| Good Hearted Woman | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1972 | |||
| Recorded | 1969–71 | |||
| Studio | RCA Victor (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 28:54 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Good Hearted Woman | ||||
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Good Hearted Woman is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1972 on RCA Nashville.
Along with Ladies Love Outlaws , released later in 1972, and Lonesome, On'ry and Mean (released early the following year), Good Hearted Woman was responsible for transforming Jennings' image into that of one of the representatives of the outlaw country movement. The LP contains a slew of songs written by like-minded songwriters such as Willie Nelson, Tony Joe White and Kris Kristofferson, whose compositions were pushing the boundaries of the conservative country music establishment. Jennings, who had been frustrated by the assembly line production at RCA for years, became a leading force in what was being called "progressive country" music. In the audio version of his autobiography Waylon, the singer recalls his frustration: "I would think of ideas and before I got a chance to put 'em down - or even hear if they even worked - they'd tell me I was wrong. I'd say, 'What the fuck ya mean, it's wrong?' 'Well, it'll make the record skip, if we put that big drum beat on it. We don't understand that rhythm. We have to smooth it out or we'll never get played on radio.' And the best one was, 'That's not country.' I always hated labels, and they kept trying to stick one on me."
Good Hearted Woman was produced by Ronny Light, who was appointed by Chet Atkins to produce Waylon after Danny Davis left to work with his brass ensemble. In his autobiography, Jennings, who had developed a chip on his shoulder regarding producers, admitted to badgering the young producer during the sessions: "Ronny was young, one of the nicest people in the world, and didn't deserve the misery I put him through. I got more freedom with him as a producer, although I was still using musicians who didn't know what I was about." [2]
The album's most famous song is the title track, which has since become a country classic. In 1969, while staying at the Fort Worther Motel in Fort Worth, Texas, [3] Jennings was inspired to start writing the song when he saw advertising on a newspaper promoting Tina Turner as a "good hearted woman loving a two-timing man", a reference to Ike Turner. [4] Jennings went to talk to Willie Nelson, who was in a middle of a poker game, and told Nelson about his idea. While they kept playing, they expanded the lyrics as Nelson's wife Connie Koepke was writing them down. [3] The extent of Nelson's contribution remains open to question, however. In the authorized Jennings video biography Renegade Outlaw Legend, Nelson admits, "I think he had most of that song written. We were in a poker game and he said, 'Hey, I'm writin' a song,' so we laid out of the poker game for a few hands. I think I gave him a line or two and wound up with half the song." In Michael Striessguth's book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, Jennings guitarist Billy Ray Reynolds insists that Waylon approached him to work on the song around the same time but Reynolds refused, feeling that the song was finished: "The next day or so, he got into a poker game and he did the same thing to Willie. And Waylon even suggested the line that Willie is supposed to have written. It was Waylon's line and Willie said, 'Hey, I like that.' So Willie wound up with half the song and half the publishing. I don't want to make Willie mad at me, but Waylon already had that song written." It soared to #3 on the country singles chart, followed by "Sweet Dream Woman," which reached #7. Jennings also recorded the Nelson composition "It Should Be Easier Now" and the metaphorical Kristofferson's tune "To Beat the Devil." In 2013, author Michael Striessguth wrote that Jennings "painted the song with authenticity that could only come from a childhood in poverty and ten years of hard living on the road; indeed, it was one of the first times anybody could sit back and say, 'Waylon nailed that one.'" Jennings also contributed "Do No Good Woman" to the album.
The original liner notes were written by Willie Nelson and describe the first time Jennings and Nelson met in Phoenix, Arizona. The album was reissued in 1978 by RCA (AYL1-3737) with the same track listing, but different cover art. Nelson's back cover liner notes were not included.
The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard country albums chart. AllMusic: "In sum, Good Hearted Woman is a pretty sensational outing for Jennings; he's feeling his power here, and as the door opened just one more crack, the listener can hear how it never closed again."
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Good Hearted Woman" | Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Same Old Lover Man" | Gordon Lightfoot | 2:48 |
| 3. | "One of My Bad Habits" | Harlan Howard | 2:14 |
| 4. | "Willie and Laura Mae Jones" | Tony Joe White | 2:57 |
| 5. | "It Should Be Easier Now" | Nelson | 3:05 |
| 6. | "Do No Good Woman" | Jennings | 2:11 |
| 7. | "Unsatisfied" | Shirl Milete | 2:50 |
| 8. | "I Knew You'd Be Leavin'" | Billy Ray Reynolds | 2:43 |
| 9. | "Sweet Dream Woman" | Chip Taylor, Al Gordoni | 2:59 |
| 10. | "To Beat the Devil" | Kris Kristofferson | 4:04 |
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of iconoclastic artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Paycheck, and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
The Taker/Tulsa is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1971 on RCA Nashville. The LP rose to #12 on the Billboard country albums chart while the single "The Taker" was a Top 5 hit single.
Heroes is a duet studio by American country music singers Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, released on Columbia Records in 1986.
Repossessed is an album by Kris Kristofferson, released on Mercury Records in 1986. It was Kristofferson's first full-length solo album since 1981's To the Bone, although the singer did collaborate with other artists in the meantime, most notably on Highwayman with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Folk-Country is the major-label debut album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1966 on RCA Victor. It is his first collaboration with producer Chet Atkins.
Leavin' Town is the second studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1966 via RCA Victor. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard country albums chart.
Country-Folk is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings featuring the Kimberlys on vocals. It was released in 1969 on RCA Victor.
Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Victor.
Ladies Love Outlaws is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Nashville in 1972. Together with Jennings' previous album Good Hearted Woman, it marks his transition toward his Outlaw Country image and style. "Ladies Love Outlaws" coined the use of the term "Outlaw" to refer to the country music subgenre, which was developing at the time of its release.
Lonesome, On'ry and Mean is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1973. It was, after Good Hearted Woman and Ladies Love Outlaws, the third in a series of albums which were to establish Jennings as one of the most prominent representatives of the outlaw country movement. Like its successor, Honky Tonk Heroes, the album is considered an important milestone in the history of country music. It represented the first of Jennings' works produced and recorded by himself, following his fight for artistic freedom against the constraints of the Nashville recording establishment.
Honky Tonk Heroes is a country music album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. With the exception of the final track on the album, "We Had It All", all of the songs on the album were written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver. The album is considered an important piece in the development of the outlaw sub-genre in country music as it revived the honky tonk music of Nashville and added elements of rock and roll to it.
This Time is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1974, at the peak of the outlaw country movement. It was produced by Jennings and Willie Nelson.
Wanted! The Outlaws is a compilation album by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser, released by RCA Records in 1976. The album consists of previously released material with four new songs. Released to capitalize on the new outlaw country movement, Wanted! The Outlaws earned its place in music history by becoming the first country album to be platinum-certified, reaching sales of one million.
Waylon & Willie is a duet studio album by American singers Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released by RCA Records in 1978. In the US, it stayed at #1 album on the country album charts for ten weeks and would spend a total of 126 weeks on the country charts.
WWII is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
Waylon Live is a live album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1976.
Ol' Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released on RCA Victor in 1977. It eventually became one of Jennings' highest-selling albums, due in no small part to the phenomenal success of the chart-topping "Luckenbach, Texas ." It was also the singer's fourth solo album in a row to reach the top of the country charts, remaining there for thirteen weeks and becoming country music's first platinum album by any single solo artist.
What Goes Around Comes Around is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1979.
The Words Don't Fit the Picture is the 14th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson.
"Good Hearted Woman" is a song written by American country music singers Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
