I've Always Been Crazy: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings

Performer: Various Artists
Engineer: Bob Rock; Jeff Watkins; John McBride; Gary Paczosa; Greg Droman; Greg Kane; James Hetfield; James Michael; Mike Poole; Paul Mahern; Ryan Williams; Sally Browder; Steve Tillisch; Todd Burke; Barny Robertson; Billy Sherrill; Bob Campbell-Smith
Producer: Bob Rock; Deana Carter; Greg Droman; James Hetfield; John Mellencamp; Kenny Chesney; Kid Rock; Kix Brooks; Alison Krauss; Mike Poole; Mike Wanchic; Norro Wilson; Andy Griggs; Pete Anderson; Pinmonkey; Ronnie Dunn; Ryan Williams; Travis Tritt; Barny Robertson; Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals; Buddy Cannon
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: Includes liner notes by Chet Flippo. Digitally remastered using HDCD technology. Personnel: Chad Jeffers (vocals, dobro, banjo); Rick Schell (vocals, drums, tambourine); Michael Reynolds, Kid Rock, Waylon Jennings (vocals); Nicky P., Mike Wanchic, Travis Tritt (guitar, background vocals); John Mellencamp, Kenny Vaughn, Marty Stuart, Kevin Sciou, Brent Wilson (guitar); Bob Britt (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Deana Carter (acoustic guitar, keyboards); Dwight Yoakam, Michael Spriggs, Andy Griggs, Ron Block, B. James Lowry, Rance Wasson (acoustic guitar); James Michael (electric guitar, keyboards); Pete Anderson (electric guitar, percussion); Jeff Carter, Kenny Greenberg, Pat Buchanan, Reggie Young , Brent Mason (electric guitar); Andy York (slide guitar, background vocals); Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals (slide guitar); Dan Dugmore, Jim Gairrett, Chad J. Udeen, Robby Turner (steel guitar); Jerry Douglas (lap steel guitar, dobro); Patrick Brayer (mandolin, fiddle); Megan Weeder (fiddle); Jonathan Yudkin (strings); Jelly Roll Johnson (harmonica); Barny Robertson, Gary "Bud" Smith , Steve Nathan (piano); Michael Webb (electric piano); Butch Sunderland (organ, background vocals); Mike Boito, Skip Edwards, Jim "Moose" Brown, Tim Hensley, Bobby Wood (keyboards); Barry Bales (acoustic bass); Dane Clark (drums, percussion); Don Heffington, Richard Albright, Greg Morrow, Larry Atamanuik, Lonnie Wilson, Oliver Charles, Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken, Leon Mobley (percussion); John Wesley Ryles, Jonathan Clark, Carter Robertson (background vocals). Audio Mixers: Bob Rock; Chuck Ainlay; Jeff Watkins; John McBride; Gary Paczosa; Greg Droman; Greg Kane; James Hetfield; James Michael; Jeff Balding; Judy Clapp; Kevin Beamish; Mike Poole; Paul Mahern; Ryan Williams; Todd Burke; Bob Campbell-Smith. Liner Note Author: Chet Flippo. Recording information: Belmont Mall, Nashville, TN; Blackbird Studio; Capitol Studios B; Dark Horse Recording; Emerald Sound Studios; Emerald Studios, Nashville, TN; Emerald's The Tracking Room; House Of Gain; HQ Northern California; Little Big Guy Music, Los Angeles, CA; Pulse Studios; River Row Studios; Seventeen Grand, Nashville, TN; Sound City; Sound Kitchen; The Dogbone Studio, Burbank, CA; The MOney Pit; Track Ken Studios, Hollywood, CA. Arranger: Pete Anderson. The second of two high-profile tribute albums to the great Waylon Jennings, RCA's I've Always Been Crazy: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings is the splashier of the two, featuring a cavalcade of superstars as well as cuts by Waylon's widow, Jessi Colter, and the man himself. It's also the better of the two, partially for the reasons above, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the album works. Again, part of the problem of paying tribute to a larger-than-life figure like Waylon is that it's too easy to get clouded over by his large shadow. After all, this is a singer who frequently took other people's songs -- Steve Young's "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," Neil Young's "Are You Ready for the Country," Rodney Crowell's "I Ain't Living Long Like This," Ed Bruce's "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," any number of Billy Joe Shaver songs -- and didn't just make it seem as if he owned the tunes, but as if they were pulled from his own life. Given that powerful presence, it's hard for other artists to come along and make the songs their own, so it's little surprise that there are some singers on this tribute that don't even bother to try, such as Travis Tritt, who mimics Waylon on "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," and winds up all the better for it. Certainly, that's more effective than the well-intentioned but misguided version of "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" by Deana Carter and Sara Evans; in the hands of two female singers, the theme of the song is changed slightly, which isn't the problem -- it's that the light, overly fussy arrangement doesn't tap into the underlying melancholy of the song, turning it into pleasant radio fodder that has little to do with cowboys, smoky old poolrooms, or clear mountain mornings. Fortunately, missteps like that are rare -- although hard rock revampings of "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand" by Metallica's James Hetfield and "Are You Ready for the Country" by Pinmonkey both stumble -- and the rest of the record is well-done and pretty entertaining. John Mellencamp straightens out "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," playing it as if it was an outtake from The Lonesome Jubilee, there's a cool drunken reading of "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" by Kenny Chesney and Kid Rock, Dwight Yoakam turns in a rollicking, spirited "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)," Alison Krauss turns "You Asked Me To" sweet, Ben Harper's "Waymore's Blues" is nicely, mildly ramshackle, Brooks & Dunn have an energetic "I Ain't Living Long Like This," and Hank Junior mixes things up with "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," removing the riff, slowing it down, and coming up with something that sounds like a good reinvention, similar to how Waylon interpreted songs. It's one track that seems to really capture the spirit of Jennings' best music, and if the rest of the record doesn't live up to that standard, it is far from embarrassing, and often pretty fun. Of course, it can't help but pale compared to Waylon's originals -- something that the poignant closer "The Dream," sung by Jennings himself, hammers home -- but if this tribute makes a few people buy his original recordings, then it can't be all bad. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine This tribute to the late, great outlaw country pioneer Waylon Jennings arrives on the heels of LONESOME, ON'RY & MEAN, a Waylon tribute that featured artists of a less commercial bent like Guy Clark and Robert Earl Keen. Unsurprisingly (seeing as how this one packs more star power via Kenny Chesney, Travis Tritt, Deana Carter, et al), I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY made a bigger sales impact. No stranger to rootsy self-examination, John Mellencamp seems a natural fit for the jauntily introspective "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way." Travis Tritt hews closest to the traditional Waylon sound on "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," but Dwight Yoakam adds a punchy lilt to "Stop the World and Let Me Off." Though Waylon's widow, Jessi Colter, amps up "Storms Never Last," Alison Krauss's version of "You Asked Me To" drops things down to about the same place as the original recording of the former. While it's nice to see that Kid Rock was able to restrain himself from turning his duet with Chesney on "Luckenbach, Texas" into a rap-metal monstrosity, it's equally refreshing to listen to Metallica's James Hetfield turn, "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand," into a raging cow-metal tune. Don't forget, Waylon was always about changing things up, and his legacy is that of bringing rock's rawness into country.

Entertainment Weekly (8/22-29/03, p.132) - "...The outlaw inspires the first great [tribute album] in years..." - Rating: A-

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