On Monday 15 May 2023, Gene Watson reflected on his attempts to play fiddle in 1977; here is Gene playing with Red Watson, a former fiddle player with Gene Watson’s Farewell Party Band in the mid-1970s.
‘Back around 1977 or so, I had a great fiddle player, Red Watson (no relation), in my band.
Just a few weeks ago, his son, Leslie, was in Nashville and told me he had some old photos he would send me of his father and me.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Old photos really bring back memories.
I was a little hesitant about the year of the photos, until I saw my ‘Rosie’ jacket, so I knew these were from around 1977, when ‘Paper Rosie‘, which was written by Dallas Harms (Thursday 18 July 1935 – Saturday 12 October 2019), was a hit single (No.3 on the Billboard country music singles chart in 1977).
Red was a great musician (and a patient man) and offered to teach me to play fiddle.
In the photos, you can see Red giving me the ‘side eye’, probably thinking ‘What have I gotten myself into now!’
I’m afraid I only learned enough to play the intro on a song or two, and had the good sense to leave the rest to Red.
Later on, Red actually gave that fiddle to me and it’s a prized possession of mine.
I’m proud to have it and, you never know, maybe one day I’ll try to play a little bit more’
Source
• Gene Watson on Facebook
