1973-1975 were some years for Waylon Jennings. He put out five or six fantastic records, three of them—Honky Tonk Heroes, This Time, Dreaming My Dreams—were stone classics. It’s only by the exalted standards of that trio of wax slabs that 1974’s Ramblin’ Man is just a so-so Waylon record. It’s a bit less subtle and seamless than those discs, but it’s got its fine moments: chief among them his cover of The Allman Brother’s “Midnight Rider.” It’s the perfect song for Waylon’s soulful bellow and his patented sound—that mix of Buddy Holly, blues, and Johnny Cash that I described in the previous post. The title track (not penned by Waylon) is more in the cliched Waylon Outlaw bag than “Midnight Rider,” but it doesn’t move me near as much. Waylon’s own “Rainy Day Woman” kicks ass. Those are the highlights from Side A.
While the ass-kickers reside on Side A, the sensitive side of Waylon, the balladeer resides on Side B. At this point in his career, Waylon knew his way around a ballad—he could caress a song with his voice as well as he could authoritatively bellow them out in his uptempo numbers. While I dig Waylon’s take on “Amanda” and some others on this side, they aren’t a patch on his ballad performances on This Time and Dreaming My Dreams. Pleasant enough stuff…
How live was Waylon Live? That’s what I wonder. Knowing what we know about the studio sweetening of so-called “live” albums (not to mention the information on the back cover which says the record was recorded “Live” in 1974. The record was released in 1976), we can wonder about overdubs, crowd noise and such. And RCA, notable for their horrible cover art, shows that every expense was spared with the cheesy, ten cent painted portraits of Waylon on the front cover. Ah, but who really cares? This probable cash-in on Waylon’s success (or contractual obligation filler) is a nice showcase for Waylon’s super live band, notably the fantastic steel guitarist Ralph Mooney. You can’t argue with the material—”T For Texas”; “Rainy Day Woman”; fine versions of Willie Nelson’s “Me and Paul” and “Pick Up the Tempo”; good interpretations of “House of the Rising Sun” and “Me and Bobby McGee”; Waylon doing a country weeper, “The Last Letter”; Waylon doing Waylon, “This Time.” Sure woulda been great to see ol’ Waylon “Live” back in 1974.
