OK, now onto the CD: There have been a slew of this country tribute CDs, featuring a bunch of artists whose contributions pale mightily compared to the person they are feteing. Which raises the question: Why listen to a collection of covers by lesser artists?

In the case of Waylon, though, his music is so vastly underappreciated and has not been widely covered by others. This is among the first time many of his classics have been touched by anyone else. That makes Lonesome Ornry and Mean at least a little more interesting than the tribute records to Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, the Beatles, etc.

Particularly interesting: The return of Carlene Carter on Waylon's semi-autobiographical "I've Always Been Crazy." Given Carter's plight in recent years, the ease with which these lyrics fit her is eerie. She's not in great voice here, but I still hope this marks her return to active recording.

Much better is Norah Jones's killer "Wurlitzer Prize" (back in the day, the under-appreciated flip side of the "Luchenbach Texas" single). And, wow, does "Good Hearted Woman" fit Guy Clark's style to a tee. "Let's All Help the Cowboy Sing the Blues" is an odd cover by Jack Clement -- odd because he wrote it to begin with. Junior Brown's "Nashville Rebel" is great -- a rarely heard song with Brown doing his best Waylon imitation. "Waymore's Blues" is such a great song that it can't be marred by a reconstituted Crickets. Allison Moorer acquits herself well on "Storms Never Last," though this is actually from the Jessi Colter catalog (admittedly, Waylon and Jessi did a duet cover of this in the 1980s). Kudos to Kristofferson for covering an underappreciated Highwaymen track.

Less successful: "Amanda" by Dave Alvin is even duller than the original. Robert Earl Keen's "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" seems to confirm his downward trajectory. And Henry Rollins' predictable rave up of the title track makes you realize how much better Waylon was at rocking without pyrotechnics or pretention.

Lots of Waylon's catalog from his RCA glory days have never been released on CD. The greatest tribute of all here would be a renewed interest in Waylon's music that spurs an aggressive reissue program by RCA or others.