Gene Watson has been singing professionally since the late 1950s and has been a country music album recording artist since the late 1960s.
Gene Watson’s contribution to the country music genre is immeasurable.
It is here where you have an opportunity to read a review of Gene Watson’s ‘Barrooms & Bedrooms: The Capitol & MCA Years‘ (Hump Head Country, 2016), as published in the March 2016 issue of Country Music People.
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Country Music People have long ago nailed its colours to the mast where Gene Watson is concerned.
CMP has rigorously championed Gene Watson’s cause down through the years and have published a number of reviews of his album releases.
All reviews have been reproduced with the kind permission of Country Music People.
‘Barrooms & Bedrooms: The Capitol & MCA Years‘ (Hump Head Country, 2016)
Country Music People, March 2016
This review of Gene Watson’s ‘Barrooms & Bedrooms: The Capitol & MCA Years‘ (Hump Head Country, 2016) by Duncan Warwick (Tuesday 18 July 1961 – Sunday 17 November 2024) was published in the March 2016 issue of Country Music People, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the publishers.
Album Review by Duncan Warwick (Tuesday 18 July 1961 – Sunday 17 November 2024)
CD of the Month
(***** out of 5)
‘So, fifty tracks by one of country music’s greatest ever singers from the peak of his hit-making years with Capitol Records, and then MCA, what star rating is that going to get?
I notice that they haven’t called it ‘The Essential’ or ‘The Best of’, because to fulfil either of these criteria, it would have to be a Bear Family boxed set of all of Watson’s recordings for the labels, which incidentially is something I’d like to see very much.
It’s certainly a bumper time for Watson fans at the moment, with his wonderful new album released last month, and now this collection covering the decade between the mid-70s and mid-80s.
The biggies are here of course. His chart-topping ‘Fourteen Carat Mind’ and his first Top Ten ‘Love In The Hot Afternoon’. There’s ‘Farewell Party’, ‘Should I Come Home (Or Should I Go Crazy)’, ‘Nothing Sure Looked Good On You’, and many others that have become classics of the genre and deserving of being in any country fan’s collection.
Then there are the singles that criminally didn’t fare better on the charts. Ray Griff‘s ‘Her Body Couldn’t Keep You (Off My Mind)’ peaked at a rather lowly No.52, but really is as good as anything Watson ever recorded.
During his time with Capitol and MCA, Watson charted 29 singles, so this collection isn’t quite hits all the way, and it’s not in chronological order, but it is two-and-a-half-hours in the company of a singer who really ought to be considered in the same breath as George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013), if you ask me.
Check out the Joe Allen song ‘Down & Out This Way Again’ – a wonderful album track from Watson’s 1980 release, ‘No One Will Ever Know‘ (Capitol Records, 1980) – any time you need reminding of what country music is capable of when in the right hands.
I like the way they even included his debut chart record, ‘Bad Water’, and the collection ought to be commended for its running order which works beautifully.
If there’s any kind of gap in your collection, this is absolutely essential, and even if you have every record Watson has ever made, I think you still need it.
Watson says that country music has been good to him, but he sure has been good to country music’.
Duncan Warwick (Tuesday 18 July 1961 – Sunday 17 November 2024)
Country Music People
March 2016
