The Taker/Tulsa

Performer: Waylon Jennings
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: 2 LPs on 1 CD. Originally issued in 1971 and 1973. Two of Waylon Jennings' very best albums, The Taker/Tulsa (1970) and Honky Tonk Heroes (1973), both released by RCA, were combined onto a single compact disc by Mobile Fidelity. This was a great way to pick up these classic albums, but the Mobile Fidelity release has gone out of print. ~ Sean Westergaard Excellent in composition, production, and sequencing, The Taker/Tulsa stands the test of time as the first recording by Waylon Jennings to show what it was he had been crucifying Nash Vegas producers over. The end of his long production relationship with Chet Atkins (as Atkins was moved upstairs), his hostile, barely a year tenure with Atkins pick Danny Davis, a successful run with Lee Hazlewood that the establishment on Music Row disowned because it wasn't homegrown, and the final straw with Atkins prot�g� Ronnie Light ultimately led Waylon to hire a new lawyer and manager and begin producing himself. The Taker/Tulsa is chock-full of Kris Kristofferson's songs. Mickey Newbury brought Kristofferson to Jennings' attention a couple of years earlier, but this time out, Jennings decided to theme his recording and showcase Kristofferson's songs. The result -- despite the fact that the record was culled from over two years of work with Davis and Light -- is the first real salvo in the outlaw movement (not Ladies Love Outlaws, which was full of demo sessions and unfinished tracks). Kristofferson's tunes, including "Loving Her Was Easier," "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "Casey's Last Ride," and others, brought Jennings closer than ever to the flame, to the dream of producing his own records with his own band. The Kristofferson tunes stand out, but so does "Tulsa" by Wayne Carson Thompson and Jennings' own "You'll Look for Me." The albums dovetails together like one session and offers a view of what Waylon could issue when he got his way. This is one of Jennings' true classics, and with Lonesome, On'ry and Mean still a year away. It was the first unruly outing by a man who, along with his friends, was about to change everything. ~ Thom Jurek

Texan country singer Waylon Jennings was always a bit of a rocker. Early on, he played bass with Buddy Holly, and his first solo records included Beatles covers, highly unusual for a country artist at the time. Jennings was one of the key figures of the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, rejecting the lush countrypolitan sound in favor of a raw, electrified approach that owed more to the Rolling Stones than to Billy Sherrill. With a small band and simple arrangements, Jennings introduced contemporary rock-oriented grooves into his hard-hitting country sound, adding some funky grit to common-man poetics on tunes about the tougher side of life. He inspired a subsequent generation of country iconoclasts, and spurred on contemporaries like Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5