Plot
Arlin Grove (Waylon Jennings) has just finished a hitch in the Army and finds he's stranded in the small town of Morgan's Corner after being robbed by drunken rednecks. Grove is taken in by pretty Molly Morgan (Mary Frann) and her father, and it doesn't take long for Molly to become infatuated with the rugged stranger while nursing him back to health.
Arlin and Molly soon marry, and after playing a few songs at a local honky-tonk, Grove becomes a professional musician when he's offered 75 dollars a week for a standing Saturday night gig. Word about Grove begins to spread, and entertainment lawyer Wesley Lang (Gordon Oas-Heim) offers to take over his management and take him to the big time. Lang's paramour Margo (CeCe Whitney) helps give Arlin's act some polish, and before long the singer is knocking 'em dead on the country circuit, and even playing the Grand Ole Opry.
Lang takes it upon himself to break up Arlin and Molly's marriage, convinced it would be better for Grove's career if he were single, and Molly, now expecting a baby, is left heartbroken. Arlin soon finds himself of the other side of Lang's machinations when the manager wrongly suspects his new client is having an affair with Margo; Lang sabotages Grove with a booking at a ritzy supper club, and thinking his career is over, Grove turns to the bottle. An apologetic Margo consoles Arlin, and helps him get back to Molly. (Special thanks to Mark Deming, AMG)
Aftermath
While the film was a modest success, it was the only movie which featured Waylon Jennings as a lead actor. Waylon stated in his autobiography (1994, Warner Books) that his performances were not as good as they could have been, and cautioned fans against seeing the film. Eventually, Waylon stopped playing "Green River" (released as a single by RCA Victor) in his live performances.
Several years later, the film's title became prophetic: Waylon (along with several other country artists) began to openly rebel against Nashville's producer-oriented approach to making records. The film was pulled from television distribution in the mid-1970s, and despite the major surge in Waylon's popularity at that time, Nashville Rebel was neither seen on TV nor was officially released on home video until the mid-1990s re-release.
Ownership
Upon release in 1966, Nashville Rebel was billed as a co-production between Fred A. Niles Productions and Nashville-based Show Biz, Inc., and distributed by American International Pictures. At some point, ownership of the film fell solely into the hands of Show Biz. Unfortunately, the assets of Show Biz lay dormant throughout the mid-1980s until the mid-1990s.
In the early 1990s, the video and film assets of Show Biz, Inc. were purchased from Norman Lear by Willie Nelson, who then created Act IV Productions, its sole purpose being management of the Show Biz library. Not long afterwards, Waylon himself became the owner to the rights of his first feature film.
Casting aside previous disapproval of the film, Jennings himself made the film available on VHS through his "Pony Express" store. In 2004, both Waylon's estate and Bear Family Records released DVDs of the movie. The Bear Family release offers chapter selection and adds the eleven songs found on the 1966 RCA Victor soundtrack LP.
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the outlaw movement in country music.
Johnny Paycheck was an American country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member notable for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It". He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a force in country music's "outlaw movement" popularized by artists Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Merle Haggard. In 1980, Paycheck appeared on the PBS music program Austin City Limits, though in the ensuing decade, his music career slowed due to drug, alcohol, and legal problems. He served a prison sentence in the early 1990s, and his declining health effectively ended his career in early 2000.
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of 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.
Mirriam Johnson, known professionally as Jessi Colter, is an American country singer who is best known for her collaborations with her second husband, country musician Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 crossover hit "I'm Not Lisa".
Nashville Rebel is the third studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in December 1966 via RCA Victor. It reached #4 on the Billboard country albums chart.
Love of the Common People is a 1967 album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor.
Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Victor.
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.
Dreaming My Dreams is the twenty-second studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. The album was co-produced with Jack Clement and recorded at Glaser Sound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, between February and July 1974.
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.
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.
Country Music Concert is a 1966 live album by country singer Willie Nelson.
"Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" is a song written by Jimmy Bryant. Originally recorded by American country music singer Jim Alley, it was made famous by American country music singer and musician Waylon Jennings.
Ralph Eugene Mooney was an American steel guitar player and songwriter, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, The Strangers and Waylon Jennings's band, The Waylors.
Willie Ackerman was a professional American drummer whose career began in 1957 and ended in the 2000s. He performed with Johnny Cash, Louis Armstrong, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, The Monkees, Keith O'Conner Murphy and many other acts. Ackerman was an RCA Studios artist.
Jason Bradley DeFord, known professionally as Jelly Roll, is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter from Antioch, Tennessee. Beginning his career in 2003, he rose to mainstream prominence following the release of his 2022 singles "Son of a Sinner" and "Need a Favor".
Robby Turner is an American pedal steel guitarist, best known for his work with Waylon Jennings and his contributions to recordings by many other artists.
"Bob Wills Is Still the King" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, as a tribute of sorts to the Western swing icon Bob Wills.
Paul Mark Cauthen is an American singer-songwriter from East Texas. He started his music career in an Americana/indie folk rock duo called Sons of Fathers, before turning solo. He has released three albums and an EP as a solo artist, the most recent being Country Coming Down released in April 2022. Cauthen's fourth solo album, Black on Black is set to release on 25 October, 2024.
