Along with Willie NELSON, Waylon Jennings has been one of the principal figures of country music’s “outlaw” movement of the 1970s, an uprising that challenged the authority of Nashville’s corporate power structure and its bland, string-heavy pop tendencies, and redirected country music towards a rougher sound. Born Wayland Arnold Jennings in June 1937, in Littlefield, Texas, he was a DJ by the age of 12 on KDOV, a radio station, and put together his first band soon afterwards. At 17 he moved to Lubbock, where he was hired to host radio station KILL’s Sunday Dance party. There, Jennings met the young Buddy HOLLY, and their friendship spawned a professional partnership. Jennings began playing bass for Holly in 1958, and Holly played on and produced Jennings’ debut single “Jole Blon” for Brunswick Records. They also co-wrote “You’re the One,” a song Holly recorded as a demo before his death. Jennings was supposed to be on the flight that killed Holly in February 1959, but gave up his seat to Holly at the last minute.
Jennings moved to Phoenix after Holly’s death, formed a folk country band called the Waylors, and established himself at a nightclub called JD’s. He signed with A&M Records in 1964, but the resulting recordings were far slicker than Jennings liked, so he switched to RCA in 1965. His RCA recordings were largely mainstream country, and brought Jennings a hit with his own version of “MacArthur Park” (1969). His records sold in respectable numbers, but Jennings felt that the sterility of the Nashville corporate studio, along with the hired-hand nature of session players, robbed his music of its rough-hewn emotional content.
Weary from battling unhappily against the Nashville machine, Jennings appealed to RCA’s management in New York to allow him to determine how his records would be produced. Jennings’ first two albums under this deal, 1972’s Ladies Love Outlaws and 1973’s Honky Tonk Heroes, captured the rebellious, rock-influenced sound Jennings had always strived for, and presented him as a compelling new presence in country music. Jennings’ songs were a breath of fresh air and dared to explore such unfashionable themes as self-doubt, aging, and alienation.
A two-sided hit single in 1974, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?”/”Bob Wills Is Still the King,” and the 1976 smash album Wanted: The Outlaws (with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jennings’ wife, Jessi Colter) turned Jennings and the other “outlaws” into media celebrities. The album was the first country album to go platinum officially and Ol’ Waylon (1977) was the first platinum record by a solo country artist. From Ol’ Waylon came the chart-topping single “Luckenbach, Texas.” Other single successes, such as “I’ve Always Been Crazy” (1978), “Good Hearted Woman,” and “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” (both 1978 with Willie Nelson), consolidated his position as one of the foremost country performers.
In 1980, Waylon asked the musical question, “Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand?” Apparently it had, as it signalled the end of Jennings’ greatest success. However, in 1985, he released the concept album Highwaymen with Nelson, Johnny CASH, and Kris KRISTOFFERSON, and despite heart surgery in 1988, he returned to recording with The Eagle (199O)—the title tune becoming the unofficial anthem for U.S. troops in the Gulf War’s Operation Desert Storm. He released Highwayman 2 in 1990.
Jennings wrote and performed, but to a lesser degree. There may have been many other more rebellious figures in popular music over the years, but the “outlaw” Jennings shook the foundations of country music, and ushered in a vein of gritty, honest songs connecting with the realities of daily life.
Greg Bower
SEE ALSO:
CHARTS; COUNTRY; NASHVILLE SOUND/NEW COUNTRY.
FURTHER READING
Jennings, Waylon, with Lenny Kaye. Waylon: An Autobiography (New York: Warner Books, 1996);
Smith, John L. The Waylon Jennings Discography (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line: The RCA Years; Waylon Jennings’ Greatest Hits.