Personnel includes: Waylon Jennings (vocals, guitar); Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter (vocals); The Waylors, Tompall Glaser.
Producers include: Chet Atkins, Danny Davis, Ronny Light, Waylon Jennings, Tompall Glaser.
Compilation producer: Steve Lindsey.
Recorded between 1968 and 1994. Includes liner notes by Wade Jessen.
Digitally remastered by Benny Quinn (Masterfonics, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee).
This is part of RCA's Essential Series.
Any 20-song collection of Waylon Jennings would be woefully inadequate and this one is no exception, but that doesn't make it without merit. Jennings' career with RCA was a long one and he recorded dozens of records for the label. This collection focuses on the period between the late '60s through the early '70s but goes somewhat beyond as well. Opening with "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line," you hear Jennings as he was beginning to emerge from the long shadow Nash Vegas producers had cast over him. There are many fine cuts here, including "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" as well as "Waymore's Blues," "Ladies Love Outlaws," "Amanda," and "Rainy Day Woman." This is an excellent collection that will hold no interest for hardcore fans, but is a fine introduction to the sound Waylon developed into a movement. ~ Thom Jurek
Basically a single-disc distillation of the box set THE ONLY DADDY THAT'LL WALK THE LINE, this compilation effectively spans Jennings' long and varied career, pulling out a few of the many highlights. The early days are represented by such classic tracks as "Good Hearted Woman" (written with fellow country outlaw Willie Nelson) and "The Taker." On these tunes, Jennings comes across as a raw but intelligent honky-tonker whose main aim is getting to the heart of the matter.
His outlaw streak is most apparent on mid-'70s songs like "Waymore Blues" and "Are You Sure Hank Done it This Way," where his legendary, groundbreaking fusion of country music with rock sensibilities invests the music with unprecedented verve and grit. Jennings' finest album HONKY TONK HEROES is inexplicably unrepresented here, but things are rounded out nicely by duets with his wife Jessi Colter ("Storms Never Last") and Willie Nelson ("Just to Satisfy You"). Definitive? Maybe not. Essential? Definitely. minimize