on' &
opened for The Byrds on occasion.
Vern moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1972, raised a
family & ran a retail shop. However, he never
gave up on music completely, performing at local
clubs & eventually gravitated toward Nashville.
In 1976, Vern & Emmylou Harris cut a demo single
consisting of 'Hangin' on' backed with a newly
written song called 'Yesterday's gone'.
 As a
result, Vern was signed to the Elektra Records label
& both songs cracked the country Top 20. In
the late 1970s, he notched up several major hits,
including 'Till the end' (with
Janie Fricke),
'Mother country music' & a remake of The
Association's 'Never my love'.
In 1980, following the demise of Elektra's country
division, Vern quickly moved through several
contracts & landed with the independent Nashville
label Compleat. He made the Top Ten
consistently in the early 1980s & hit his stride
when he teamed up with Max D Barnes as a
song-writing collaborator.
In 1983, Vern enjoyed two Top Five hits, 'If you're
gonna do me wrong (do it right)' & 'Way down deep'.
In 1984, he achieved his first No.1 single
with 'I can tell by the way you dance (you're gonna
love me tonight'), which was No.1 for one week in
late June/early July of that year. Vern also
achieved two Top Ten hits ('What
would your memories do' & 'Slow burning
memories'),
both of which peaked at No.10.
The Compleat Records label folded in 1986 & Vern
found himself without a record label. In 1987,
he was approached by Merle Haggard, but Merle's
friend & sometimes co-writer Hank Cochran steeped in
& brought Vern to the attention of producer Bob
Montgomery at Columbia Records.
Columbia advanced some money to cut some tracks with
Vern, the result of which was 'Do you believe me now', which reached No.8 in early 1988. Vern's
first album for Columbia - 'Chiseled in Stone' - was
released shortly afterwards & Vern achieved a No.1
hit with 'Set 'em up, Joe' (No.1 for one week in
July 1988).
The title track of the 'Chiseled in Stone' album,
which as co-written with Max D. Barnes (RIP),
reached No.6 in November 1988 & was cited as the
'Song of the Year' by the Country Music Association
on 9 October 1989.
It was in 1989 that Vern's second Columbia Records
album was released. 'Alone' was a concept album in
a traditional country music style which chronicled
the dissolution of Vern's marriage. The first
track released as a single from the album, 'I'm
still crazy', spent one week at No.1 in September
1989.
Gene Watson's Peers...
Select the year of your choice from the list below:
2004 | 2005
| 2006 | 2007 |
2008
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Visit Vern Gosdin's Official
Website