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 Watson’s Peers, who were contacted during 2010, were most gracious with their time and words.
It is here, within this special part of The Gene Watson Fan Site, that you have an opportunity to read a quote from Curt Ryle, which he submitted to this site on Saturday 24 July 2010.
Sean Brady would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to Curt Ryle who made a special contribution to this unique part of this online ‘celebration of a Lone Star Hero’.
Curt Ryle
This quote was submitted on Saturday 24 July 2010.
‘My favourite country singer of all time is, and will always be, Gene Watson.
I have written songs for a lot of artists, such as George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013), Billy Ray Cyrus and many others.
The biggest day of my career was when I learned Gene Watson had recorded not just one of my songs, but three of them.
‘Mirrors Don’t Lie‘ was one of those songs and I was told that, when Gene recorded it, the musicians gave him a standing ovation right there in the recording studio!
As a studio guitarist myself, I’ve played on thousands of recordings with huge stars and have never seen musicians lay down their instruments and give an artist an ovation.
But then, Gene Watson is truly a one of a kind artist’
Thank you, Curt Ryle, for your support of Gene Watson.
About Curt Ryle…
Curt Ryle was born in Duncan, Oklahoma on Sunday 17 April 1955 and attended elementary school at Comanche Elementary in Oklahoma; he also attended Empire Junior High School in Duncan, Oklahoma.
Curt Ryle graduated from Broken Bow High School in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
Curt Ryle’s love of music goes back to his early years. Curt Ryle loved the music of George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013), Ray Price (Tuesday 12 January 1926 – Monday 16 December 2013) and Vern Gosdin (Sunday 5 August 1934 – Tuesday 28 April 2009), but he also loved The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and B.B. King (Wednesday 16 September 1925 – Thursday 14 May 2015).
Curt Ryle became a professional musician when he was sixteen years old.
Following high school, Curt Ryle worked with many country music legends, including Mel Tillis (Monday 8 August 1932 – Sunday 19 November 2017), George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013) and Vern Gosdin (Sunday 5 August 1934 – Tuesday 28 April 2009).
As a studio musician, Curt Ryle played guitar on recordings for many artists, including Taylor Swift, Brooks & Dunn (Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn), Trisha Yearwood, Marty Stuart, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Paul Overstreet, Steve Holy, Hal Ketchum (Thursday 9 April 1953 – Monday 23 November 2020), Mark McGuinn, Pam Tillis and Mel Tillis (Monday 8 August 1932 – Sunday 19 November 2017).
By the 1970s, Curt Ryle’s reputation and prowess as a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist had grown and found himself performing with many of his country music heroes, including Dr. Hook, Ray Price (Tuesday 12 January 1926 – Monday 16 December 2013) and George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013).
In 1986, Mel Tillis (Monday 8 August 1932 – Sunday 19 November 2017) brought Curt Ryle to Nashville as a songwriter.
George Jones (Saturday 12 September 1931 – Friday 26 April 2013) recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘The Real McCoy’ and included the track on ‘Too Wild Too Long’ (Epic Records, 1987).
Clinton Gregory recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘One Shot At A Time’ and included the track on ‘If It Weren’t For Country Music (I’d Go Crazy)’ (Step One Records, 1991).
Clinton Gregory recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘House of Diamonds’ (co-written with Mike Baker) and included the track on ‘If It Weren’t For Country Music (I’d Go Crazy)’ (Step One Records, 1991).
Dude Mowrey recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘It Could’ve Been Me’ (co-written with Johnny Park) and included the track on ‘Honky Tonk’ (Capitol Nashville Records, 1991).
Clinton Gregory recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘She Takes The Sad Out of Saturday Night’ (co-written with Billy Henderson) and included the track on ‘Freeborn Man’ (Step One Records, 1992).
Clinton Gregory recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Master of Illusion’ (co-written with Mel Tillis Jr.) and included the track on ‘Master Of Illusion’ (Step One Records, 1993).
Gene Watson recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Simple Minded Heart’ (co-written with Mel Tillis Jr. and Donald Lee Burns) and included the track on ‘Uncharted Mind‘ (Step One Records, 1993).
Gene Watson recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Mirrors Don’t Lie’ (co-written with Billy Henderson) and included the track on ‘Uncharted Mind‘ (Step One Records, 1993).
Billy Ray Cyrus recorded Cury Ryle’s ‘Storm In The Heartland’ (co-written with Billy Henderson and Donald Lee Burns) and included the track on ‘Storm In The Heartland’ (Mercury Records, 1994); the track reached No.33 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks Chart in late 1994.
In 1999, Curt Ryle saw the release of his debut album, ‘Lifetime Guarantee’ (Universal Sound Records / Bob Grady Records, 1999), which was produced by Curt Ryle, and included the following tracks:
‘Lifetime Guarantee’ (written by Jerry Abbott and Gerald Pierce)
‘These Boots Were Made For Walking’ (written by Monte Holmes and Barbie Isham)
‘Mirrors Don’t Lie’ (written by Curt Ryle and Billy Henderson)
‘Thunderbird Cafe’ (written by Curt Ryle and Billy Henderson)
‘Denver’ (written by Curt Ryle and Jerry Abbott)
‘Rodeo Drive’ (written by Curt Ryle and Lee Bach)
‘Mending Fences’ (written by Curt Ryle and Billy Davidson)
‘Mother of All Heartaches’ (written by Curt Ryle and Billy Henderson)
‘Shine Your Light’ (written by Curt Ryle)
‘Becky Brown’s Daddy’ (written by Curt Ryle and Bobby Tomberlin)
‘I Ain’t Gonna Mess This One Up’, which was written by Curt Ryle and Razzy Bailey (Tuesday 14 February 1939 – Thursday 5 August 2021)
Personnel involved in the recording of Curt Ryle’s debut album, ‘Lifetime Guarantee’ (Universal Sound Records / Bob Grady Records, 1999), included the following:
Curt Ryle and Troy Lancaster (electric guitar)
Curt Ryle (acoustic guitar, background vocals)
Curt Ryle and Gary Hogue (Tuesday 30 March 1954 – Sunday 14 May 2000) (steel guitar)
Wayne Killius and Owen Hale (drums)
David Russell and Joe Spivey (fiddle)
Jimmy Carter and Dow Tomlin (bass guitar)
Jim Brown and Bob Patin (piano)
Jim Brown (strings)
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘The Blues Is A Good Woman Gone’ (co-written with Kent Westberry) and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘The Whole World Must Be Colour Blind’ and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Wild Turkey & Seven-Up’ and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Do These Two Arms’ and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘The Road To Yesterday’ (co-written with Buddy Cannon) and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Please Baby Please’ (co-written with Billy Keeble) and included the track on ‘Unchained Country’ (Universal Sound Records, 1999).
Charlie Shearer recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘History Repeats Itself’ (co-written with Don Ray) and included the track on ‘Breakin’ Out’ (Universal Sound Records, 2000).
Charlie Shearer recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Denver’ (co-written with Jerry Abbott) and included the track on ‘Breakin’ Out’ (Universal Sound Records, 2000).
Charlie Shearer recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Slow Death’ (co-written with Rick Scott) and included the track on ‘Breakin’ Out’ (Universal Sound Records, 2000).
Charlie Shearer recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Little Lady’ (co-written with Jerry Abbott) and included the track on ‘Breakin’ Out’ (Universal Sound Records, 2000).
Gene Watson recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Drivin’ Me Sane’ (co-written with Tony Mullins) and included the track on ‘From The Heart‘ (RMG Records, 2001).
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘I Can’t Go Home To Heaven’ (co-written with Shane Decker) and included the track on ‘The Real Me’ (Global Records, 2005); the album was produced by Curt Ryle and was released in May 2005.
Billy Keeble’s ‘The Real Me’ (Global Records, 2005) also included ‘I’m So Afraid of Losing You Again’, which was written by Arthur Leo ‘Doodle’ Owens (Friday 28 November 1930 – Monday 4 October 1999) and Dallas Frazier (Friday 27 October 1939 – Friday 14 January 2022); the track was a duet with Leona Williams.
In 2005, Billy Keeble’s ‘The Real Me’ (Global Records, 2005) was awarded ‘Album of The Year’ at the ‘Terry Awards’ in Fort Worth, Texas, which was an event ceremony, which was held every year for local entertainers.
On Saturday 17 March 2007, Billy Keeble traveled to Nashville and, once again, he called upon his good friend, Curt Ryle.
Together, Billy Keeble and Curt Ryle recorded and produced an impressive fifteen-song tribute album to Billy Keeble’s favourite country music artist and hero, Wynn Stewart (Thursday 7 June 1934 – Wednesday 17 July 1985).
‘Billy Keeble Sings Wynn Stewart’ (Global Records, 2007) included a remarkable duet with Wynn Stewart’s daughter, Wren Stewart Tidwell, ‘After The Storm’, which was written by Dale Emerson Noe (Saturday 31 December 1927 – Thursday 4 November 2004). The sensational Ralph E. Mooney (Sunday 16 September 1928 – Sunday 20 March 2011) was also featured, adding his signature sound to five of the tracks, including his self-penned ‘Falling For You’.
On Monday 3 December 2007, ‘Billy Keeble Sings Wynn Stewart’ (Global Records, 2007) was awarded ‘Album of The Year’ at the ’30th Annual Terry Awards’, which were held in Fort Worth, Texas.
At the time of the acquisition of this Gene Watson ‘Peer’s Quote’, in July 2010, Curt Ryle was residing in Nashville with his beautiful wife, Mia, and his little boy, Brayden. Curt Ryle was very active as a recording musician and when not undertaking recording sessions in Nashville, he was undertaking songwriter demos for anyone with songs to record at his personal studio, A.R.T. Recording in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Curt Ryle, as well as being a recording musician / songwriter / producer in the country music industry in Nashville, is also one of the founders of Jingle Mania, a company which undertakes mail order demos for songwriters around the world.
A rough guitar or piano and vocal of an original song can be sent to Jingle Mania and they can bring it to life with a full Nashville recording and production with the best musicians and engineers in Nashville at a price you can afford and you don’t even have to leave your house! Jingle Mania also produce top quality national or local jingles.
In November 2010, Billy Keeble signed a record deal with Pretty World Records.
In October 2011, Pretty World Records released ten songs, which Billy Keeble recorded as a vinyl LP in 1987. There were only one hundred copies pressed, but the album was never released. Over the years, the LP made its way into the hands of several country music disc-jockeys around the world, who requested that Billy re-release the songs on CD and make them available for their listeners. The tracks and songs are in their original format and have not been modified or digitally remastered.
Eight songs on the CD were written by Billy Keeble’s great friend and the producer of all his albums, Curt Ryle. Billy Keeble was honoured that Pretty World Records releasing this CD on their label.
Billy Keeble recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Sharla Mane’s Ghost’ (co-written with Billy Keeble) and included the track on ‘Just For You’ (Pretty World Records, 2012); the album was produced by Curt Ryle.
As of March 2015, following decades of working with studios in Nashville, such as Warner Brothers and Mel Tillis Enterprises, Curt Ryle, one of Nashville’s most prolific musicians / songwriters / producers, finally tired of the daily commute, and opened Big Matador Recording at his Clarksville home near Dunbar Cave in Tennessee.
In 2015, Billy Keeble saw the release of ‘Down In Texas’ (Global Records, 2015), which was produced by Curt Ryle, and included the following tracks:
‘Blues On Parade’
‘Let Me Drink This Over’
‘The Way They Do It Down In Texas’
‘We’ll Always Have Fort Worth’
‘The Waltz’
‘I’ve Been Hurt By The Best’
‘To Close To That Old Flame’
‘When I Here There She Goes’
‘Texas Girl (Deep In The Heart of Me)’
‘Million Dollar Memory
‘Never Got Over You’
‘The Cows Are Coming Home’
Billy Keeble’s ‘Down In Texas’ (Global Records, 2015) featured Curt Ryle on steel guitar on five of its tracks; Curt Ryle also provided background vocals on the album.
Vanessa Bourne recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Don’t Judge Me’ (co-written with John Castleberry) and included the track on ‘Young At Heart’ (Black Ribbon Records, 2020); the album was produced by Curt Ryle.
Dan Herrell recorded Curt Ryle‘s ‘Heavy Construction’ (co-written with Kent Westberry) and included the track on ‘Where Were You (When I Was Leaving)’ (Dan Herrell Independent Release, 2021); the album was produced by Curt Ryle.
Dan Herrell recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘Master of Illusion’ (co-written with Mel Tillis Jr.) and included the track on ‘Where Were You (When I Was Leaving)’ (Dan Herrell Independent Release, 2021); the album was produced by Curt Ryle.
Dan Herrell recorded Curt Ryle’s ‘One Shot At A Time’ and included the track on ‘Where Were You (When I Was Leaving)’ (Dan Herrell Independent Release, 2021); the album was produced by Curt Ryle.
• Visit Curt Ryle’s Clarksville Sound at clarksvillesound.com