Customer Reviews

I've Always Been Crazy: Tribute to Waylon Jennings

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Waylon was the greatest singer ever. He did some of the coolest, most unique songs ever. So do other singers cover his songs well? Surprisingly, yes! I think Waylon would be very proud of the performances on this tribute. Travis Tritt's "Lonesome, onry and mean" is excellent. Dwight Yoakam makes "Stop the world and let me off" his own. Brooks and Dunn rock out on "Ain't living long like this". Hank Williams, jr., Pinmonkey,Andy Griggs, and John Mellencamp all turn in solid cuts. The ladies here did even better than expected. Deana Carter with Sara Evans on "Mammas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys" is quite good. Alison Krauss does a soft tender "You asked me to". Waylon's widow, Jessi Colter does a great new faster, rocking version of the song she wrote about Waylon, "Storms never last". There's also some actual rock. Waylon and Jessi's son, Shooter, with his former band Stargunn, make us believe him when he screams, "I've always been crazy"! And James Hetfield of Metallica gives us a good hard "Don't you think this outlaw bit's done got out of hand". Of course, the main reason to buy this cd is the final cut...Waylon's final recording, "The Dream". It sums up his life beautifully. Nobody can do a Waylon song nearly as good as the original, but these are great songs, done well, by people who love the best and most original country singer ever.

"I've Always Been Crazy: A Tribute To Waylon Jennings" is a heartfelt tribute that shows how Waylon influenced a wide variety of artists, from folky rock, to country, to rap, to metal.

Travis Tritt's version of "Lonesome, On'ry, and Mean" is fairly good, although it would have been EXCELLENT if he had played (or made more audible) some of that tasty Waylonesque chicken pickin' we all KNOW he can do (check out "Never Say Die: Live"). The Kenny Chesney and Kid Rock duet on "Luckenbach, Texas" shows that they both loved Waylon and is one of the most sincere tributes on this album. Most of the songs are great interpretations.

Second best song? For me, it's Starrgun's rendering of the title track. Waylon loved the way they did that song, and, man, they tear it up on this album. I love it.

Now, the best song is no surprise. Waylon's "The Dream" could be the best song he ever wrote. It's so very appropriate for this album: "All I can say, I've had it both ways, and the dream could never compare." In a way, it makes me sad to listen to it... but it's really a happy song. The message is, at least. Listening to the honesty and purity in his voice is what can make you sad... because there's so damn much of it.

Essential listening? Yes. Pick up "Waylon Live: The Expanded Edition" while you're at it, if you haven't already done so... it's the best new Waylon release in years.

Overall, it's a great album. Some of the songs are done much the way they were by Waylon himself, and some have a very modern spin put on them. I appreciated the artist's interpretations and especially loved Kenny Chesney/Kid Rock's version of "Luckenbach, Texas" and the girls singling "mamas". A few of the songs don't even sound like the orig. and definitely don't sound country...so if that bugs you, you may not want to buy this album.

I am VERY disappointed in this tribute. The only heart and soul on this CD comes from Waylon himself on "The Dream". Surprisingly, my 2nd favorite song is "Luchenback, TX"... Kid Rock and Kenny Chesney seem to really put their hearts into this. Travis Tritt does a pretty good job on "Lonesome, Onry, and Mean, but his heart is not completely into it.

As for the rest, I absolutely hate it. I don't care if Shooter is Waylon's son... he does a terrible job on "I've Always Been Crazy".... Jessi's new version of "Storms Never Last" is awful. I hoped she would do something more beautiful than that. Hetfield and Mellencamp don't have a clue when it comes to Waylon's music. Allison Krauss, Deana Carter and Sara Evans don't BELONG anywhere on this CD.

Brooks and Dunn, Hank Jr, and Dwight Yoakum... well, I expected a lot better. Let's just say all in all... (and this surprised me as I'm not even a Kid Rock fan) that he puts more feeling than any of the ones I expected to. Way to go Kid Rock- your heart is in it. As for the rest, why are they even included on here?

I'm not a singer by any means, but I loved Waylon's music so deeply that I feel like I could have put more heart into this album... and definitely have heard some karaoke singers who could have done a better job. What a waste of money... from now on, I'll put my hard earned money where it's worth it... on Waylon Jennings himself.

The album cover is great! It's a shame that it's such a deception.

-Michelle Thompson

When word circulated that this project was in the works, I anticipated something great. Instead, is is spiked with many throat-gagging moments. The biggest sin: The songs are not Waylonized. Joe Galante should have hired Short Stroke, Jigger and Scruggs to produce the sessions to get the sound right, start to finish. Instead: Where is the kick drum? The deep, rounded bass lines? The phased Telecaster trading licks with steel? The layers of double-timed rhythms in straight 8s or cut time? The elegant waltzes? The chicken pickin' and string bending? And hey, where is a melody wrapped naturally around the fills, and webbed with the rhythms? The piano undercurrents? Except in precious few cases, it just doesn't happen. Many of the "stars" fall into the Watch-Me-Sing Syndrome, fracturing the Waylonized feel. The guitars, for instance, sound like fuzzed Stratocasters, something Waylon never used on his self-produced work. Except for some precious contributions by Hank Jr., Tritt, Krauss, Shooter and Waylon himself on the show-closer, the project as a whole just doesn't work. What I ended up doing was transferring the few good cuts on my computer, creating a short-version CD, and taking my size 13s and stomping the original to bits. Some of these cuts are sacrilege to the Waylonized Sound. A tribute? For messing up the Sound, I'm left wanting to place my boots in several anatomical crevices. The final verdict: A tragically failed reality.

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY isn't necessarily the most "reverential" tribute to the late Waylon Jennings, but it superbly captures the authenticity and integrity of Jennings' spirit. In other words, this eclectic collection of artists takes a few liberties with some of Jennings' best-loved songs, but each remains true to Waylon's gritty honesty and soul. The song selection is stellar; the choices of artists are inspired. No weak performances here--each artist pulls out all the stops to give Waylon his proper respect. My own favorites: Travis Tritt's "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" ably balances the swagger and the pathos of the lyrics...I dare you to sit still during the brilliant "Stop the World and Let Me Off" by Dwight Yoakam...I was totally rocked by "Storms Never Last" by Waylon's true love, Jessi Colter, who reminds us that she is not only a country music legend herself, but her voice and spirit are more vital than ever (I can't wait for more music from Jessi in the future)..."Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" by Hank Williams, Jr. is bluesy perfection from a man who knows how to do it...on "You Asked Me To," by Alison Krauss, the beauty, poetry, and sensitivity of Waylon's songwriting come to the fore...Andy Griggs hit the bullseye with his authoritative-yet-plaintive interpretation of "This Time," and somewhere up above, Waylon was smiling when he heard it...Stargunn's rocking "punkabilly" version of "I've Always Been Crazy" is an "out of the box" performance that proves again the relevance of Waylon's music to the 21st Century and beyond...in fact, all of the other tunes on this CD have their high points. But the absolute pinnacle of the entire project is "The Dream" sung by Waylon himself; indeed, according to the wonderful liner commentary by Chet Flippo, it is the last song Waylon ever recorded. I'm not a weepy person, but every time I listen to this one, I get choked up. It's not so much being sad that Waylon is gone, though I certainly feel that; no, my tears are tears of joy in knowing that he went out on such a glorious high note: "I know what I feel/I know what is real/I know because I was there/All I can say/I've had it both ways/And the dream could never compare," Waylon sings as a powerful benediction. It just doesn't get any better than that.

waylon jennings wrote great songs and the performances on this tribute album all seem heartfelt and energetic. in particular, i liked the performances by ben harper, hank williams jr., and john mellencamp. If you like waylon jennings you should like most of this album. unfortunately, many of the recordings are way too nashville-slick (see travis tritt...) and this diminishes them and will be annoying to many waylon fans.

Loved everyone's contributions to this legend of a performer. I especially enjoyed Travis Tritt's rendition of "On'ry, Lonesome, and Mean."

Over all this is a great CD if you like Waylon. Duh, why else would you be looking at this or thinking about buying it. I bought this CD just for one song specifically. James Hetfields cover of "Outlaw Bit". You can't buy individual tracks anywhere from this CD so I was forced to buy the whole thing. Anyway the rest of the CD turned out to be a pleasant suprise with really good takes on Waylons classic tunes. All except for the cover of "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" by John Mellencamp. Now in all fairness this is one of my favorite songs of all time so I may be a little overly critical of this particular cover but John just butchered it in my opinion.
In this day of only buying specific tracks you like off of a cd, I was a little pissed about having to purchase and entire disk for one song but it turned out that I added a bunch of good songs to my collection.

That pretty much sums it up! It is wonderful. Stargunn is awesome. I'd never heard of them before this tribute album to Waylon, but they are terrific. Alison Krauss (You Asked Me To) is incredible, as always. Dwight Yoakam (Stop the World) has a lot of heart - just as Lukenback, Texas (Kenny Chesney and Kid Rock)! A must have for your Waylon Collection! (The Dream by Waylon is beautiful)! Must Check this Album Out!!!