Customer Reviews

Eagle

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of my favorite Waylon Jennings albums and probably the one I listen to the most often. When Waylon recorded this, he wasn't a "superstar" anymore, but they hadn't carved his face up on Mount Rushmore yet, so he was free to just sit down and record some great country songs. There is a lot of wisdom in some of these tunes, like "Where Corn Don't Grow", "Reno and Me", and "Too Close to Call", and also some damn good country picking. The title track shows that Waylon could still rock, too. The radio hit from this album was "Wrong". (I can't remember if it was actually a hit, but it was the last "new" Waylon song I remember hearing on the radio -- pretty soon afterwards, Garth Brooks came along, and country music was banned from country radio).

This album, released in 1990, came towards the end of Waylon's career. It was one of the best of his career artistically. It yielded the top five country hit Wrong, a very amusing song about a failed relationship, while the anthemic title track also made the country top twenty.

Although the songs are a mix of different tempos, the lyrics are generally reflective, showing the wisdom that comes with maturity. Waylon did not write any of the songs (except for a co-credit on Waking up with you) but clearly chose songs that he could in some way relate to.

Working cheap is a great up-tempo song to open the set. There are a couple of great mid-tempo songs (Where corn don't grow, Reno and me) and several great ballads including the closing track, Old church hymns and nursery rhymes, from the songbook of Beth Nielsen Chapman.

Waylon recorded several albums that were more commercially successful but very few that were more entertaining. If you want more of Waylon's music than just the big RCA hits, this is a great album to listen to.

I was extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to see WAYLON perform live - experiencing 4 shows at 3 different venues at the tail end of the 1980s and the very early 1990s. I grew up on all of the famous Rock acts of the '70s, replete with strobe lights, smoke machines, rear-screen projection, laser and light shows. WAYLON just standing on a simple stage with his band BEAT 'EM ALL!! Here was the definition of an "entertainer." He was the funniest AND most charismatic performer I ever saw in a spotlight! I used to tell people, "Even if you don't like his music, GO SEE WAYLON! You'll be glad you did because it's two shows in one." His between-song patter was always funny, but never the same. Except that he DID remind EVERY audience that he didn't like LUCKENBACH, TEXAS and he was playing it only because we wanted to hear it. What a guy!

The songs on THE EAGLE remind me of that time and those shows because WAYLON was featuring a few of them in his stage act back then. WAYLON's favorite Waylon album was DREAMING MY DREAMS. But I think this collection will also stand the test of time for several reasons:

WAYLON had beaten his drug habit; he had been clean for quite awhile when these tracks were recorded, and his baritone singing sounds so rich and expressive. It seems to me that there was more attention to the production values on this offering, with the interplay between various instruments more painstakingly arranged than usual. And the set has a nice balance of songs. There are the expected honky-tonk toughies like WORKIN' CHEAP and THE EAGLE. I possess too much disappointment in my countrymen and not nearly enough political naivete to accept the latter as the American anthem it was intended to be. But its foreboding stylishness does appeal to me, and personally it works better as an individual statement. The set also includes some songs which deliver the pathos (that's like delivering the paper, but with extra "feeling"), such as WHERE CORN DON'T GROW and OLD CHURCH HYMNS AND NURSERY RHYMES. And then, of course, there are the humorous, Waylonesque, slice O'life tunes like the catchy hit, WRONG, and my favorite feather on this Eagle, HER MAN. And you had better know that when Ol' Waymore sang HER MAN, tongue-in-cheek, he had his lovely, long-suffering wife, Jessi-in-mind:

I'M GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF DOING THINGS AROUND HERE.
I'M TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF; GONNA GET MYSELF IN GEAR,
'CAUSE I'VE GOT A WOMAN WHO'S BETTER THAN MOST
AND I'VE MADE A MESS OF HER PLAN.
STARTIN' TODAY, ALL I'M GONNA BE IS HER MAN.

I'VE BEEN A WILD-CATTER AND A GO-GO-GETTER,
BEEN AN S.O.B. RIGHT DOWN TO THE LETTER.
I'VE HAD MISADVENTURES; I'VE EVEN GOT PICTURES;
I'M EVEN MORE THAN I CAN STAND,
BUT STARTING TODAY, ALL I WANNA BE IS HER MAN.

I'M GONNA GIVE IT ALL BACK, 'CAUSE ALL I'VE DONE IS TAKE.
I PUT HER ON THE BACK BURNER WHILE I WAS OUT ON THE MAKE.
BUT I'VE GOT A WOMAN WHO'S GOOD ENOUGH TO GIVE ME
A SECOND CHANCE AGAIN.
SO, STARTING TODAY, ALL I'M GONNA BE IS HER MAN.

I'M A LITTLE BIT LATE, BUT I'M WISING UP
I'M TAKING HER BY THE HAND.
STARTING TODAY, ALL I WANNA BE IS HER MAN.

No, THE EAGLE wouldn't be the first Waylon album that I'd recommend to the initiate, but it WOULD be right on its tail feathers. Pick up THE EAGLE for your "nest", before she picks you up for hers!

Waylon's first album of the 1990's was "The Eagle", released (appropriately enough) in 1990 on the Epic label. This is a strong set that contains Waylon's last Top Five single, "Wrong", and the title song, which became a Top 20 hit as a sort of unofficial Desert Storm anthem. The cd's real highlights, however, were never released as singles. "Old Chruch Hymns and Nursery Rhymes", penned by the ultra talented Beth Chapman, is a great tune about a man reflecting on his life ("Look how far I had to come/ to get back where I started from"). Also fine are "Her Man", "Reno and Me", "Waking Up With You" and the up tempo "Workin' Cheap". Looking back, this was Waylon serving notice that the 90's were going to be his decade, artistically if not commercially. Highly recommended. By the way, this CD has just been re-released by Sony, so look for new ones at good prices on Amazon soon.

His Talent Never faltered Waylon Was always at his best and it shows in this cd. As in every other of his I've found to me Waylon was & is still the Best.

This is really a great CD. Got it as a gift for my mom and she loves it. She received the product fast and on the day it said. It was great. Thank you.

This is a great CD. The music has a great quality of sound to it and the songs are the best!

This album, released in 1990, came towards the end of Waylon's career. It was one of the best of his career artistically. It yielded the top five country hit Wrong, a very amusing song about a failed relationship, while the anthemic title track also made the country top twenty.

Although the songs are a mix of different tempos, the lyrics are generally reflective, showing the wisdom that comes with maturity. Waylon did not write any of the songs (except for a co-credit on Waking up with you) but clearly chose songs that he could in some way relate to.

Working cheap is a great up-tempo song to open the set. There are a couple of great mid-tempo songs (Where corn don't grow, Reno and me) and several great ballads including the closing track, Old church hymns and nursery rhymes, from the songbook of Beth Nielsen Chapman.

Waylon recorded several albums that were more commercially successful but very few that were more entertaining. If you want more of Waylon's music than just the big RCA hits, this is a great album to listen to.

This CD has great songs that you do not normally hear from Waylon. They always play what made the charts. These songs may not have made the charts but in my opionion they should have.

In my opinion, this one of Waylon's best albums. Great great music on this disk. A great addition to my Waylon collection