Waylon & Willie [Buddha] [Remaster]

Performer: Waylon Jennings
Engineer: Chips Moman; David Cherry
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Personnel includes: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Gordon Payne (acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, background vocals); Rance Wasson (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Reggie Young (eletric guitar); Larry Whitmore, Chips Moman, John Hug, Fred Newell (guitar); Buddy Emmons, Ralph Mooney (steel guitar); Don Brooks (harmonica); Kyle Lehning (trumpet, piano, organ); Dee Moeller (piano, organ); Barny Robertson (organ, keyboards, background vocals); Sherman Hayes, Duke Goff (bass); Richie Albright, Eddy Anderson (drums); Becky Williams, Carter Robertson (background vocals). Producers: Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Chips Moman, Ken Mansfield. Compilation producer: Rob Santos. Recorded at American Studios, Nashville, Tennessee between August 1977 and November 1977. Originally released on RCA (#2686). Includes liner notes by Rich Kienzle. Digitally remastered by Mike Hartry (BMG). Personnel: Waylon Jennings (vocals, guitar, electric guitar); Willie Nelson (vocals, guitar); Gordon Payne (guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Rance Wasson (guitar, acoustic guitar); Reggie Young (guitar, electric guitar); Chips Moman, John Leslie Hug (guitar); Ralph Mooney, Buddy Emmons (steel guitar); Don Brooks (harmonica); Kyle Lehning (trumpet, piano, organ); Dee Moeller, Jessi Colter (piano, organ); Bobby Wood (piano); Barny Robertson, Carter Robertson (organ, keyboards); Bobby Emmons (keyboards); Gene Chrisman (drums, percussion); Ritchie Albright, Eddy Anderson (drums). Liner Note Author: Rich Kienzle. Recording information: American Studios, Nashville, TN (10/16/1973-11/??/1977). Author: Waylon Jennings. Illustrator: Bill K. Myers. Photographer: Charlyn Zlotnik. In 1995, RCA released a truncated eight-track version of 1978's Waylon & Willie as a budget-line release. Since the original album ran 11 tracks and 32 minutes, this was a slim album made slimmer -- a mere 22 minutes, now! -- and the track listing was thrown all out of order, resulting in a jumble. It's a listenable jumble, of course (which is appropriate, since the original album is a bit of a listenable jumble), but the mixed-up, shook-up order and missing songs makes this release absolutely infuriating, especially because the full-length original album -- as well as the fine 2001 Buddha reissue -- were already moderately priced! If you find this particular edition, don't touch it all -- this album is not supposed to be this way. It won't take much effort to find the full-length album, and it won't set you back much more, and unlike this rip-off resequencing, you will get off on the proper record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Waylon & Willie, the first duet album by two of country music's favorite performers, has a little bit of something for everybody, particularly the hit single "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," which solidified this record in fans' hearts. While only five of the tracks are by Jennings and Nelson together, the rest are not without recommendation. The record is not up to their high standards, to be sure, but it's enjoyable listening, nonetheless. ~ James Chrispell Waylon and Willie have always been a natural fit. They both helped pioneer the Outlaw Country move00nt in the '70s, with a raw, rootsy approach with enough grit to appeal to rockers and hardcore honky-tonkers. While both men are superstars in their own right, their collaborations have endeared them to an even larger audience, and this compilation focuses on some of that partnership's key moments. The quirky muse of Kris Kristofferson is tapped for the eccentric state-of-the-world tune "The Year 2003 Minus 25" and "Don't Cuss The Fiddle," and the duo pulls off an admirably understated take on "Dock of the Bay." shine here. Classic beer-swigging jukebox staples like "Good Hearted Woman" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babys Grow Up To Be Cowboys." It sat on the top of the country charts for 11 weeks and went double platinum, making it one of the biggest hits in either Waylon Jennings' or Willie Nelson's catalog. Years after its initial 1978 release, Waylon & Willie remains one of their biggest-selling albums, but its perennial popularity has more to do with their iconic status -- something this album deliberately played up -- than the quality of the music, which is, overall, merely good. Released in early 1978, a few months after Jennings' Ol' Waylon spent 13 weeks on the top of the charts in the summer of 1977, thanks in part to the hit single "Luckenbach, Texas" featuring a chorus sung by Nelson, the album was intended as a celebration of the peak of outlaw, but in retrospect, it looks like where the movement was beginning to slide into predictability, even if both singers are more or less in command of their talents here. Though still at the peak of his popularity, Waylon had begun to slip slightly creatively starting with the very good, but not great, Are You Ready for the Country, which suggested that he was having a little harder time getting a full album of consistently great material together. The patchwork nature of this album suggests that he still had the problem, but since it was divided into three solo songs apiece and five duets, this plays to his strengths, because the limited number of new songs doesn't give him room to stumble. Though a moody cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Gold Dust Woman" is a little awkward, his original "Lookin' for a Feeling" is sturdy, and the album-closing "The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" is brilliant, possibly the best song here, even if the heart of the record -- what the album is selling -- is the four duets with Willie. One of these, of course, is the monster hit "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," with two others -- "The Year 2003 Minus 25" and "Don't Cuss the Fiddle" -- being laid-back, funny Kris Kristofferson songs that showcase Waylon & Willie's roguish humor and charm. The other, "Pick Up the Tempo," is one of Willie's classics, but it, like Nelson's three solo tracks, is a previously released Waylon recording stripped of his vocals and overdubbed by Nelson. This isn't a crippling problem -- the songs are good, as are the performances and the singing, so they're modestly enjoyable -- but they do sound a little distant, and it makes the entire album sound cobbled together: not the deliberate compilation of The Outlaws, but significantly less than a real album from either Waylon or Willie or both of them. Instead, it sounds like a vehicle for them to keep riding their huge popularity. Since it was cut at a time they were making consistently enjoyable music, it's fun, but it could have been much, much more than it is. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine It sat on the top of the country charts for 11 weeks and went double platinum, making it one of the biggest hits in either Waylon Jennings' or Willie Nelson's catalog. Years after its initial 1978 release, Waylon & Willie remains one of their biggest-selling albums. Released in early 1978, a few months after Jennings' Ol' Waylon spent 13 weeks on the top of the charts in the summer of 1977, thanks in part to the hit single "Luckenbach, Texas" featuring a chorus sung by Nelson, the album was intended as a celebration of the peak of outlaw, as both singers are more or less in command of their talents here. Waylon's original "Lookin' for a Feeling" is sturdy and the album-closing "The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" is brilliant, possibly the best song here, even if the heart of the record -- what the album is selling -- is the four duets with Willie. One of these, of course, is the monster hit "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," with two others -- "The Year 2003 Minus 25" and "Don't Cuss the Fiddle" -- being laid-back, funny Kris Kristofferson songs that showcase Waylon & Willie's roguish humor and charm. The other, "Pick Up the Tempo" -- like Willie's three solo tracks, a previously released Waylon recording stripped of his vocals and overdubbed by Nelson -- is one of Willie's classics. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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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