Listening to Late Early and Early Mid-Career Waylon

I don’t own the two best Waylon Jennings records—Honky Tonk Heroes and Dreaming My Dreams—on vinyl. Just puny CD’s, I’m ashamed to say. You should own them yourself in whatever format works for you. That disclaimer aside, let’s begin the Waylon vinyl discussion with some late early and early mid-career records.

First up is Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan from 1967. On this one, Waylon performs the compositions of the great Harlan Howard. Although this record (produced by Chet Atkins) does have some Nashville mid-sixties gloss—the background girl chorus vocals don’t sweeten as much as annoy–Waylon does honor to the material with his commanding voice and musical drive (is it Waylon and his band or session pros playing on the record?). I’m not so sure these are the definitive version of Howard’s songs—”She’s Gone, Gone, Gone”; “Tiger by the Tail”; “Foolin’ ‘Round” don’t quite match up to the Buck Owens versions (although maybe that’s because I know the Buck versions so well). Nevertheless, when you hear Waylon belt out “Busted” or “Heartaches by the Number” or mournfully croon “Beautiful Annabel Lee” or “In This Very Same Room” you know that this here is a country singer who stands out from the Nashville pack. A damn fine record.

Next up is 1971’s Singer of Sad Songs produced by Lee Hazlewood. I think the hipster in Waylon liked working with the oddball, hipster Hazlewood. On the cover photo greasy-haired Waylon doesn’t look so sad as he does pissed off. As powerful as Waylon sounds on the Harlan Howard record, he sounds so much more upfront and assured on this one. The Nashville sweetening is diminished, the arrangements are simpler (dig Waylon’s stark and soulful version of “No Regrets”), the Waylon beat is more prominent (check out “Ragged But Right”), the lead guitar is dirtier, the background vocals (including Waylon’s trademark doubletracked vocals) are less sacharine, the influences of folk rock and sixties rock in general is evident but they sound organic rather than forced, except for the one disappointment: Waylon’s prissy version of “Honky Tonk Women”—yuck! (interestingly, the allmusic review of this record lists Billy Joe Shavers’ “Honky Tonk Heroes” in place of “Honky Tonk Women.” What gives? Is this a typo or do I have an earlier version of the album?) His interpretation of the oft-covered “If I Were A Carpenter” is a lot more credible by comparison.

Coming up next: More Waylon!