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Friday, December 02, 2005

O.O. -- Original Outlaw...bitches!

Now, I'm no fan of Country music by any stretch of the imagination, I was raised on good ol' fashioned Rock and Roll, but I do occasionally partake in some old school "Outlaw" country such as Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, Willie Nelson, and of course the Original Outlaw himself...Waylon Jennings.

A great primer for any new listener and a good collection of Waylon's biggest hits is Waylon Jennings Greatest Hits Vol. 1. The US release only has 9 tracks but the UK release included the addition of two extra tracks, Ladies Love Outlaws and Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line. These cuts capture Waylon Jennings in the first flush of his status as a country music superstar, after he gained control of his music in the early '70s. When he began to produce or coproduce his own records, it should be stressed, his music didn't change much--his "Good Hearted Woman" from 1972 (to cite the only pre-Outlaw cut here) is of a piece with later hits like "Honky Tonk Heroes" and "Luckenbach, Texas," from their ramblin'-man themes to Waylon's booming baritone and his music's burping bass lines. What was different was the rock-influenced Outlaw ad copy pushing his career, a rebellious new image he cultivated in country chart-toppers like "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," a duet with Willie Nelson. That new frame made all the difference. Jennings had always been great but now, on eight of the nine tracks here, his singles went all the way to the top of the charts.

4 Comments:

Blogger zencomix said...

Saturday mornings, 6 to 9 mountain time, KGNU in Boulder CO does a good ol' country show called "Honky Tonk Heroes"

2:09 PM

 
Blogger McBoozo the Clown said...

Thanx Zen, as always a great suggestion from ya! I'll have to check it out, though it's pretty damn early for me. I'm not much of a morning person.

2:12 PM

 
Blogger rafterq said...

Bro...Nice post, sorry I missed it. Very hard to find this on digital...I can't even buy MP3 version on Amazon! Any way you could repost and take me back to the good ole days?? Thanks.

1:09 PM

 
Blogger McBoozo the Clown said...

Here you go...

http://rapidshare.com/files/97752464/wj.rar

No pw needed.

11:39 AM

 

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