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Nashville Rebel

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Going toe-to-toe with the monolithic, authoritative import box sets on the Bear Family label, Sony-BMG has finally given American country fans a comprehensive, thoroughly satisfying -- and affordable! -- overview of Waylon Jennings' entire career. From his early years singing in bars in the Southwest through his entry into (and swift departure from) the Nashville establishment, on into his "outlaw" golden years, this captures Waylon at his best.

Disc One, which concentrates on Jennings' early years as a 1960s "folk-country" singer in Nashville, probably has the most to offer fans who are already familiar with his big, rowdy hits of the '70s and early '80s. Although the folk-oriented material isn't as rugged or meaty as his later work, there are some soulful performances and unusual arrangements and production touches that may surprise even longtime fans. The disc is well-chosen and nicely paced, and packed with plenty of non-hit material that may be unfamiliar even to devoted Waylon fans. Discs Two and Three comprehensively document his glory years, all those fearless, funny, sad, soulful hits that stand at the very core of the outlaw/alternative country canon. Yeah, there are some songs left out, but not many, and all the major touchstones are included. The last disc skims his work in the 1980s and '90s, with the added bonus that his work for the rival MCA label is also sampled, making room for some of his later hits and one-off material.

There are a lot of good Waylon best-of collections on the market today, but this really blows most of them away. We could all think of some additional songs we'd like to see on here as well, but for anyone who just wants to get a really, really good introduction to Waylon's work, this collection oughtta do it for you.

Waylon Jennings had one of the quintessential country music voices, a deep baritone audibly imbued with the hardscrabble upbringing of a child of itinerant farmhands who grew up to become a hard-headed, hard-boiled singer of songs on his own terms.

Jennings embodied the "outlaw" movement that reinvigorated country music in the 1970s. But his music career stretched back to the beginnings of rock-n-roll, when he was a disc jockey in Lubbock, Texas, who befriended rock pioneer Buddy Holly. Holly produced his first recording, a strange cover of the Cajun tune, "Jole Blon" that featured King Curtis on doo-wop saxophone. That single flopped, but Jennings was assured of being at least a footnote in the music history books even if he never recorded again:

After breaking up his band, the Crickets, Holly recruited Jennings to play electric bass with him on the "Winter Dance Party Tour" of 1959. When the heater on the tour bus stopped working, Holly chartered a plane for himself and his band to fly from a show in Clear Lake, Iowa, to the next night's performance in Moorhead, Minnesota. But Jennings gave up his seat on the plane to J. P. Richardson, aka "the Big Bopper," because Richardson had come down with the flu. Just before the plane took off, Holly joked to Jennings, "Well, I hope your old tour bus freezes up." Jennings good naturedly replied, "I hope your darn ol' plane crashes!"

And that's just what happened on February 3, 1959, "the day the music died." His final words to his good friend would haunt Waylon Jennings for years, and that eerie feeling that he was supposed to have been on the doomed plane would trouble him for the rest of his life.

Nonetheless, country music stardom was in his future, and his first hit came in 1965 with the Buck Owens-like, "Stop the World (and Let Me Off)." The next year he reached the country Top Ten with a semi-rockabilly ride through Gordon Lightfoot's "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me," and he flirted with the upper reaches of the country charts for the next five years with a series of singles cranked out in the efficient factory-like production style of the then-dominant "Nashville Sound."

But he was chomping at the bit, eager to make records on his own terms. His frustration peaked about the same time he learned of the record industry's indulgent treatment of rock musicians and in 1972, he successfully renegotiated his contract with RCA, freeing himself from the heavy hand of corporate Nashville and gaining control over his own recorded output. With his pal, Willie Nelson, and other free-thinking artists like Johnny Cash, Tompall Glaser, Kris Kristofferson and Hank Williams, Jr., he plotted a new direction and inspired a movement that took its name from his recording of "Ladies Love Outlaws" and was cemented with the compilation album, Wanted! The Outlaws, the first platinum-selling country album ever.

By the mid-`70s, Waylon Jennings was one of the true superstars of country music, crossing over to appeal to rockers as well with songs like "I'm a Ramblin' Man," "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and "Good Hearted Woman." He closed out the decade with a string of chart toppers including "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)," "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys," "I Ain't Living Long Like This," and the theme from the TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard.

Nashville Rebel is a four-disc set that collects 92 songs from throughout Jennings' career, opening with that Buddy Holly collaboration and continuing with late `60s hits like "The Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," through the "Outlaw" period on into the "Highwayman" projects with Nelson, Cash and Kristofferson and concluding with a couple of latter day outings including his final Top Ten tune, "Wrong," a multi-cultural blend of marimba and dobro from 1990.

Along the way there are several duets with Willie, a few with wife Jessi Colter, and some surprises--you'd think "MacArthur Park" would be a ridiculous choice for a country singer, but Jennings actually gives his six-and-a-half minute "MacArthur Park (Revisited)" a depth not even hinted at in Richard Harris' pop hit version.

The box set takes its title from a low-budget American International straight-to-drive-in movie from 1966 in which Jennings plays a musician with "a guitar in his hand...a gal on his arm and a talent for trouble with his fists." Ironically, he would become a much more serious kind of Nashville Rebel, paving the way for a union of hippie rockers and country traditionalists that shook up the arbiters on both sides of the divide.

While contemporary country has embraced the rock elements ol' Waylon brought into it in spades, the factory system is now as strong as it's ever been. But this box set reminds us that once upon a time, there was a man who took on Nashville's entrenched powers and triumphed by doing it his way.


copyright © 2006 Port Folio Weekly. Used by Permission.

Orignally published in Port Folio Weekly 10/31/06.

Jennings catalog has seen its share of reissues, in both original albums and anthologies, but never before has a box set captured the full story of his career. Reissues of original albums have told Jennings' story in bits and pieces, single-disc anthologies have cherry-picked the chart highlights, and Bear Family's import box sets "Destiny's Child" and "Six Strings Away" have laboriously cataloged the details of his pre-outlaw career. But with the release of this beautifully produced 4-CD collection, RCA provides both depth and breadth, essaying Jennings transition from a protégé of Buddy Holly to purveyor of folk- and country-rock hybrids to increasingly uncomfortable Nashville cat to rebel immortality and self-direction. Jennings' transformation is highly personal yet shared out loud with his audience; and especially visceral when condensed from thirty-seven years of individual albums to a four-disc box-set.

The earliest side here, one of three cut under the direction of Holly in 1958, is a version of the Cajun classic "Jole Blon" featuring a '50s-styled sax and a waltz-time saunter. The collection's second track, "My Baby Walks All Over Me," dates to Jennings' initial early '60s residency in Arizona, with Ray Corbin's twangy lead guitar retaining the sort of energy laid down by James Burton on early tracks by Ricky Nelson. Next, the set jump-cuts to Jennings mid-60s beginnings at RCA where the sound was more polished (and in stereo), the jumpier tempos had relaxed to a cantor, and Jennings voice turned to an earthy croon.

Jennings' enduring legacy was minted by his fight for artistic independence in the early-70s, but his initial RCA sides are just as worthy as his outlaw breakthrough. He may have felt constricted by RCA's factory song construction, but the results included some of his most endearing sides, including "Stop the World and Let Me Off," "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me," "Mental Revenge," "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," and "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." Even with Chet Atkins' and a studio full of Nashville A-listers smoothing the background, Jennings gravitas carried every single.

The late-60s original "Just to Satisfy You" shows Jennings at the peak of his pre-outlaw period, with a stripped down arrangement and lightly jazzed beat accompanying his commanding baritone. Ironically, it was an earlier, more raw recording of this same song that had brought the Jennings to RCA's attention several years earlier. Lesser remembered treats from this era include a hit duet with Anita Carter on "I Got You," a soulful duet with Jessi Colter on her "I Ain't the One," and the title track to the American International Pictures film "Nashville Rebel." The latter, recorded in 1966 by Harlan Howard, was tremendously prophetic, with lines like "I've got things to do, and things to say in my own way."

By the end of the decade, the Nashville system - writers, producers, studios and session musicians all supplied by the label - left Jennings unfulfilled. He did indeed have things to say in his own way, and that included a broader choice of writers and recording venues, and most importantly, the familiarity and warmth of recording with his road band. RCA's way of doing things wasn't producing the commercial success he felt he could achieve, and so Jennings found himself compromised both artistically and financially.

The end of the '60s provided the circumstances for Jennings to make a change. He'd grown increasingly uncomfortable with RCA's cookie-cutter style, married Jessi Colter (his third and lasting marriage), and been given time to think by a bout of hepatitis that temporarily ended his touring. Willie Nelson had decamped to Austin with similar thoughts of independence, and Jennings longtime drummer Richie Albright suggested that they push for the sort of artistic freedoms afforded RCA's rock acts. By mid-decade, Jennings had released the successful "Honky Tonk Heroes" and "Ladies Love Outlaws" LPs, and with his RCA contract up for renewal, he held a strong hand.

By the tail-end of his initial contract he'd already begun to wrest control of his recordings away from RCA. 1972's slowed-down take of Buck Owens' "Under Your Spell Again" is sung as a duet with Colter, a pair of tracks from "Lonesome On'ry and Mean" features Jennings' roadband, and a co-producer credit on "You Can Have Her" pointed to the following year's independence day. Jennings hired himself a New York City manager and gained the desired concessions in re-signing with RCA. He was now free to record what he wanted how he wanted and with who he wanted to play and produce.

The initial fruit of this new-found freedom was 1973's legendary "Honky Tonk Heroes" LP. Jennings co-produced with Tompall Glaser and recorded an album of songs by Nashville-outsider Billy Joe Shaver. The album's title track begins in tribute to Jimmie Rodgers before segueing to a twangy guitar-and-drums sound that hadn't much been heard in Nashville. The stripped-down arrangements have a more live feel than anything Jennings had recorded before, and Shaver's songs were fresh and direct.

To further insulate himself from label pressures, Jennings moved his recording sessions from RCA to Tompall Glaser's independent studio, subsequently dubbed "Hillbilly Central." The initial LP from this arrangement, "This Time," gave Jennings his first #1 single with its title track. Thus began a streak of spectacular albums, including "The Ramblin' Man," "Dreaming My Dreams" and "Are You Ready for the Country," and a string of iconic hits that included "I'm a Ramblin' Man," "Rainy Day Woman," "Amanda," and "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way." Jennings toured extensively with this material, and disc 3 opens with a trio of cuts (from 1974's "Waylon Live") that shows off his towering talent as a stage performer.

Jennings fame crossed over to the pop charts with "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," and his involvement with "The Dukes of Hazzard" brought his theme song and narration to televisions nationwide. His albums of the early '80s continued to track new ground, and his singles, including duets with Willie Nelson, and covers of Otis Redding, Little Richard and Eagles hits, kept him on the upper-reaches of the charts.

In the mid-80s Jennings recorded an album with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson as The Highwaymen and moved his solo career from RCA to MCA. At MCA, producer Jimmy Bowen crafted a decidedly more modern sound (gone is the steel, in is subtle synthesizer), but Jennings still sounds great, and the material is well chosen. A 1990 move to Epic yielded the top-10 "Wrong" before diabetes and carpal tunnel syndrome slowed Jennings work. A few more albums for indie labels (not anthologized here) found his artistic flame undimmed. The collection closes with the well-chosen, "I Do Believe," from 1995's reunion of The Highwaymen. Jennings song is resolutely independent, yet faithful, as had been his entire career.

Completists will note a few omissions (nothing from his lackluster stint with A&M is included, nor is the Grammy® winning take of "MacArthur Park"), and fans may miss a few favorite album tracks, but that isn't the purpose of this set. Further, this isn't filled with rarities and alternate takes; again, that's not the point of this box. Instead, these 92 selections paint the full picture of Jennings artistic arc, from proto-rock 'n' roller, to industry man, to his own man. Across four discs, Jennings talent can't be denied, whether singing within the confines of Nashville's system, or flung wide-open to his personal interpretation.

Lenny Kaye's introductory essay is written as both a friend and biographer, filled with warm remembrances and penetrating insights. Rich Kienzle's liner notes provide detail on Jennings' career, recording the pivotal moments that created these recordings. This is a superb introduction to Jennings' career, and a wonderfully listenable condensation for fans. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

If you are a long time diehard Waylon fan like me, you probably already have most all of the music in this boxed set. So what, buy it anyway. The book alone is worth more than the price Amazon is asking. The music included makes for a great soundtrack while you enjoy the book.

Don't think twice, because I've noticed that these box-sets have a tendency to go out of print alot quicker than albums. Everytime I have thought twice about buying an awesome collection like this I came back a week later to purchase it and it was gone, never to be seen again! Yes it's a little more money, but you have to consider all of the great music you are getting on 4 discs! Plus it comes with nice packaging and an awesome book with never-before-seen photos of Waylon throughout the years. I didn't think twice on this one, I got it, and it's mine forever! It is also one of the best box-sets that I own, and I own about 40. It's well worth this price so don't hesitate-order now!!!!!!!!!

I now have listened to Nashville Rebel beginning to end 4 times. The sound is excellent, and the notes for the set are equally good. It is hard to argue with the selections, especially as the widow and son participated, but that is exactly the source of my 'but.'

Over the years, Waylon has risen in my rankings. 20 years ago, I saw Willie Nelson as the greater Country artist. Now, I place Waylon ahead of many that before I was absolutely certain were his superiors (Merle Haggard is another example). My 'but' is not a call for the deletion of any tracks on this set; rather, because Waylon's body of work is so powerful, I assert that 4 discs cannot do him justice. Save for completists (and how many of us can afford to be completists for even a couple of recording artists with long careers?), fans will rarely purchase more than a definitive box set and perhaps 2 or 3 albums widely recognized as fully demonstrating the artist's mastery (for Waylon, those 3 should be Honky Tonk Heroes, Dreaming My Dreams, and Waylon Live). That means that over time, even most ardent fans will lose contact with much of the best of a great singer's career.

For that reason, I wish that this box set contained at least 5 discs. Surely at least 95% of the people who purchased this 4 disc set for $[...] would have purchased a 5 disc set for $[...].

As many who read these reviews may know little about Waylon save his biggest hits, here is a list of excellent Waylon recordings that belong of any definitive box set. Most of the list is in approximate recording/release date, but I will start by saying that Waylon's songs on the soundtrack of the 1970 film Ned Kelly (starring a badly miscast Mick Jagger) are some of the greatest largely unknown Waylon recordings. Six of them ("Ned Kelly," "Shadow of the Gallows," "Lanigan's Widow," "Ranchin' in the Evening," "Blame It On the Kellys," and "Pleasure of a Sunday Afternoon") deserve much wider hearing. In them, we hear Waylon's deepest roots: the folk singer in a long line back across the Atlantic to Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

That said, here are other Waylon recordings I think definitely belong as part of this definitive box set: "Destiny's Child," "Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town" (not the hit that Kenny Rogers and the First Edition had, but an equally great performance), "Don't Waste Your Time," "A Good Hearted Woman" (the original studio recording, which regrettably has been totally displaced by the 'duet' live version), "Old Five and Dimers (Like Me)," "I Can't Keep My Hands Off You," "Louisiana Women," "Pick Up the Tempo," "Heaven or Hell," "If You Could Touch Her At All," "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" (superior to the later Willie version hands down), "Slow Movin' Outlaws," "Looking For Suzanne," "The Broken Promise Land," "Baker Street," and "Nowhere Road" (duet recorded for the re-release of Wanted: The Outlaws - Waylon and Willie doing Steve Earle is a must).

If I can count correctly, that is 22 songs. Jessi and Shooter could pick another 2 or 3 and release a chronologically ordered CD called Nowhere Road: Addendum to Nashville Rebel. It would serve Waylon well, and it would sell to virtually everyone who owns the box set.

I have never been a fan of RCA and the way they treat Waylon Jennings music collections. For example: Waylon's original Greatest Hits has eleven tracks, but since it came out on CD, RCA only puts nine tracks on it. You have to buy the import to get the complete original album! Also, the last box set these RCA guys put together had only two CD's worth of music, worthless!! THIS TIME THEY GET IT RIGHT!!! Fours CD's covering everything from the early 60's to even the MCA hits of the late 80's. I especially like the added Cash duets and the Highwayman stuff. On disc 1: That song called "People In Dallas Got Hair" is pure greatness!!!!
The book that's included is a huge bonus:) It has lots of rare pics of Waylon and all of the fans & people who shaped the legend over the years. I think every man, woman, and child should have this box-set added to their country collection............

"Nashville Rebel", the boxed Waylon Jennings set is a dream come true for his fans. In the past, I have been frustrated because I never could find a good composite collection of Waylon's best material covering his entire career. With someone that recorded over the span of four decades, there will always be songs missing that could have been included. I already had vintage vinyls from Waylon's prime like "Dreaming My Dreams", "This Time", "Sweet Music Man", & "Waylon & Willie". Believe me, all of the best, most important material from that incredible burst of inspired recordings are present in this set. But, the real joy for long time Jennings fans is listening for the first time to some of his earlier music that paved the way for later stardom. This set allows the listener to witness the transition of how Waylon created his unique sound & established his musical independence from the mainstream Nashville recording industry. The "I Aint the One" duet with Jesse Colter is particularly memorable. The live version of "T For Texas" is Waylon at his best and captures the raw energy of his music. The list goes on and on. A real bonus is the nice booklet of liner notes & candid photographs shot of Waylon through the years. Combine the book with four CDs covering 92 carefully selected songs, the set is a bargain at this price. "Nashville Rebel" is a real treasure & reminds us how good Waylon really was.

This is a must have for any Waylon fan! All the great songs, some old rare ones, some previously unreleased. Another good thing is this 4 disc set is chronological,, so you could listen to the whole thing and you are basically hearing his career progression. R.I.P. Hoss, You are missed!

In 1966, Waylon Jennings sang: "I've got things to do and things to say in my own way." It was a rather ironic statement: At the time, he was hemmed in by Chet Atkins's Nashville Sound, and by a Nashville music scene that resented musicians doing what they wanted to do. Atkins and Waylon made some fine music (as Waylon himself would admit), but it wasn't the music the Littlefield, Texas native was destined to make. It wasn't until he stood up for himself, and all under-privileged musicians, that Waylon truly came into his own, and set a new standard for country music...and, indeed, music in general.

It's often mentioned how Waylon's career was "born again" when he managed to talk (or bully) Chet Atkins into letting him do things his own way. However, listening through these four discs of Waylon's material, it's interesting to note the things that didn't change. You can hear his telecaster, hammering away in the background. His trademark growl is there; he always managed to live in the songs, to take a song written by someone else and make it a Waylon Jennings tune (as he did with most Harlan Howard songs, a few Kristofferson songs, and most notably Toy Caldwell's "Can't You See"). He was also a damn fine songwriter in his own right--I dare you to find a better statement of outlaw sentimentality than "I've Always Been Crazy" or "Good Hearted Woman." Waylon's earlier material contains some oft-overlooked gems (the simmering "Cedartown, Georgia," the whimsical "Time to Bum Again"), and hearing so much of it here makes you wish more of those earlier albums were in print. Indeed, even charging onward into HONKY TONK HEROES and DREAMING MY DREAMS territory makes you wish Waylon's entire catalogue was available.

The booklet (or, rather, book) that accompanies NASHVILLE REBEL contains two brilliant essays: one by biographer Lenny Kaye, another by music historian Rich Kienzle. It also contains writings by Jessi Colter and Shooter Jennings, and includes many amazing photographs from throughout Waylon's life: from when he was a boy, right up to his final years. If you are lucky enough to already own most--or all--of these recordings, the book itself is worth the price of admission.

Waylon was always an outlaw. He's the guy who got so disgruntled during a recording session that he whipped out a gun and waved it around. He's the guy who shared an apartment with Johnny Cash, where they hid their drug stashes from each other. But he's also the guy who fell in love, who overcame drug addiction, who loved children and music and life. When he died in 2002, the world lost one of its greatest musicians, one of its greatest "singers of sad songs." Waylon's legacy still lives today, and will for as long as musicians have the freedom to create the music they are born to make.