The Essential

by Waylon Jennings

Overview

For Waylon fans who passed on the grand four-CD retrospective from 2006, Nashville Rebel, the good folks at RCA Nashville/Legacy offer this truncated double disc of prime Waylon, spiced with but a tad of non-hit material in the midst of monuments from the quintessential outlaw's storied career. Of the 42 cuts here, only 2 are unavailable on Nashville Rebel -- those being a 1964 Cajun-flavored barnburner, "Big Mamou," from an early live date, and 1978's "A Long Time Ago," a terrific, low-key Jennings/Shel Silverstein-penned autobiographical reflection on a cowboy singer's trials and tribulations as he fights to make his own voice heard. Otherwise the discs chart a chronological journey through Waylon's outlaw artistry, from two thoughtful cuts from his terrific 1965 album, Folk-Country, to his 1987 chart-topper for MCA, "Rose in Paradise." In between are the expected beauties -- "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line"; Willie Nelson's devastating "Pretend I Never Happened"; Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes"; "Luckenbach, Texas"; and a host of Waylon's original masterpieces on the order of "This Time," "Bob Wills Is Still the King," "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," "I've Always Been Crazy," "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand," and of course the classic Waylon/Willie co-writes, "Good Hearted Woman" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." The subtext here is Waylon often taking a dyspeptic look at himself and his fellow outlaws, further indication of the restless artist always looking to take his music in new directions. But that's another story; for a short course a how a dynamic, tradition-rooted vision of country music was fully realized, The Essential Waylon Jennings gets the job done, and then some.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/24/2007
Label:	Rca
UPC:	0886970761529
catalogNumber:	707615
Rank:	6403

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Big Mamou
2. That's the Chance I'll Have to Take
3. Stop the World (And Let Me Off)
4. Anita, You're Dreaming
5. (That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me
6. The Chokin' Kind
7. Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line
8. Just to Satisfy You
9. Cedartown, Georgia
10. The Talker
11. Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
12. Sweet Dream Woman
13. Ladies Love Outlaws
14. Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
15. Freedom to Stay
16. Pretend I Never Happened
17. You Can Have Her
18. We Had It All
19. Honky Tonk Heroes
20. You Ask Me To

Disc 2

1. This Time
2. It's Not Supposed to Be That Way
3. I'm a Ramblin' Man
4. Rainy Day Woman
5. Amanda
6. Bob Wills Is Still the King
7. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
8. Waymore's Blues
9. Dreaming My Dreams with You
10. Good Hearted Woman
11. Are You Ready for the Country
12. Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
13. The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)
14. Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
15. I've Always Been Crazy
16. A Long Time Ago
17. Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand
18. I Ain't Living Long Like This
19. Theme from the Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys)
20. Storms Never Last
21. Drinkin' and Dreamin'
22. Rose in Paradise

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Waylon Jennings   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals
Floyd Cramer   Piano
Johnny Gimble   Guitar
Willie Nelson   Guitar,Vocals
Jerry Reed   Guitar
Buddy Spicher   Fiddle
Ray Stevens   Organ,Piano,Vibes
Sonny Curtis   Guitar
Pete Drake   Steel Guitar
Anita Kerr   Vocals
Jessi Colter   Organ,Piano,Vocals
Martin Katahn   Violin
Jim Gordon   Saxophone
Ritchie Albright   Drums
Anita Kerr Singers   Track Performer
Byron Bach   Cello
Brenton Banks   Violin
Lea Jane Berinati   Vocals
Matt Betton   Drums
George Binkley   Violin
Jerry Bridges   Bass,Guitar,Bass Guitar
Don Brooks   Harmonica
Larry Butler   Organ
Kenny Buttrey   Drums
Larry Byrom   Guitar
Jimmy Capps   Guitar
Jerry Carrigan   Drums
Vangie Carmichael   Vocals
Marvin Chantry   Viola
Chip Young   Guitar
Roy Christensen   Cello
Johnny Christopher   Guitar
Charles Cochran   Piano
Jim Colvard   Guitar
Roger Crabtree   Harmonica
Glen D. Hardin   Piano
Dottie DeLeonibus   Vocals
Dorothy Dillard   Vocals
Ronald Drake   Vocals
Bobby Dyson   Bass,Bass Guitar
Ray Edenton   Guitar
Dolores Edgin   Vocals
Stan Farber   Vocals
D.J. Fontana   Drums
Paul Foster   Bass,Guitar,Bass Guitar
Carl Gay   Guitar
Duke Goff   Bass,Bass Guitar
Carl Gorodetzky   Violin
Jerry Gropp   Guitar
John Guerin   Drums
Lennie Haight   Violin
Buddy Harman   Drums
Hoyt Hawkins   Vocals
Sherman Hayes   Bass,Bass Guitar
Eddie Hinton   Guitar
Ginger Holladay   Vocals
Mary Holladay   Vocals
John Leslie Hug   Guitar
Tommy Jackson   Fiddle
John Jarvis   Synthesizer,Piano
Bunky Keels   Piano
Sheldon Kurland   Violin
Kyle Lehning   Trumpet
Neal Matthews   Vocals
Martha McCrory   Cello
Gene Merlino   Vocals
Chips Moman   Guitar
Ralph Mooney   Dobro,Steel Guitar
Bob Moore   Bass Guitar
Laverna Moore   Vocals
Richard Morris   Marimbas
Wayne Moss   Guitar
Dan Mustoe   Drums
Fred Newell   Guitar
Louis Dean Nunley   Vocals
June Page   Vocals
Gary S. "Flip" Paxton   Vocals
Gordon Payne   Guitar,Harmonica,Vocals
Norbert Putnam   Bass,Bass Guitar
Billy Ray Reynolds   Guitar
Leon Rhodes   Bass,Bass Guitar
Temple Riser   Vocals
Hargus "Pig" Robbins   Piano
Barny Robertson   Piano,Keyboards
Carter Robertson   Vocals
Gary Scruggs   Guitar,Harmonica
Randy Scruggs   Guitar
Dale Sellers   Guitar
Don Sheffield   Trumpet
Don Smith   Bass,Bass Guitar
Steven Maxwell Smith   Violin
Bee Spears   Bass,Bass Guitar
Maurice Spears   Trombone
Hugh Stoker   Vocals
Henry Strzelecki   Bass,Bass Guitar
Bobby Thompson   Guitar
George Tidwell   Trumpet
Gary VanOsdale   Viola
David Vanderkooi   Cello
Sharon Vaughn   Vocals
Billy Joe Walker   Guitar
Raymond Walker   Vocals
Rance Wasson   Guitar
Larry Whitmore   Guitar
John "Bucky" Wilkin   Guitar
Tommy Williams   Fiddle
Reggie Young   Guitar
Becky Williams   Vocals
Roy Huskey   Bass
Priscilla Ann Hubbard   Vocals
Mack Johnson   Trumpet
Charlie McCoy   Bass,Harmonica,Bass Guitar
Dee Moeller   Organ,Piano
Bob Tebow   Vocals
Fred Carter   Guitar
Jim Haber   Keyboards
Larrie Londin   Drums
Bob Moore & His Orchestra   Bass
Andy McMahon   Organ
Stephanie Woolf   Violin
William Paul Ackerman   Drums
William Brown   Vocals
Joe Osborn   Bass,Bass Guitar
Jimmy Gray   Guitar
Fletcher Watson   Guitar
Ernest West   Vocals
Joe Allen   Bass,Guitar,Bass Guitar
William "Billy" Brown   Vocals
Kay Klinger   Vocals
Lee Thomas Miller   Bass
David Briggs   Piano
Lee Miller   Bass Guitar
William Wright   Vocals
David Carroll Kirby   Guitar
Lawrence Herzberg   Violin
E. Duane West   Vocals
William Joor   Trumpet
Priscilla Hubbard   Vocals
Gary Paxton   Vocals
Kay Klinger   Vocals
James Colvard   Guitar
Lawrence Herzberg   Violin
Roy Huskey   Bass Guitar
John Hug   Guitar
Fred Carter   Guitar
Willie Ackerman   Drums
Steven Smith   Violin

Technical Credits

Chet Atkins   Producer,Audio Production
Rodney Crowell   Composer
Waylon Jennings   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Kris Kristofferson   Composer
Willie Nelson   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Ray Pennington   Producer,Audio Production
Gordon Lightfoot   Composer
Shel Silverstein   Composer
Neil Young   Composer
Lee Clayton   Composer
Donnie Fritts   Composer
Sammi Smith   Composer
Tompall Glaser   Producer,Audio Production
Jessi Colter   Composer
Troy Seals   Composer
Billy Joe Shaver   Composer
Link Davis   Composer
Ritchie Albright   Producer,Audio Production
Jimmy Bowen   Producer,Audio Production
Jerry Bridges   Producer,Audio Production
Jack Clement   Producer,Audio Production
Danny Davis   Producer,Audio Production
Bobby Emmons   Composer
Gorgoni   Composer
Ron Haffkine   Producer,Audio Production
Stewart Harris   Composer
Harlan Howard   Composer
Ronnie Light   Producer,Audio Production
Ken Mansfield   Producer,Audio Production
Jim McBride   Composer
Chips Moman   Composer,Producer,Audio Production
Jimmy Peters and the Ring Dance   Composer
Allen Reynolds   Composer
Gary Scruggs   Producer,Audio Production
Glen Spreen   Arranger
Bergen White   Arranger
Johnny Whiteside   Liner Notes
Don Bowman   Composer
Mack Vickery   Composer
Howard Fritzson   Art Direction
David Gahr   Cover Photo
W.S. Stevenson   Composer
Charlyn Zlotnik   Tray Photo
Patsy Bruce   Composer
Curtis Buck   Composer
Jeremy Holiday   Packaging Manager
Bill Hoover   Composer
James D. Musil   Producer,Audio Production

Editorial Reviews

There have been plenty of Waylon Jennings compilations released over the years, most of them good but few capturing the full scope of his career. RCA/Legacy's 2007 double-disc set The Essential Waylon Jennings -- not to be confused with the single-disc comp of about a decade earlier -- comes the closest, just edging out the previous two-CD standard-bearer, RCA Country Legends (which itself replaced the excellent two-CD Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line), as the best concise overview on the market. This begins a bit earlier than RCA Country Legends, starting with "Big Mamou" and "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take," and wraps up a bit earlier, not digging as deep into the '80s recordings, which is no great loss. Essential runs two songs longer than Legends, but it has two big omissions in Billy Joe Shaver's "Black Rose" and Toy Caldwell's "Can't You See," but overall this 2007 set has is a stronger set from beginning to end, containing almost all the big hits -- from "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" through "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" to "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," "Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" -- and containing no fat, making this an excellent overview and introduction to Waylon's prime.

All Music Guide - Stephen Thomas Erlewine