| Waylon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1970 | |||
| Recorded | February 1967 - October 1969 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Waylon is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Victor.
Waylon is best remembered for the cover of Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," which climbed to #3 on the Billboard country charts, Jennings third Top 5 solo hit. Jennings would perform the song as part of a medley on The Johnny Cash Show . Aside from "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man", none of the other songs on this LP were released as singles. The version of "Yes, Virginia" presented here is different from the one originally issued on The One and Only in 1967. According to Waylon's autobiography, the song "Yellow Haired Woman" was written about Barbara Rood, his third wife. Waylon is also significant for its version of "The Thirty-Third of August," written by Texas songwriter Mickey Newbury, a key figure among a new generation of country songwriters that would contribute to the outlaw country movement in country music, of which Jennings would be a central focus. As Tom Jurek observes in his AllMusic review of the album:
Despite chart success, Jennings had grown frustrated with the Nashville Sound that had been imposed on his records by RCA Victor and especially resented being told what to record. As Joe Nick Patoski notes in his memoir Willie Nelson, "In addition to doing more and more of the songs he wanted to do rather than what the producer chose, Waylon wanted to produce himself and was demanding control of where the records were made, the song selection, and the artwork that decorated the album cover." Relations between Jennings and RCA Victor became increasingly strained during this period.
Waylon also includes a duet with Anita Carter on the Merle Haggard composition "All of Me Belongs to You." Jennings had covered two Haggard songs previously on his 1968 LP Jewels but, as he recounted in his autobiography years later, he became wary of the country star after a card game, recalling, "Merle Haggard and his manager, Fuzzy Owen, got me in a poker game and cleaned me out. I had four or five thousand dollars on me, and they won everything. I think Merle is a great singer and songwriter, and probably he was in as bad a shape as I was, but we've never been close since that night. I can still remember their faces. When I was broke, they said their goodbyes and left. I never forgot that." [2]
Waylon reached #14 on the Billboard country albums chart. AllMusic: "Waylon is an overlooked gem in the transition period of Jennings' career."
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" | Chuck Berry | 2:03 |
| 2. | "Just Across the Way" | Red Lane | 2:39 |
| 3. | "Don't Play the Game" | George Pollock | 2:55 |
| 4. | "Shutting Out the Light" | Woody Starr, Claude Brown | 2:40 |
| 5. | "I May Never Pass This Way Again" | Ray Buzzeo | 2:49 |
| 6. | "The Thirty-Third Of August" | Mickey Newbury | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Yellow Haired Woman" | Waylon Jennings, Lane | 1:51 |
| 8. | "Where Love Has Died" | Jim Owen | 2:16 |
| 9. | "All of Me Belongs to You" (duet with Anita Carter) | Merle Haggard | 2:06 |
| 10. | "Yes, Virginia" | Liz Anderson | 2:37 |
| 11. | "This Time Tomorrow (I'll Be Gone)" | Joe Maphis, Rose Lee Maphis | 1:48 |
Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. was an American singer-songwriter and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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.
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 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.
Only the Greatest is a studio 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.
Jewels is a studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings, released in 1968 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.
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.
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.
Leather and Lace is a duet album by Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, released on RCA Records in 1981.
Ol' Waylon is a studio 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.
I've Always Been Crazy is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1978.
What Goes Around Comes Around is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1979.
Black on Black is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1982.
"Luckenbach, Texas " is a song recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in April 1977 as the first single from the album Ol' Waylon. It was written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons.
Willie Nelson and Family is the twelfth studio album by American country music singer Willie Nelson, released in 1971.
Looks Like Rain is a 1969 concept album by singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. After recording his debut album with RCA, Newbury was dissatisfied with the resulting album and left RCA to pursue a style closer to his tastes. Recorded at Cinderella Sound, as his next two albums would be, the result is widely considered his first real recording and represents a peak in the singer songwriter movement, especially for Nashville. The sound and style of the record would be highly influential during the Outlaw Movement during country music in the 1970s especially on albums by David Allan Coe and Waylon Jennings. Linking the tracks with delicate arrangements and liberal amount of atmosphere, the record contains some of Newbury's most celebrated compositions including "She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye", "33rd of August", "I Don't Think Much About Her No More", and "San Francisco Mabel Joy". AllMusic's review of the album concludes, "Looks Like Rain is so fine, so mysterious in its pace, dimension, quark strangeness and charm, it defies any attempt at strict categorization or criticism; a rare work of genius."
Heaven Help the Child is a 1973 studio album by country singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury. The album was Newbury's third consecutive release recorded at Cinderella Studios. Noted for its dramatic remakes of four previous Newbury songs: "Sweet Memories" and "Good Morning Dear" from Harlequin Melodies, "Sunshine" from Sings His Own, and "San Francisco Mabel Joy" from Looks Like Rain, the album is considered equal among Newbury's acclaimed Looks Like Rain and Frisco Mabel Joy. Apart from its definitive versions of three of Newbury's early songwriting hits, the album is also acclaimed for its title track, with its multi-generational narrative, the haunting "Cortelia Clark", and the bluegrass classic "Why You Been Gone So Long". In his AllMusic review of the LP, Thom Jurek declares, "Newbury, for the third time in as many recording sessions, came up with a record that defies categorization. And for the third time in a row, he had done the impossible, created a masterpiece, a work of perfection."
Ralph Mooney was an American steel guitar player and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, the Strangers.