Gene Watson (Talks about MADD stopping his "Drinking my way back home" record)

the Ralph Emery show this week is happy to present the talents of gene Watson gene hasn't been with us in a couple of years I'm happy to have him back of course the song is coming up loving the hot afternoon was the song that brought Jean Watson to the attention of all America and we had a brand new star now I don't know if I said dad jolly when was love in the hot afternoon we recorded the song in early 74 and it was released in late 74 originally and on a little label called Resco records and in capital immediately picked it up and signed me to a contract with Capitol whose idea was it to put that little that little figure in there where the singers go feel a gumbo well I think it was just more or less off the tops of everybody's head you know I'm I'm not a I'm not an artist it takes a lot of time pre-planning or anything like that I'm a firm believer in going in studio and and and you know see what comes out and it just seemed to fall into place and it came out and it was one of those things that just just boomed out in front of everybody even they didn't know you know a lot of the people didn't know what that even meant they couldn't understand because they didn't know what feel like gumbo was and what is feeling um well it's a type of soup from Louisiana and and I have everybody even still I have people ask me you know what's that word you say what does this mean you know like that I would imagine particularly people in the north right who have never tasted crawfish bisque or feel a gumbo don't know what that stuff is it's Cajun cooking it is I always wondered what feel a gumbo had to do with love in the hot afternoon to do with the setting of Islam gene what was the follow-up record to love in the hot afternoon Hong Kong where love begins where does love begin who knows that now I'll just I'll answer that with a question well you know where love begins well I guess it's when you after you've met someone you begin to notice that when they're not around you miss him I guess that'll do you're not gonna get an argument out of me how's miss Maddie she's just doing great that's your love down in Texas yes that's my dear why for 23 years she when did you first notice that you love Maddie Oh Lord sometimes I wonder how long did you date before you got married we more or less grew up together Ralph really yeah we're from the same town and and we knew each other ever since childhood in fact we were children whom we got married she was 15 I was 17 and it just seemed like every time I'd have a fight with one of my other girlfriends I you know go tell her about it you know I guess maybe she was a better listener but uh I don't really know did you have a hard time talking her parents into letting her marry you since she was only 15 well her father of course was deceased and and her mother thanks tit and I thank the Lord for this she thinks that I'm one of the greatest people in the world well that helps yeah and I know there was there was no problems with it I think everybody you know kind of wondered well this ought to last about a month and then blow apart you know but it didn't go out that way I mean we we've kind of raised each other you might say how many children do you have I've got a daughter 22 and I've got a son 19 are they married my daughter is just gotten married here about a month ago would you have let her get married at 15 well I don't know I don't know about that now you know shoe on the other foot yeah it is it's it's sort of one of those deals like you pay for you raising you know what I mean and then I don't I don't know I noticed you sort of backed off on that gene Watson is a man who told us earlier that he never intended to be a full-time country music entertainer he was happy to be a weekend warrior and work in the body shop all week working on cars gene when you finally decided to give up the garage and work on the cars what caused what what determined what made you decide I think the main thing Ralph what will it stunned me I was completely overwhelmed and and I thought to myself and believe me I done a lot of thinking about it I thought well you know here is an opportunity I have that so many people have worked years for you know with this in mind and here I didn't necessarily have it as one of my goals and it's happened to me and I decided to give it everything I had because I had you know I knew it was golden opportunity but I knew that it wouldn't take me to awful long to know whether it would work or not or I did love in the hot afternoon cause you to make the move that's the song that caused me to make too much all right now you did you have did you have much money oh I didn't have any money I had a 8/5 job I was assistant body shop manager of a Lincoln Mercury dealership in Houston once mom much money will you make it oh I think about at the time I gave it up I think I was making about 1,200 a month all right now when you go when you decide to go out on the road that's expensive you gotta pay Motel bills yes and I know gravel and I know that a lot of people that have going on the road in mind this is something that never crosses their mind because it never crossed my mind I never thought about the expense involved but you know you can't just jump out there in the old car that you run back and forth to work in if you have in mind to put a band together you don't have in mind all those salaries you don't have in mind that you're gonna be playing places will say you've got one hit record what are you gonna do for the rest of that night for songs to sing you got to sing other people's songs and every time they they say well you're going to be somewhere they're gonna say gene whoo don't nobody know who you are from one record they know they know the song they know that song and thought there's so many maybe it's a hard word to say but there's so many pitfalls starting out in this business that you don't think about when you first go into it but I'll guarantee there's a lot of pennies to be raked and scraped and handled in the right direction before you go on the road did you ever borrow money in order to launch your career uh yeah me in the bank we had you know a few deals going you worked initially without a band right right I started out I worked for the first two years without a band and I put my band together slowly but surely or one or two pieces I know one or two pieces here and one or two pieces there and and actually I would I would add to my band before I could really afford it there's a lot of nights that I've worked that that the band would make more than I did really that's the truth and I believe Union rules say that you have to pay for their hotel accommodations you have to pay for their travel and you pay them and then yet family fee or salary are supposed to pay play Union scale and of course you know when you're first starting out there's a lot of ways that you can get around this because a lot of times if your band members are devotee didn't think that much of you you know they'll work deals with yummy you can you can pay them like a minimum salary and all like that but still when you're first starting out you don't jump out there and start booking for know five thousand dollars a night watson we've been talking about making the transition from part-time country singer to full-time country singer and the expense involved I'm just kind of curious and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but today you finally put it all together you're you are recognizable you have people know who gene Watson is you have a band you have a bus but what do you have to spend a week to stay out there keep all that together you have any idea I couldn't put a figure on it or a year agent I imagine Larry could tell you better than I could would you estimate it Larry a year in a year's time in a year's time $400,000 is what he says that's almost a half a million dollars well that'll give you some kind of idea that's just in expenses and the reason I referred to Larry was not too long ago Larry was my bandleader road manager frontman bass man the whole works he kept books on the road and so that that should be a pretty accurate figure and you make a living spending four hundred thousand trying to make a living you know Ralph people come up and say how does it feel to have it made you know what do you mean have it made there's a lot of money goes through my hands but you'd be surprised miss Mattie is the only one in my household it gets a check and if you think that it's easy to get rich in this business check with her she can enlighten you then you have to have spend money on publicity yeah those eight-by-tens aren't cheap that's some other things you don't think about when you go into this business full time do you sell t-shirts and that sort of thing too we sell caps t-shirts albums and you hope they'll sell you got to buy them you got to buy them first I'll guarantee you you got to have something to buy them with and a lot of times you go over to the guy that you get them from and hope he'll give you 30 days on them you know and also a deal really that's telling it like it is Ponty title another funny title Cowboys don't get lucky all the time was a funny song I thought this was one of the funniest titles I have ever heard you're out there doing what I'm here doing without where'd you get this song that song was written by a boy that used to play lead guitar for me in my band by the name of Bo Roberts and Allan Frisell was a co-writer only two or they were co-writers on the song but he played the song first for me we were getting ready to do a job out at Opryland and he all he just he's he's one of them kind any when he jumped up on the bus said you got to hear this song man and he played it and I told him I then I'd cut it and we got robbed on the song it went to number two in the nation it should have been a number one song what was number one what kept you out your love is on the fault line by a crystal jail right well number two ain't bad Jean let's go for it Jane you George Jones fan there's a is that a dumb question we just well I thank everybody yes but we just got through with the tour with George and in fact in Bristol Tennessee when I leave Nashville we're going right straight to Bristol to play show with George and I must say that he's fantastic he's better than I've ever heard him he's he's that I just said it he's fantastic I think the world of him and believe it or not Ralph this song that we're about to play I got the guys on stage we got set up early one day to do a show and we rehearsed this song because I was getting ready to record it and it wasn't two days later and George had you know I heard that he was coming out with it it's an old Leon Payne song it really is a fantastic song old country song called you've still got a place in my heart by the way gene have you been booked down in George's new Country Music Park in Texas yes I have I was one of the earlier acts to play there when they were just getting rolling before they closed after the first season it was it was a fantastic date I think it's a I think it's a great place to play where is it exactly I guess the closest place in Woodville Texas is where it's at but I guess the closest place it would be to recognizable to most people who travel would be Nacogdoches run off of Highway 59 u.s. 59 is this an outdoor situation yes it is and it's a fine facility of course the stage is covered and everything they have outdoor seating and all like that so naturally it's seasonal but it's a fantastic place to play you can take the kids and everything and just let them have a good time and all like that and really enjoy yourself how how many people were hold Oh Laura seating at me I'd be afraid to say something that large it's hard to say I'd say he could probably seat of course they have the bench type seats set up outdoors and I'd be safe inside he could see probably 10 15 thousand if he wanted to and of course all the standing room in the world is this a multi-purpose park and is there anything else for them to do well there's I think they've got yeah joy rides for the kids they have all types of refreshments and things like that so it's a it's a thing that you can go out and spend the weekend you know and have a good time what is the name of the park George don't country I believe and it's a new enterprise it's George's second country music park he used to own one in Florida because I worked that one and that's back in the days when he was married to Tammy Wynette of course George has been married now to a very pretty lady named Nancy Jones and she's been very good for him I think she has this occurred last night on my Nashville now television show which I did with Ricky Skaggs and Bill Monroe and the subject of George Jones came up because Bill Monroe loves George Jones and he's playing some dates with him this year and we've been talking about it and I said to Bill you love possible he said no I said no I mean George Jones and he cracked everybody up I wasn't asking Bill Monroe if he loved to eat possum same thing Ricky said there'll be no pressed possum for mr. Monroe [Laughter] gene Watson got hooked up at one time with a Canadian songwriter helped me gene by the name of Alice harms and he wrote several good songs for you didn't he he did Dallas is a fantastic writer he he wrote this next song we're about to play and and I asked him I'm not too much on follow-up songs or anything like that but I asked him could he write me a follow-up song for this which it wasn't released as a single but it was still a fantastic song what was that it was a song called mama sold roses that was the follow-up song that is a in one of your album that's in one of the albums yes how do how do you envision paper roses she like-a a bag lady in New York that we hear about she's just a poor lady on the street well I'm from Texas you know and I've played those places you know where you dodge the beer bottles and all like that and there's not as much of it now as there used to be but used to you would have ladies come in you know with a with a display of different flowers and all like that and sell to the people you know in the places where I'd be working this is things that I've seen myself you mean in nightclubs right and that's how I that's how I vision this story as a lady coming in you know I respect a person that'll make a living if there's a living out there to be made and a lot of people made their living this way selling roses and flowers and things like that well the ones that you have known were they elderly or usually they were and there was their only way to survive I suppose that and maybe a little pension or a little social security right and I've seen it raft where like an elderly lady would come in and sell the roses and and she might have like a couple of daughters or our such wither you know and they would come in a place they wouldn't irritate you they wouldn't get on your nerves you know they just pass through and if you wanted to buy a flower well fine and the club owner didn't object usually not well I'm with you I am with you I I can appreciate anybody that tries to survive it tries to hustle that sort of thing I respect anybody like that let's talk about the song drinking my way back home and if you don't mind I'd like to put it all on the table okay just put it on the table this song has been a problem for you asthma the first song that I've ever released it was a problem for me Ralph and I hate to say it but because there was there was no offense intended in any way with this song I recorded the song because I thought it was a a good song for the beat whatever you know however a person wanted to take it but undoubtedly some folks took it the wrong way all right what what developed after the song was released and I'm I am let me tell you this song went all the way to number 10 in the nation it did it was a really hot song it was moving fast and fast it was in fact it was one of our faster moving records that we released some people try to say that it was because it was released too close to the holidays I don't believe that when was it released it was released in I believe the early part of December that's not the part of the controversy I'm talking about okay I was gonna get to that this was the part that I think some people might have passed the buck owned because there was an organization of course known by a lot of people by the Mothers Against Drunk drivers that didn't feel that the song was the right kind of song to be played on the air so they got I believe your organization is called mad right and they got to to given the radio stations trouble and of course as a result in a way forcing them to pull the record from the playlist okay they objected because they felt this promoted drinking and dry okay now I would like to have your response to that it's it's kinda it's kind of touching go Ralph I'm not a drinker I don't drank myself and the record does not say that I was drinking and driving it does say that I was drinking and drinking my way back home you know I guess that any way you interpreted can can you know can go any way you want it to go but anyway they took it like I was jumping in a car and gonna drink all the way back home you know and and I really didn't think about that when I recorded the song all right I think everybody should have their side I do too and I'm on their side I don't condone drinking and driving I really don't it's it's a terrible thing and like I say I didn't have that in mind when I recorded the song I'm sorry a lot of people took it that way and more than that I'm sorry that it killed my record at 10 because it I think you could very possibly have been a number one song gene Watson we have played paper Rosie in this show and now we're going to play another giant record farewell party I get the impression that this is your most popular song it is by far fact it's the it's the band name now and I've I've never gotten any more requests for any single song since I've been in the business than this and I've also never heard as many people talk about how it makes them cry and how sad it makes them you know I guess misery loves company goes along with that because everybody even though it makes them cry they want to hear the song is this is this your natural show closer when you're working it is that's our final song of the night and I imagine when you and you roll into this people just come unglued they know from the first note on the steel guitar what the song is I guess it's the song I'm most known for now after you sing this do you do you leave the stage well or do you encore I usually just saw it would cause them to applaud enough that you they would bring you back you come back yes I do any time any time where the show permits a lot of times we work a lot of big auditoriums Civic Center's and such where time is such a major factor that we do not pre plan an encore and I've heard of people that do you know so they'll chop their show a little bit early you know providing time for an encore we don't I give them every minute I can as long as I can as hard as I can go and when I get through with farewell party I make my exit of course if they do bring me back it tickles me and I must say I've had more standing ovations from farewell party than any song I've been tried to even say I am a fan of gene Watson I like love in the hot afternoon and like paper Rosie a love farewell party I mean in this particular show I happen to be playing three of my favorite songs this is the third one Cowboys don't get lucky all the time I call that the most truthful song I ever recorded you know the first time you laid this one on me was on our show called popular country and when you first rolled into it I thought hey this is gonna be a dirty song I thought oh we're in trouble it turned out to be one of the cutest songs I have ever heard in my life I can't imagine Ralph how a Canadian could write a song that would fit so many people as well as that song did are particularly about Cowboys yeah that that you know how guys get together and like to talk this and everything and man and mostly I get about they're on quest of women I guess maybe us Texans are known best for this I often wondered how Canadian could hit so many Texans right in the face with this song hey I think men are the same all over the world I found out today basically okay now I'm just following your schedule you took the bus out of Ohio where were you know hyoh Missouri City don't think I knew they had one Missouri City oh now Jefferson say Jefferson City Ohio Missouri City down close to where I live yeah Jefferson City issue you sure you weren't in Jefferson City Missouri Missouri so where I was okay where were you in Ohio no I was in Jefferson City Missouri I find you can get it this however you want to know I'm not gonna edit a thing I know it not was Jefferson City Ohio I'm sorry Missouri well which was it if I wasn't confused I am it was Jefferson City Missouri okay shall I turn around and ask your manager yeah that's where it well that's funny because and I and I can understand this you do so many shows and they all begin to run together they do you know you know how many television shows I do really and people will say well the day before yesterday who was on with you and I'll have to stop and think well who eyes are with me well I'll tell you Ralph it's kind of different with me I don't I don't usually even look at an itinerary they usually make plane reservations for me and I usually fly into the first job of the turret and ride the bus the rest of the way but even when I do ride the bus I'm usually back there in my room or not watching where I'm going and I don't know from one job to the next where I'm gonna be usually just you know wherever they take me that's where I mean I do know we're leaving here I got to catch a one o'clock plane fly to Bristol and play tonight Bristol Tennessee right before you became a star and country music and I know we've talked about this I know how you feel about that voice okay but did you go to other people's shows not that much because even back then Ralph I was usually working you know as a weekend warrior you know what I mean playing night clubs here and there first one thing in another and and I didn't I didn't have a chance to see that many of them the ones I could see I usually tried to go to well you work in the body shop all week during the day and then play usually every weekend that was a so you were working seven days a week weren't you yeah yeah was it always in the back of your mind to leave the garage and eventually pursue country music full-time it was never in my mind being an entertainer never crossed my mind as far as a career because I always figured singing was something I was gonna be doing anyway and believe it or not I loved you know to go out on weekends and play and entertain the people and I didn't make that much money you know yourself that you didn't make that much money playing in these small clubs and all like that but you know a lot of places you got you know you got your beer and you got to have a good time and there's nothing that I enjoy any more than singing so this is what what was a hobby became a full-time profession boy it did

Channel: emerysmemories

Views: 44,184

Rating: 4.9096045 out of 5

Keywords: Country Music

Id: NzdJx4LMgAE

Length: 25min 33sec (1533 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 27 2017