Classic cars, classic songs

Houston Chronicle:

Up to his elbows in car parts and grease, Gene Watson will sometimes walk out of his Toy Shop when talk turns to music. One of country music's greatest singers, Watson regards the topic warily. He's never lived in Nashville, the epicenter for the kind of music he makes. Dressed casually, he shows no opulent signs of his success. Watson loves songs, and he loves to sing, and people love to hear him sing. Asked to name his favorite singers, country legend Ray Price says, “I have too many to name, but Gene Watson would be right around the top of the list.”

But Watson — who had a lengthy string of hits in the 1970s and '80s including Love in the Hot Afternoon and Farewell Party — describes singing as a byproduct of his being: It's something he'd do even if he weren't a country singer. He's happiest in his auto shop just north of downtown, where he works on cars and trucks at his leisure.

This day, Watson is rebuilding a hot rod with a friend. The shell is white, with a new terra-cotta-colored grille they had to order from New Zealand. Cars and trucks litter the grounds of the Toy Shop. Watson likes to drive around and find deals. He'll drag back his spoils and work on them with a circle of like-minded friends, who are inclined to talk to the mechanic, not the singer.

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Watson still gets on that bus for more than 150 dates a year. His songs haven't been played on mainstream country radio for years but he retains a formidable and dedicated contingent who turn out for his concerts. It's easy to hear why. Watson is one of the last great balladeers in country music, and he's protected his voice admirably. If the arrangements of his songs sometimes give away the era during which they were recorded, his voice never does. His singing is as studied as the great jazz crooners and is identifiably bracing, clear and emotional. On his new album A Taste of the Truth, out Tuesday, he sounds like the Gene Watson who put dozens of songs on the country charts in the '70s and '80s.

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This guy has had some huge hits and he can still sing them. YouTube has several of them and it is worth your time to check them out. While Love in the Hot Afternoon and Farewell Party
are obvious choices, also check out Paper Rosie, and Long Black Veil.

The man can sing. He is also a pretty good mechanic.