The Music of Waylon Jennings [Box]

Performer: Waylon Jennings
Producer: Chet Atkins; Chips Moman; Jerry Bridges; Gary Scruggs; Don Cartee; Brent Cartee; Jack Clement; Al Cartee; Ray Pennington; Richie Albright; Ron Haffkine; Ronny Light; Waylon Jennings; Willie Nelson; Billy Sherrill; Blake Chancey; Ken Mansfield; Gregg Geller (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Liner Note Authors: Sylvie Simmons; Sylvie Simons. Photographers: David Redferns; Michael Ochs; Michael Putland; David Redfern; Stephanie Chernikowski; Michael Ochs. The Music of Waylon Jennings is part of a new Legacy series that essentially packages three career-spanning discs into a semi-long box package containing 45 tracks with a booklet that features a biographical essay and complete track information. This one divides up easily into three categories, with a disc each dedicated to "the singer," "the songwriter," and the collaborator," and Jennings broke ground in all three areas during his career. Disc one is "the singer" chapter and includes music from his groundbreaking RCA period in which he issued a slew of charting country singles. These tracks include his signature reading of Steve Young's "Lonesome On'ry and Mean," "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)," "The Taker," and "Ain;t Living Long Like This." Disc two showcases the aspect few people really take into account when regarding Jennings, and that is as a songwriter. Some of these tunes, such as "Are Your Sure Hank Done It This Way?" crossed over onto the pop charts as they connected with rock & roll audiences as well as country fans. Other Jennings' classics here include "I've Always Been Crazy," "This Time," "Waymore's Blues," and of course, "Good Ol' Boys," the theme from the television series Dukes of Hazzard. Disc three covers the collaborations Jennings recorded with RCA and Columbia. There are tacks with the Highwaymen that also included Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. The tracks on this third CD are mostly stone classics, such as his duets with Nelson on "Good Hearted Woman," "Luckenbach, Texas," and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys"; and those with his wife Jessi Colter: the medley of "Wild Side of Life/It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," and the gorgeous "Storms Never Last." In all, while this isn't a complete portrait of the enigmatic Jennings, it certainly is a well-rounded one. ~ 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.

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