On Wednesday 7 October 2020, Gene Watson mourned the passing of acclaimed singer / songwriter / guitarist / drummer / record producer / Step One Records executive Ray Pennington, who died at his home at New Hope Road in Hendersonville, Tennessee as a result of a house fire on that day.
'Devastated to learn that my friend Ray Pennington has died.
Ray signed me to his label, Step One Records, and I recorded several of his songs and he produced my albums there.
He was a great singer, songwriter, producer and a great man.
One of his most well-known songs was No.1 for Waylon Jennings (Tuesday 15 June 1937 - Wednesday 13 February 2002), 'I'm A Ramblin' Man' (No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart for one week in September / October 1974).
Please keep his family in your prayers.
RIP'
Source
Gene Watson
In September 1993, Gene Watson signed a recording contract with singer / songwriter / producer Ray Pennington and joined the roster at Step One Records in Nashville; the record label was owned by Ray Pennington, country music artist Curtis Potter (Thursday 18 April 1940 - Saturday 23 January 2016) and songwriter Mel Holt; Ray Pennington acted as the company’s chief executive.
Gene Watson's debut album for Step One Records was 'Uncharted Mind' (Step One Records, 1993) and the first single released from it was 'Snake In The House' (written by T.W. Hale and Royal Wade Kimes).
Gene Watson's relationship with Ray Pennington at Step One Records was one of mutual respect and admiration.
Gene Watson was now wearing less hats in the recording studio than he had in the 1970s and 1980s. In the old days, Gene Watson was looking for material, organising the musicians and working on his own musical arrangements.
At Step One Records, Gene Watson simply arrived at the recording studio and Ray Pennington did all the rest.
The release of Gene Watson’s debut album for Step One Records, 'Uncharted Mind' (Step One Records, 1993), opened some doors for Gene, in that some American country music radio stations were willing to add some of its tracks to their play-lists.
In musical terms, it very much appeared that Gene Watson was back from the dead and that a revival of his country music career looked distinctly possible.
In 1996, Gene Watson saw the release of his second album for Step One Records; 'The Good Ole Days' (Step One Records, 1996) was an album of exquisite Texas swing and tasteful balladry and included a track which would ultimately put the Gene Watson name firmly back on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart, after an absence of some four years.
The song in question, 'Change Her Mind', which was written by Danny 'Bear' Mayo (Monday 2 October 1950 - Saturday 2 October 1999), Paul Nelson and Larry Boone, entered the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart, on Saturday 25 January 1997; by March 1997, the track had reached No.44, thanks in no small part by the work carried out by an excellent promotion team at Step One Records.
One of the reasons for the revival in Gene Watson’s career at this time can be attributed to the fact that many of the people programming the song for American country music radio did not know who Gene Watson was and actually thought that he was a new, young artist.
Most listeners to American country music radio thought the same thing.
Gene Watson's follow-up single, 'No Goodbyes' (written by Ray Pennington), reached No.73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart in 1997.
The release of 'The Good Ole Days' (Step One Records, 1996) also afforded Gene Watson the opportunity to re-record three of his hit songs for a new generation of fans, 'Love In The Hot Afternoon', which was written by Kent Westberry and Vincent Wesley Matthews (1940 - Saturday 22 November 2003), 'Speak Softly (You're Talking To My Heart)' (written by Steve Spurgin and J.D. Mendenhall) and 'I Don't Need A Thing At All' (written by Joe Allen).
In 1997, Gene Watson saw the release of his third album for Step One Records; 'Jesus is all I Need' (Step One Records, 1997) was an album project which Gene Watson had been wishing to record for some time - a collection made up entirely of religious material.
The recording of 'Jesus is all I Need' (Step One Records, 1997) was also very much a family affair; six of the ten featured tracks were written by Gene Watson's cousin, Bobbie Joyce Harris Bost (Saturday 10 February 1940 - Saturday 6 April 2002), while his sisters, Virginia Ruth Watson Thompson and Mary Lois Watson Templeton (Friday 28 October 1932 - Friday 9 April 2004), provided wonderful harmony vocals.
Gene Watson's final album for Step One Records, 'A Way to Survive' (Step One Records, 1997), included seven new tracks, along with a re-recording of 'Fourteen Carat Mind', which was written by Dallas Frazier and Larry Lee Favorite (Saturday 6 January 1940 - Saturday 26 May 2001), and was Gene Watson’s first, and only, No.1 hit single on the Billboard country music singles chart (No.1 for one week in January 1982).
The original version of 'Fourteen Carat Mind', which was written by Dallas Frazier and Larry Lee Favorite (Saturday 6 January 1940 - Saturday 26 May 2001), was included on Gene Watson's 'Old Loves Never Die' (MCA Records, 1981).
Gene Watson's 'A Way to Survive' (Step One Records, 1997) also included 'Class Reunion' (written by Craig Morris and Don Henry) and 'Old Porch Swing', which was written by Joe Allen and Charlie Williams (Friday 20 December 1929 - Thursday 15 October 1992), two tracks which had originally been included on 'In Other Words' (Broadland International Records / Mercury Records Canada, 1993).
Gene Watson's 'A Way to Survive' (Step One Records, 1997) demonstrated, however, that Gene Watson still possessed his extraordinary vocal ability.
On Thursday 24 May 2018, thanks to the assistance of Leslie Elliott, Ray Pennington's executive secretary at Step One Records from its inception in February 1984 until its closure in 2000, Ray Pennington's graciously contributed a 'Peer's Quote' about Gene Watson.
Ray Pennington (Friday 22 December 1933 - Wednesday 7 October 2020)
