On Tuesday 23 June 2026, Gene Watson recalled his start at Capitol Records in 1975.
‘I can’t recall the exact year, but this was a very early publicity photo for Capitol Records, so I suspect it was around 1975.
‘Love In The Hot Afternoon’
(Resco Records, 1974)
My first song for the label was ‘Love In The Hot Afternoon’, which was written by Kent Westberry and Vincent Wesley Matthews (1940 – Saturday 22 November 2003).
That song was released on an independent label (Resco Records), so it was already at the top of charts on radio in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana by the time Capitol picked it up.
Still, it went to No.3 nationally and turned out to be the No.4 song for the year nationwide’
Source
Gene Watson on Facebook
Gene Watson recorded ‘Love In The Hot Afternoon’, which was written by Kent Westberry and Vincent Wesley Matthews (1940 – Saturday 22 November 2003), and included the track on ‘Love in the Hot Afternoon‘ (Capitol Records, 1975); the track reached No.3 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1975, and No.3 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks Chart in 1975.
On Tuesday 3 December 2002, England’s Hux Records released Gene Watson‘s ‘Love in the Hot Afternoon‘ (Capitol Records, 1975), along with Gene Watson‘s ‘Paper Rosie‘ (Capitol Records, 1978), as a special 2-for-1 CD set.
