I've been writing so much about Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Classic Rock lately, I thought I'd take a bit of a rest and talk about some country music. I was looking through the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and there is some country albums in the book. But, to me, there are some glaring omissions. Of course, Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison and Live at San Quentin are listed in the book. There is some George Jones, Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Dwight Yoakam. But, for me, the albums that are highlighted in the book are not the ones I would have included. So, I'm going to cheat a little bit here. In the book, the only Waylon Jennings album listed is Honky Tonk Heroes.
I brought up the album online and listened to it, it sounds good. But, I can't write a "memory" from something I only heard online once. My fondness of country music is relatively new. But, I've definitely come to appreciate the genre and one of the greats is Waylon Jennings. Waylon & Willie Nelson had the album Wanted! The Outlaws along with Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter. This was the first country album to go platinum which means it sold one MILLION copies.
Well, the criteria for the book 1001 Albums is that the albums can't be compilations of previously released materials. This is actually a compilation album including stuff from Waylon's Honky Tonk Heroes. But, it's also an album I wanted to reminisce about. So, I will touch on this one I've Always Been Crazy and the album Ol' Waylon.
My earliest memory of Waylon Jennings is from my sister Kathy. Back when John Travolta was in the movie Urban Cowboy, my sister went from listening to the Bee Gees and Donna Summer to the Oak Ridge Boys and Waylon Jennings. I don't remember hearing the albums. But, I remember the records she used to get from Columbia House changed from bands like Queen to Waylon Jennings. This new wave of country was sweeping the country...at least it seemed to be in my world. I think she had a copy of Waylon Live. But, it wasn't until years later that everything started to register in my mind.
I remember in the early 70's as our family would load up the station wagon and head from North Platte to Creighton, NE to visit my grandparents and cousins. As we would drive north, we would lose the radio signal from the stations we were familiar with at home. So, my dad would find a radio station to tune into. I remember somehow getting tuned into Ralph Emery and some kind of country countdown show. So, I remember hearing Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys and Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love). My sister and I would make fun of the twang in their voices and laugh about the song. We would drive some more(it was about a 5-6 hour drive) and most likely we would hear it again. About 1978, we drove over to Iowa for a great uncle and aunt's anniversary celebration. So, we heard it even more.
Fast forward to my college years and my years at Dustys Records. I had been working at Dustys for awhile. My coworkers-Bob and Forrest were my buddies. We were like a three headed monster known as DaveBobForrest when we'd go to college parties and the bars. But, the great thing about the three of us is the mutual respect we had for each others likes in music. Forrest was into punk and college alternative stuff like R.E.M., the Replacements, Husker Du, the Clash and the Smiths. I felt like I was the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal guy. But, I wasn't blind to the fact some of over-the-top Hair Bands of the time really did....um well suck! Bob....well, Bob was a sponge when it came to musical tastes. He would hear a great song and latch onto it. Bob was a “Heart of America” rocking guy. He liked John Mellencamp. He had a love for the sound of a 12 string (and 6 string) acoustic guitars. Bob came from the small town of Valentine Nebraska and kept a secret underneath his rocking exterior. One day, Bob says to me,"Dave, I've had this certain song going in my head and I'm thinking about buying it on CD." The mutual respect was so strong at this point that I felt he really wanted to share a certain side with me. But, he wasn't sure of how I'd react. I said, "Uh...Okay..Well what is it?" He replied, "The song is Amarillo by Morning by George Strait". I basically told him at that point to just go ahead and get it because I really didn't see a big deal. I didn't know the song anyway. He bought George's Greatest Hits. Bob put that CD on and he knew every word on that entire album. It was hilarious to me that this guy who wanted to come across as a rocker from a small town was a bigger country fan than he ever let on. From there, I remember Bob put on Waylon's Greatest hits too and knew the words verbatim on that one too. It seems strange today because tastes have changed. If you said you were a rock kinda guy and liked country....your rock friends might make fun of you or ooooh not even talk to you. Dustys was located in the middle of Kearney Nebraska which is technically in the middle of the United States. Dusty was a fan of country and would play country a lot in the store. But, by the time I would come to work, I was ready to listen to my albums which didn't have any country to them. Forrest was a big Dwight Yoakam fan and I still am fond of his early work...(hint..I'll be writing some Dwight memories)
As years went by, Bob actually bought me George Strait's greatest hits for my 25th birthday and I still cherish it and I love to sing along to Amarillo by Morning whenever I get a chance. I actually began to love country music myself. But, I always considered it simple to play and not much of a drumming challenge. But, therein the simplicity is the challenge. In 2001, when the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? was popular, I went headlong crazy into the album because the music was devoid of big production and had a very "earthy" feel to it. It was like great pair of well-worn jeans. It just fit and was comfortable. I set about putting together a compilation of simple country music that harkened back to the days of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. I downloaded Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) and was constantly listening to it. It summed up about how I felt my marriage was like. I felt my wife and I were trying to be some kind of perfect couple like our couples friends and were trying to obtain so many material goods.
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love
In the spring of 2004, I was asked to play drums for Classic Rock/Country band known as Custom Made. This band eventually become the Lost Outlaw Band that I've been playing with since 2007. Obviously, some of the songs in the set were for Waylon Jennings. The band was made up of 3 brothers..Scott, Aaron and Nick. Scott had a voice perfect for Waylon Jennings songs. So, our set consisted of songs like Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way, I'm a Ramblin' Man and Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).
Once again, my overconfidence in thinking I could play this "simple" country backfired on me. I would try to infuse some kind of funky, double bass stuff into these songs. Like AC/DC, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, the simplicity of the drumming is the beauty of how this stuff works. For the longest time, I thought the drummer for Waylon was Willie Nelson's drummer Paul English. Last summer, I read Waylon's Autobiography and found out it was Ritchie Albright. I'm sure Ritchie was not a schooled drummer. So, it's his unorthodox style that really makes it work for Waylon. When the chorus kicks in for Good Hearted Woman, it's as if he's playing straight eighth notes on the hi-hat but the snare and bass drum are in a country swing. Ritchie played on most of Waylon's albums through the 70's. I am stilled blown away by his style that is featured on many country classics by Waylon.
Three years ago, I rejoined my band cohorts from Custom Made who had changed the band name to the Lost Outlaw Band. Instead of trying to conquer classic rock stuff, they decided to play on their strengths in the country field. By this time, they had added another 2 or 3 Waylon songs to the setlists. The new songs included Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand, Lonesome Onry and Mean, and Amanda. Once again, I figured they were easy to play and not a challenge for me. The challenge was to keep the tempo solid and not speed it up.
Last year, I read Waylon's Autobiography and dove headlong into his life and music. I bought a 3 pack of Waylon CD's of Lonesome Onry and Mean, Ol' Waylon, and I've Always Been Crazy. About a year or so earlier, my ex-wife wanted me to make a copy of the Outlaw album. So, I made a copy for me and her as well. I just drank it all in. Even as I write this, I have recently overdosed myself musically with Hard Rock and Classic Rock. So, this dose of Waylon has just settled my nerves and made me long for some more gigs with my bandmates in the Lost Outlaw Band. I love playing this stuff and I can't wait to get at it again.
So, with Waylon, Dustys Records and the Lost Outlaw band, I developed a love for this kind of country music that sticks with me and continues to recharge me when I least expect it. What's great about Waylon is his love of music plain and simple. I wish I had his autobiography in front of me now to give some examples. But, as I look at albums like Wanted! The Outlaws, Ol' Waylon and I've Always been Crazy, I'm reminded of Waylon's love of songs by some of the covers he tackles on these albums. Songs like Suspicious Minds, Lucille, Sweet Caroline, I Walk the Line and Medleys by Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly(recorded with original Crickets' members Jerry Allison and Joe Mauldin).
Waylon even tells the story of a cocaine bust with Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand where he was recording and drug bust was in progress because the Fed Ex package of cocaine was somewhere in the studio. Of course, the great characteristic of country music is the ability to spin tales and tell stories in the song.
I'm usually critical about people who seem to become fans of an artist after they died. The coincidental thing is that I'm guilty of the same thing. I became an over-the-top fan of the Beatles after John Lennon died. I had heard the music playing around me without knowing who it was. I really didn't know who John Bonham and Led Zeppelin was till after he had died. I had been a fan of Johnny Cash since I was a child. So, that wasn't the case when he died. I knew the music of Waylon all of my life. But, it wasn't till after he died and I played his music and learned his story that I truly appreciated it.
Another note about Waylon, one of the reasons I wanted to choose the album Ol' Waylon is because I remember years ago that Dusty took me over to the Country LP's section of the store, showed me the album cover for Ol' Waylon and told me that the title graphics for this album were the inspiration for the Dustys Records logo with the dripping paint from the letters. I've had people tell me they thought the Dustys logo was letters with dripping blood. But, I was quick to correct them and that it was not blood but "Ol' Waylon"
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