Search - Gene Watson :: Taste of the Truth

A Delicious Taste Watson's True Country

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 08/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: Speaking of an Angel, Staying Together, Use Me Again



When Watson sings "Three minutes at a time I get lost in each song," he is also tacitly voicing what pundits of traditional country will say after hearing these 11 tracks. Offering delicious wallops of tortured stone-cold country ballads, sizzling honky tonk barn burners, and tasty treats of slow romantic waltzes, "Taste of the Truth" will have many salivate for more and more such servings. Under the auspices of helmsman Dirk Johnson, Watson is able to secure 7 new songs coming from Nashville's most prolific scribal community such as Billy Yates, Tim Mensy, Harley Allen, and Rebecca Lynn Howard plus four covers. Avoiding the trite and tried route of tackling often recycled classics, Watson has chosen to cover more obscure tracks such as Merle Haggard's "I Know An Ending," Shelby Lynne and Mark Chesnutt's "Til A Better Memory Comes Along," Tim Mensy's "Wrong Way to Find Mr. Right," and Shawn Camp's "Speaking of an Angel." The latter two are virtually unknown save for the two singer-songwriters' avid fans.



Most anticipated is Watson's duet with current hit maker Trace Adkins "I Got a Pulse." Complimenting Watson's high tenor, Adkins' contrasting base is the perfect blend on the propulsive "I Got a Pulse" in voicing the viability and vitality of traditionalism in the backdrop of today's rock-oriented country market. With a touch of wry humor, Shawn Camp's infectious "Speaking of an Angel" details the mercurial nature of love that bears all of the songwriter's unique phrasings that Watson can't help but imitate from Camp's original. Tim Mensy, one of Watson's favourite writers, gets to pen four cuts here. Best among the quartet of songs is the two-stepper "Three Minutes at a Time," an irresistible ditty that best captures why country music is so addictive in a little over three minutes.



Living up to the album's title, there are some truth-telling paeans that only a courageous veteran like Watson has the guts to handle. Rebecca Lynn Howard's title cut "A Taste of the Truth" is a tortured heartbreaker. While "Staying Together," a duet with Rhonda Vincent, tells the sad story of a couple who no longer love each other, yet they stayed together for their children's sake. Similarly devastating is "Use Me Again," a pensive heart breaking ballad about the victimization of a person to love's entanglements is made even more morose with Alison Krauss' plaintive harmonies. "Til A Better Memory Comes Along," an album track that was both found on Shelby Lynne's and Mark Chesnutt's albums from the 90s, deserves to be dusted and revive again. A slow waltz that features some heart tingling lyrics of hope as well as pain, "Til A Better Memory" would have been a hit in let's say George Strait's hands.



Venerated as one of country music's greatest crooners by Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack and Joe Nichols, Watson again shows with this CD that such encomium is not mere palaver. When it comes to raw emotions and honest-to-life lyrics, "A Taste of the Truth" has spades of them. In short, "A Taste of Truth" is a delicious foretaste even when the truth sometimes means heart break at its bleakest moments.

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CD is very good, but tou promised free shipping and you char

Kenneth P. Houser | 03/03/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gene Watson has a unique voice. He demonstrates his range in this CD. I never get tired of listening to him.

You promised free shipping over $25. You then charged me $9.98. No more purchases from Amazon."