On Monday 19 May 2025, Gene Watson reflected on three wonderful nights he spent at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville the previous week.
‘We enjoyed 3 nights at the Grand Ole Opry this weekend.
It was so good to catch up with a lot of our friends backstage.
We’re all busy touring, so unless we can meet up somewhere like the Opry or some other large event, we just don’t get the time to visit, but we made up for that this weekend.
Below are some photos from our May 15th, May 16th and May 17th shows.
The Isaacs (Ben Isaacs, Becky Isaacs-Bowman, Sonya Isaacs, and Lily Isaacs, the mother of Ben, Becky and Sonya) are one of the greatest family groups you’ll ever hear.
Jimmy Fortune is an incredible vocalist and songwriter, and Ben Isaacs, of The Isaacs, who is a singer/songwriter/musician and a fantastic producer.
Charlie Nagatani introduced Japan to country music with his long-running festival, Country Gold.
Charlie is now 90 years young, and was making his 30th appearance on the Opry on Friday 16 May 2025.
I performed at his Japanese Festival back in the 1990s, and we have been friends ever since.
After Charlie performed on stage, the entire Opry audience stood to give him a fitting standing ovation.
It was a beautiful sight to see.
Leona Williams is a tremendous singer and songwriter.
Her songwriting credits include two for her ex-husband, Merle Haggard (Tuesday 6 April 1937 – Wednesday 6 April 2016); ‘You Take Me For Granted’ (written by Leona Williams) (No.1 for one week in May / June 1983), and ‘Someday When Things Are Good’ (written by Leona Williams and Merle Haggard) (No.1 for one week in June 1984)’
Source
Gene Watson on Facebook
Merle Haggard (Tuesday 6 April 1937 – Wednesday 6 April 2016) recorded Leona Williams‘ ‘You Take Me For Granted’ and included the track on ‘Going Where The Lonely Go’ (Epic Records, 1982); the track was No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart for one week in May / June 1983.
Merle Haggard (Tuesday 6 April 1937 – Wednesday 6 April 2016) recorded Leona Williams‘ ‘Someday When Things Are Good’ (co-written with Merle Haggard) and included the track on ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’ (Epic Records, 1983); the track was No.1 on the Billboard country music singles chart for one week in June 1984.
Gene Watson recorded ‘Memories To Burn’, which was written by Warren D. Robb and Dave Kirby (Sunday 10 July 1938 – Saturday 17 April 2004), and included the track on ‘Memories To Burn‘ (Epic Records, 1985), an album which reached No.35 on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart in 1985.
Gene Watson‘s ‘Memories To Burn‘ (Epic Records, 1985) also included ‘Cold Summer Day In Georgia’, which was written by Dennis Knutson (Tuesday 3 November 1942 – Monday 27 August 2018) and Arthur Leo ‘Doodle’ Owens (Friday 28 November 1930 – Monday 4 October 1999), and featured backing vocals from Leona Williams and Dave Kirby (Sunday 10 July 1938 – Saturday 17 April 2004), along with the exquisite guitar work of Dave Kirby.
Leona Williams recorded ‘Memories To Burn’, which was written by Warren D. Robb and Dave Kirby (Sunday 10 July 1938 – Saturday 17 April 2004), and included the track on ‘Honorary Texan’ (Heart of Texas Records, 2003).
