The Road Goes on Forever [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued]

The Highwaymen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000AXWGUO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,163 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Don Was, the producer who transformed Bonnie Raitt from cult hero to pop star, tried to jump-start the stalled careers of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings by producing their recent albums, Across the Borderline and Waymore's Blues (Part II), respectively. This resulted in two artistic triumphs but no hits. That didn't deter Nelson and Jennings from hiring Was to produce their album with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson as the Highwaymen. The Road Goes on Forever is easily the best of the three Highwaymen albums, even if changing radio tastes will probably doom it to the poorest sales of the three. The two earlier releases, 1985's Highwaymen and 1990's Highwaymen 2, were thrown together as if the sheer star power of the four singers could carry the project. Both albums had their exciting moments when everything clicked but both also had a lot of filler. By contrast, Was approached the new recording as if every song and every arrangement had to be good enough to be a single. He picked one obscure but terrific composition from each of the four singers and supplemented them with equally strong material from four of Texas's best songwriters--Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, Robert Earl Keen Jr., and Stephen Bruton. Nelson's harmonica ace Mickey Raphael and Kristofferson's singing buddy Billy Swan are joined by top L.A. session pros like keyboardist Benmont Tench and drummer Kenny Aronoff to create a sound that has the twangy picking of old-fashioned country and the fat bottom of modern pop. The result is an album with everything: first-rate material, grade-A playing, and inimitable singing. The thread that ties Nelson, Jennings, Cash, and Kristofferson together is the crustiness of their voices (a honey-voiced singer like George Jones or Don Gibson would seem out of place in this crowd); when they sing Shaver's "(I'm Going To) Live Forever," they sound as if they're more than halfway there. The Highwaymen are so naturally hard-bitten and world-weary that they can slip a little sentiment into a song without spoiling it. They use this to great advantage on the album's two great outlaw songs, Earle's "The Devil's Right Hand" and Keen's title tune; the gruff tales of violence lead up to a sobering admission of the price paid for such a life. That same gruffness allows the Highwaymen to sing two religious meditations, Jennings's "I Do Believe" and Cash's "Death and Hell," without once sounding sanctimonious. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A FANTASTIC CD!!! A GREAT BLEND OF 4 TREMENDOUS MUSICAL TALENTS!!!, November 16, 2005

By 

----Susan D. Fong (Glendale, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Road Goes on Forever (Bonus Dvd) (Audio CD)

I just received this CD yesterday and it has not left my CD player. I LOVE all the tracks and I especially enjoyed the BONUS DVD. I miss this group so much. There will NEVER be another group like them. Their four voices blended together so BEAUTIFULLY. If you are a HIGHWAYMEN fan, you will LOVE this CD and if you are a fan of good music, I highly recommend purchasing this CD. May you RIP Johnny and Waylon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best of the 3, in my opinion, April 25, 2000

By 

"jay_cav" (Waco, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Road Goes on Forever (Audio CD)

I like this album. It is really over-produced, though. The song selection was very good - and the Highwaymen seem really energized on this record. The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars...is the production. Too often there is so much going on musically in the song that I can't hear Waylon or Willie - and I get distracted by whatever sounds Don Was has thrown in there. As far as I am concerned, when you get this kind of talent together - you need to just get out of the way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last of three great albums, April 13, 2005

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Road Goes on Forever (Audio CD)

Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson came together as the Highwaymen in the mid-eighties to record an album and tour together. It proved so successful that they eventually recorded two more, this being the last of the trilogy. It is similar in style to the first two.

Most of the songs here are covers, often of songs that one or other of the members had written recorded as a solo artist. The set opens with a Steve Earle song, The devil's right hand, which gets the album off to a great start. I do believe (written by Waylon), End of understanding (written by Willie), Death and Hell (written by Johnny and June) and Here comes that rainbow again (written by Kris) ensure that all the members of the Highwaymen get a share of the songwriting royalties as well as the recording royalties.

Elvis once recorded True love travels on a gravel ro0ad (a Dallas Frazier song), but it's not one of his famous recordings. I like his version but I also like the Highwaymen's version. Billie Joe Shaver, who provided Waylon with most of the songs for one of his classic albums (Honky tonk heroes), wrote Live forever. Kevin Welch, who established himself as a songwriter long before making it as a singer, wrote Everyone gets crazy. Stephen Bruton wrote one song (Waiting for a long time) and co-wrote another (It is what it is). Robert Earl Keen, who eventually got the chance to record his own music, contributed the title track.

There are no real surprises here - you know who Johnny, Willie, Waylon and Kris are, you know the kind of music they record and you'll find it here. All four singers have recorded many more important albums than this but if you've already got their important music and still want more, you'll enjoy this album.