Waylon Jennings - The Complete MCA Recordings
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Free Music Notes for The Complete MCA Recordings
Free Music Review: Waylon - The Untouchable Country Music Man at MCA
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a truly outstanding CD set and it is a "must have" for every serious Waylon fan. The audiobiography on Disc #2 provides a heartwarming glimpse into this legend's ability as a writer, singer, and story teller. A true genius, the likes of which we probably will never again see. Free Music Review: "I DON'T EXPLAIN IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND." ...Waylon "Trouble Man" Jennings
Hit: 4 Stars
At one time I owned, individually, all four of the WAYLON JENNINGS albums collected in this 2-disc set: WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE? ('85) / HANGIN' TOUGH ('87) / A MAN CALLED HOSS ('87) / FULL CIRCLE ('88). Then one night in 1995, Julie Newmar, Susan Dey, Valerie Bertinelli, Judy Norton, Sally Field, Gene Tierney, and Dolly Parton broke into my house. The first six held me down and - Oh! - the things Dolly said she would do to me unless I gave them my Waylon CDs. Well naturally, not being a total lunatic, I turned over the Waylon discs, and back out through the bathroom window those women went. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I was a victim of strong-arm robbery, but it was either that or death by suffocation...that is, AFTER the unspeakable acts of mind-melting, "Mama!"-crying torture that would have been perpetrated upon my body - a fate worse than life itself!
Now I'll admit that initially I thought perhaps this all occurred while I was sleeping because at one time or another, I have fantasized about all of those women (except for the gang's bigwig, of course), and also because Gene Tierney looked awfully alluring for a woman four years dead - and let's face it, that Parton part smacked of Nightmare City! And why MY Waylon albums? Why wouldn't they have just sent Chauffeur James out to get their own? I couldn't say, yet mysteriously, all four of these Waylon discs were missing in the morning and I discovered that I now had some rather interesting bruises.
At any rate, I just recently reacquired those four Waylon albums that were stolen from me, by purchasing THE COMPLETE MCA RECORDINGS. And I gotta tell ya, they sound every bit as good as I remembered. Well, to be Cowboy Code honest, Disc One (WOLF & TOUGH) is a bit uneven. Oh, heck yeah, there are some first-rate Waylon cuts here: The bittersweet WHERE DOES LOVE GO?; the barking THAT DOG WON'T HUNT; the humorously sexy I'VE GOT ME A WOMAN; the #1 C&W hit ROSE IN PARADISE, with its nimble, smoky Country pickin'; and the raw, fully rollin' and half rockin' duet with Johnny "Man In Black" Cash, EVEN COWGIRLS GET THE BLUES.
But while Waylon's terrifically expressive baritone rumbles through everything with its trademark intensity that conveys an "approach cautiously" warning, there is some (what I would term) "filler" here. This is not a defanged Waylon, but a Waylon perhaps a bit long in the tooth, fairly tame and satisfied to just snarl from his comfortable spot on the front porch rather than charging across the yard to take a big ol' bite out of some knuckleheaded trespasser.
But now we address Disc Two, and the return of the DANGEROUS OUTLAW, the REAL Waylon "Waymore" Jennings:
Track one through eleven constitutes Waylon's audiobiography, A MAN CALLED HOSS; each song representing a chapter in his legendary life. It opens with LITTLEFIELD, a high-powered Country Swing piece that has the sweet fiddle juxtaposed with Waylon's "bulldozing" electric guitar clearing the way and announcing the Outlaw's return in no uncertain terms: "I'll bet I was the only boy that was ever expelled from Sunday school / Lover, fighter, wild horse-rider, and purdy dern good windmill-maker / Look out world, here I come!"
The whole album's a winner: Sad, rough and rowdy, tender, and just flat-out rocking. "Sometimes it's hard to live like I was raised, trying to survive these modern days the old-fashioned way", Waylon sings in the closer, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?, just before launching into a full-blown electric guitar and tenor saxophone blitzkrieg to the fade out, and tearing us a new one in the process. (Crank it up!)
And if anything, FULL CIRCLE (tracks 12-21) is even better: "I was so ugly, the doctor slapped my Mama when I was born" is the hilarious opening line of TROUBLE MAN, which quickly transforms into a ferocious Maverick Man anthem. Watch it! This ol' boy ain't bluffin'; this one BITES! And Waylon never sounded better.
FULL CIRCLE moves from touching ballads evoking pathos to blistering Country rockers with Waylon's guitar snapping and that guttural growl in his voice enough to scare the hell out of demons!
Shortly after FULL CIRCLE's release, I went to see the Outlaw perform at a small club in Los Angeles. On the way there, I wondered if he'd have enough guts to sing HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH TO LIVE IN L.A.?, a funny critique of Angeleno insanity. Ha! He wasn't called an "outlaw" for nothing...he sang it, much to my delight. (And I didn't see anyone stand up and tell him, "Hey, you can't do that song HERE!")
This collection closes with the bonus track, a duet with John Anderson, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN RAGGED AND RIGHT - a real wang dang doodle!
WAYLON JENNINGS: THE COMPLETE MCA RECORDINGS (including a nice booklet) is a great buy, whether you're already a Waylon fan, or just about to discover the greatest singer to ever emerge from the Country-Western genre. I'm so glad to have this music again after that unfortunate little incident way back when.
Wait a minute - there's someone at the door. It sounds like a gaggle of girls. Probably selling Girl Scout cookies. I'll be right back...
Free Music Review: A different Waylon...
Hit: 5 Stars
This was a different era for Waylon. He moved to MCA, was using many studio musicians (but he still used his bass player, Jerry Bridges, studio ace and Waylon regular Reggie Young, and even the future head of his horn section, Jim Horn), and didn't start introducing his own compositions, really, until the last two albums, A Man Called Hoss and Full Circle which, in my opinion, are the two best of his MCA era. Even though he was moving back to a fuller, more polished sound with his last few RCA albums, the sound with MCA was... quite different. In a way, it was the Nashville Sound all over again. Waylon said in his autobiography that he didn't feel right with these albums -- he felt like he wasn't good enough, in a way. I believe he said his heavy smoking was hurting his voice, and it could be heard. In my opinion, he turns out some of the best vocal performances of his career on these albums. His voice was once again sounding fresh and rich -- sober, if you like.
The sound here is fine. It's DDD (all digital), so don't look for the analog warmth that you might hear on Honky Tonk Heroes or the DCC Dreaming My Dreams, because you won't find it. The last two albums don't sound as sterile. They sound much more natural. A Man Called Hoss is just a great sounding album. As we progress through the set the electronic drums and big digital reverb sound goes away a bit and, like I said, the sound is quite good on the last two albums. From a technical perspective, these are well produced albums, but, of course, there are some '80s sounds here, particularly the electronic drums. Waylon's performances are fantastic, though, and that's all that matters.
I have given this set 5 stars because any Waylon fan would, I imagine, be very pleased to have these four albums on a two CD set. The bonus tracks are also very nice. If you're familiar with Waylon's MCA years, this set will be a welcome addition to your collection. Don't buy this expecting the "outlaw" Waylon, because he's not here. But Waylon didn't have to be an outlaw to be badass, and he proves that on these albums. The production is slick, many of the songs (particularly on the first two albums) are from outside songwriters, and sometimes there are sounds that you wouldn't expect from Waylon's music, but overall the music is very good because of one key factor: Waylon Arnold Jennings.
Waylon fans, you'll love this.
(By the way, does anyone else think the title "Full Circle" was Waylon's way of saying he realised he was back to the "Nashville Sound" and whatnot and was not pleased with it? Food for thought...)
Free Music Review: 80's Waymore
Hit: 4 Stars
This album is a collection of the recordings that Waylon made for MCA upon leaving RCA in 1986 after 20+ years with Nipper. You will find all four MCA albums in their entirety plus two bonus tracks. These records marked a departure from Waylon's approach to making records during his heyday. For example, there is a much greater dependence on/use of studio musicians and Nashville songwriters. The one exception to this from a songwriting standpoint is the audio-biography "A Man Called Hoss".~ The albums were co-produced by Waylon & Jimmy Bowen, recorded digitally and have a very clean, crisp sound to them.There are a few interesting covers, such as Los Lobos' 'Will The Wolf Survive', Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' and Sammy Johns' 'Chevy Van'. Personally, I think the two best of these albums are his MCA debut, "Will The Wolf Survive" and $Q
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