| The Taker/Tulsa | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 1969 – 1970 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 29:14 | |||
| Label | RCA Nashville | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
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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.
The Taker/Tulsa is notable for featuring four compositions by Kris Kristofferson, who had emerged as a beacon for songwriters who wanted to bring a new poetic realism to country music. Jennings, who had bristled when RCA producers told him what songs to record, began demanding more control over his records on all fronts, and began recording songs by newer songwriters like Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein, and Mickey Newbury. Jennings was particularly taken with the Kristofferson ballad "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" but was stymied by RCA's recording policies, recalling in the audio version of his autobiography Waylon:
Although Jennings continued working with RCA producers like Danny Davis, his records began sounding less and less like his early work with the label. In his book Outlaws: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, author Michael Striessguth writes, "Most important, Waylon appeared to have found his voice. Whether Davis had anything to do with that or not, the Davis-produced tracks showcase deeply riveting vocals amid bold instrumentation on starkly realistic songs, many of which appeared on The Taker/Tulsa..."
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Taker" | Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein | 2:29 |
| 2. | "You'll Look for Me" | Waylon Jennings | 2:03 |
| 3. | "Mississippi Woman" | Red Lane | 2:56 |
| 4. | "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)" | Kristofferson | 3:06 |
| 5. | "Six White Horses" | Bobby Bond | 2:42 |
| 6. | "(Don't Let the Sun Set on You) Tulsa" | Wayne Carson Thompson | 3:08 |
| 7. | "Casey's Last Ride" | Kristofferson | 4:01 |
| 8. | "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" | Don Gibson | 2:21 |
| 9. | "Sunday Morning Comin' Down" | Kristofferson | 3:54 |
| 10. | "Grey Eyes You Know" | Harlan Howard, Gene Myers | 2:34 |
Kristoffer Kristofferson is an American retired country singer, songwriter, and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night", all of which were hits for other artists.
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, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and David Allan Coe were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. was an American singer-songwriter and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Highwayman is the first studio album released by country supergroup The Highwaymen, comprising Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Highwayman, released through Columbia Records in 1985, was the group's first and most successful album.
The Silver Tongued Devil and I is the second studio album recorded by singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. It was produced by Fred Foster, released in July 1971 on Monument Records and followed his critically acclaimed debut Kristofferson.
Highwayman 2 is the second studio album released by American country supergroup The Highwaymen. This album was released in 1990 on the Columbia Records label. Johnny Cash had left Columbia several years earlier, making this a "homecoming", and ultimately his final work for Columbia as the next Highwaymen album would be issued on another label.
Cedartown, Georgia is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1971 on RCA Nashville.
Surreal Thing is the seventh solo album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1976 on Monument Records. "Killing Time" and "The Golden Idol" are re-recordings of songs that were originally released as a single in 1967.
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.
Good Hearted Woman is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1972 on RCA Nashville.
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. Photographer Mick Rock shot the album's cover.
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 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.
Waylon Live is a live album by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1976.
Nashville Rebel is a box set by Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Nashville through Legacy Recordings in 2006. According to Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, it is "the first comprehensive, multi-label Waylon Jennings retrospective ever assembled," comprising ninety-two songs recorded between 1958 and 1994, with selections from the majority of the singer's recording career. The first track of the box set is the Buddy Holly-produced "Jole Blon," released in 1958, while the last is "I Do Believe," a song produced by Don Was that was included on The Highwaymen's 1995 release, The Road Goes on Forever. The other material on the box set covers Jennings' career chronologically, with songs ranging from his years on RCA's roster to later compositions from his short-lived stay at Epic Records; it ignores, however, the tracks from Jennings albums released on independent labels. The majority of the singer's charting singles are included in the package, as are collaborations such as "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" with Willie Nelson and "Highwayman" with The Highwaymen. A notable addition is the previously unreleased "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All," a 1978 duet with Johnny Cash which was later recorded by Cash alone for A Believer Sings the Truth (1979) and The Mystery of Life (1991); two others, "It's Sure Been Fun" and "People in Dallas Got Hair," had never been released in the United States. Nashville Rebel was released on four CDs, with a 140-page booklet and liner notes by Rich Kienzle and Lenny Kaye.
I've Got Something to Say is an album released by country musician David Allan Coe. It was released in 1980 on Columbia. Guy Clark, Bill Anderson, Dickey Betts, Kris Kristofferson, Larry Jon Wilson, and George Jones are all featured on this album.
"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.
