On Thursday 25 August 2022, Gene Watson reflected on meeting Paul Worley at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville on Tuesday 16 August 2022.
‘It was a great pleasure to visit with my old producer, Paul Worley, last week (Tuesday 16 August 2022) at The Grand Ole Opry.
Paul produced my Warner Brothers work, which I thought was great.
Paul was an in-demand session guitar player and major label executive before becoming a world-renowned producer.
He has produced The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, The Chicks, and more.
I’m glad with all that, he’s still stopping to speak to me! Always so great to see old friends at The Grand Ole Opry’
Source
• Gene Watson on Facebook
On Monday 17 October 1988, Gene Watson saw the release of ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988), which was was produced by Paul Worley, Ed Seay and Gregg Brown, and included four tracks, which were hit singles on the Billboard country music singles chart:
‘Don’t Waste It On The Blues’ (written by Sandy Ramos and Jerry Vandiver) (No.5, 1988) / this track also reached No.6 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks Chart in 1988
‘Back In The Fire’ (written by Rory Bourke and Mike Reid) (No.20, 1989) / this track also reached No.24 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks in 1989
‘The Jukebox Played Along’ (written by Ken Bell and Charles Quillen) (No.24, 1989) / this track also reached No.40 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks in 1989
‘The Great Divide’ (written by John Lindley and Randy Travis) (No.41, 1989)
Gene Watson’s ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988) also included the following tracks:
‘Dreams of A Dreamer’, which was written by David Hugh ‘Jug’ Brown (Tuesday 28 July 1936 – Tuesday 7 May 2013)
‘Somewhere Over You’ (written by Gene Watson, Dave Lindsey and Jim Rushing)
‘Ain’t No Fun To Be Alone In San Antone’ (written by Buddy Cannon and Luke Reed)
‘Just How Little I Know’ (written by Wayland Patton and Jim Rushing)
‘She Found The Key’, which was written by Lefty Frizzell (Saturday 31 March 1928 – Saturday 19 July 1975) and Sanger D. ‘Whitey’ Shafer (Wednesday 24 October 1934 – Saturday 12 January 2019)
‘When A Fool Learns’ (written by Steve Clark and Rick Peoples)
Personnel involved in the recording of Gene Watson’s ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988) included the following:
Eddie Bayers and Steve Turner (drums)
Mike Brignardello (bass)
Steve Gibson, John Jorgenson, Paul Worley and Gregg Brown (electric guitar)
Larry Byrom, Paul Worley, Jimmy Capps (Thursday 25 May 1939 – Monday 1 June 2020) and Pete Wade (acoustic guitar)
Dennis Burnside, Barry Beckett and Michael Rojas (piano)
Mark O’Connor (fiddle)
Sonny Garrish (steel guitar)
Gene Watson’s ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988) reached No.42 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart in 1989.
On Friday 11 Novemberr 2016, Morello Records released Gene Watson’s ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988), along with Gene Watson’s ‘At Last‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1991), as a special ‘2-on-1‘ CD set (WMRLL 66).
This special CD brought together two pivotal albums from Gene Watson’s brief, but extraordinary time, with Warner Bros. Records; ‘Back In The Fire‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1988) and ‘At Last‘ (Warner Bros. Records, 1991).
