| Only the Greatest | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1968 | |||
| Recorded | 28:44 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | Chet Atkins | |||
| Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
| ||||
Only the Greatest is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1968 on RCA Victor. It includes the single "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," which Jennings took to #2 on the country music charts that year.
Only the Greatest was Jennings eighth LP for RCA Victor in four years. Contrary to the title, it is not a "best of" package, although it does contain the singer's first pair of Top 5 country hits: "Walk On Out of My Mind," which rose to #5, and "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line, which peaked at #2. Written by Jimmy Bryant, "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" was released in July 1968 as the second single from Only the Greatest. [1] Billboard , in a review of the album, said that it and "Walk On Out of My Mind" were "typical of the robust, compelling vocal style" that Jennings became known for. [2] Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard, in The New Rolling Stone Album Guide, wrote that Jennings began to "really assert his rough-hewn sensibility" on "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line." [3] The song spent eighteen weeks on the Hot Country Singles charts, peaking at #2 and holding that peak for five weeks.[ citation needed ] In his autobiography Waylon, Jennings recalled of the song, "I waited a damn year to cut that song; Charlie Louvin's bass player had the original version for Capitol [Records]. I didn't want to cover him. I think he outsang me on it, but I had the best track. I knew it had the potential to go all the way, and it might had not 'Harper Valley P.T.A.' kept it out of the number-one slot." [4]
In Canada, the song reached Number One on the RPM Country Tracks charts for the week ending September 30, 1968. [5] Jennings would perform the song as part of a medley on The Johnny Cash Show . Although the single was Jennings' biggest success yet, he was chafing under the constrictions imposed by RCA Victor, and remained frustrated that the strapping sound of his live shows with his backing band the Waylors was not coming across on record with the studio musicians that played on his recordings.
The album primarily relied on other songwriters, including Harlan Howard, Bobby Bare, Jerry Chesnut, Billy Sherrill, and Neil Diamond.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [6] |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" | Ivy Bryant | 2:21 |
| 2. | "California Sunshine" | Harlan Howard | 2:13 |
| 3. | "Weakness in a Man" | Jerry Chesnut | 2:51 |
| 4. | "Sorrow (Breaks a Good Man Down)" | Jackson King, Jimmy Rule | 2:08 |
| 5. | "Christina" | Steve Karliski | 2:14 |
| 6. | "Such a Waste of Love" | Bobby Bare | 2:34 |
| 7. | "Walk On Out of My Mind" | Red Lane | 2:21 |
| 8. | "Kentucky Woman" | Neil Diamond | 2:21 |
| 9. | "Long Gone" | Jerry Reed | 2:31 |
| 10. | "You'll Think of Me" | Hank Cochran | 2:12 |
| 11. | "Wave Goodbye to Me" | King, Don Bowman | 2:04 |
| 12. | "Too Far Gone" | Billy Sherrill | 2:54 |
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as one of the founding pioneers of the Outlaw Movement in country music.
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.
Nashville Rebel is Waylon Jennings' third album for 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, and the title selection of the album is the selection of the same title.
Jewels is an album by American country music singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings, released in 1968 on RCA Victor.
Country-Folk is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings featuring the Kimberlys on vocals. It was released in 1969 on RCA Victor.
Waylon is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Victor.
The Best of Waylon Jennings is a compilation album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Nashville.
Good Hearted Woman is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1972 on RCA Nashville.
Honky Tonk Heroes is a country music album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. With the exception of "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 an 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.
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 Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, between February and July 1974.
Waylon & Willie is a duet album by 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.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1979 by RCA Records.
Ol' Waylon is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, 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.
It's Only Rock & Roll is an album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1983.
A Country Star Is Born is the debut studio album by American country music artist, Jessi Colter. The album was released April 1970 off of RCA Victor, and was produced by Chet Atkins and Waylon Jennings.
"Lovin' Her Was Easier " is a song written, composed, first recorded, and first released by Kris Kristofferson. It was also recorded and released by Roger Miller, who included it on his album The Best of Roger Miller and released it as a single in July 1971. Ten years later, it was recorded by Tompall & the Glaser Brothers for the album Lovin' Her Was Easier.
"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.
"Stop the World " is a song written and originally performed by Carl Belew. It was released as a single first by Belew in January 1958. It was later followed by competing versions by Patsy Cline and Johnnie & Jack. The latter duo's version became the first successful version of the song to be a hit. It was later covered a decade later by Waylon Jennings and then again by Susan Raye in 1974.
only daddy that'll walk the line.
 | This 1960s country music album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
