Waylon- King of the Outlaws

[Matt G]

Before he went outlaw

"Before"?

 

[rarebreed]

I went to a Willie Nelson concert at Celebrity Theater years ago and Waylon made an appearance. He sang a little, but didn't play guitar. He sat on a stool, and looked pretty rough, but he was in a good mood and cracked a lot of jokes. It was a good expierence, and I'glad I got to see him one last time.

Amen to that. I went to see Willie years ago as well and Waylon showed up un-announced. When he walked on stage the fans in that arena went nuts. Great show.

 

[Toto'sDad]

My mom was a huge Waylon fan. When I worked for PBS in Dallas we had Waylon & Kristofferson (with wives) in studio. It happened to be mom’s birthday & I asked Waylon if he would wish her a happy birthday. He said yes & I called mom. She answers & Waylon said, “Happy birthday, Billie. This is Waylon Jennings”. Of course she thought this was BS and said so. Waylon tried to convince her but to her it still was a birthday joke. He handed me the phone & I tried to tell mom that this really was Waylon. She still wasn’t buying it. Waylon too the phone back and began singing Amanda. That’s when my mom realized she had been wished happy birthday & serenaded by here favorite country singer.
That may have been her best birthday & present

Great story! Man, you were lucky to have had the stars align and do something that cool for your mom, good memory for all concerned. I'll bet even Waylon enjoyed the whole thing!

 

[Mike Eskimo]

 

[Toto'sDad]

Cool videos Mike of the north. I really liked ol' Waylon, and I didn't realize he and Jesse had been together so long. Somehow I thought they got together after he was sporting long hair and such. You could see the life was starting to sink into his face in the second video. The man harvested some fine things in life, Jesse was not the least of them.

 

[rad1]

"Before"?

Ya, most of those guys started in a traditional way.

Here is Willie Nelson

 

[Toto'sDad]

Willie still didn't have it quite worked out, but this is where he was just beginning to become the Willie we would all come to love. It takes him a while to get going, stay with it, and you'll hear a little of the Willie he would become.

 

[rad1]

Willie still didn't have it quite worked out, but this is where he was just beginning to become the Willie we would all come to love. It takes him a while to get going, stay with it, and you'll hear a little of the Willie he would become.

I have always loved that song, it stayed with him as he became an outlaw. You are correct, his patented Willie drawl was not quite there yet in that video. It was close at the 1/2 way point.

 

[Matt G]

Ya, most of those guys started in a traditional way.

I think Waylon was an outlaw from the moment the doctor slapped his baby backside.

This him and Buddy Holly in 1959:

 

[rad1]

I think Waylon was an outlaw from the moment the doctor slapped his baby backside.

This him and Buddy Holly in 1959:

View attachment 524569

Makes sense, but I think he played the traditional country game in the early years getting established.

 

[telleutelleme]

I think it was 1992 or 1993 the Fraternities at Texas A&M held a BBQ near Lake Summerville in a park that had a covered area. They hired Waylon to play, but the place had no electricity. They backed up his bus and tractor trailer and somehow ran power out of them and he and his band put on a great show. The tickets were $15.00. He walked around talking to folks and seemed to really enjoy being there. I was glad I got to see him.

 

[Viejo]

I still love to listen to anything with Waylon and Mooney on it.

 

[stxrus]

What is commonly called “outlaw country” we called “cosmic cowboy”. It may have been chemically induced or an offshoot of the “country rock” we (I) grew up with.
About the time metal was becoming popular I got into country music. I feel my life is much richer for it

 

[rad1]

What is commonly called “outlaw country” we called “cosmic cowboy”. It may have been chemically induced or an offshoot of the “country rock” we (I) grew up with.
About the time metal was becoming popular I got into country music. I feel my life is much richer for it

Yup. I never did metal, but loved country and country inspired rock.

 

[O- Fender]

In addition to the music, some interviews were amazing.
There's also the legendary time he was scheduled to be on Tom Snyder. He was second guest and the first went over time. Feeling insulted, Waylon walked away. Snyder was left with about 20 minutes to fill by himself.
Then there was others talking about the wild times with Waylon:

 

[ndcaster]

this one's for J



didn't really get this song till later though

 

[Toto'sDad]

I really liked the way Waylon played guitar, not trying to show out with it, just playing enough licks to fill in so the vocals stayed the focus of the song. He was a master of doing a lot without seeming to.

 

[cosmiccowboy]

Great vids man! Jessi looks scared to death or a little too high

 

[haggardfan1]

Waylon had a voice and range right up there with Roy Orbison imho. You don't really get it from the outlaw material; but I had every Waylon album in the seventies. Some of the album tracks gave me chills.

I'll always miss him.

 

[BWNadeau]

Casual brilliance:

My favorite song - period.