Waylon Jennings Album: “Hangin' Tough”

First let me say that this is a very good CD. I now own my third copy of this recording. The first two were on cassette tape, and then a few years ago, I found the CD.

Now, this is not the CD to buy if you're trying to discover the Waylon "sound". For that, I'd recommend "Honky Tonk Heroes", "Ramblin Man" or "The Essential Waylon Jennings". However, like his "pre outlaw" material, this serves to show a different (and usually overlooked) period of Waylon's musical career. As the mid 1980s approached, the arrival of new singers on the COuntry Music scene found some of the guys who'd been around for a while in search of a new style. Waylon was no exception. When he signed with MCA, gone was the "outlaw" sound he had created while on RCA and new was the more polished modern Waylon sound.

This CD opens with a mid tempo sort of rocker called "Baker Street", and then there is the beautiful "I Can't Help The Way I Don't Feel About You" followed by the classic

"Rose In Paradise".

"Crying Don't Even Come Close" is another beautiful slow song with lots of steel guitar. "The Crown Prince" is quite a haunting story song, while "Chevy Van" and "Defying Gravity (Executiner's Song)" just leave you wondering why Waylon chose to include them in this otherwise good album.

This is one Waylon Jennings best and most forgotton recordings. He puts so much more feelings in this recording then some of his later recordings. Great listen. One of my favorites Rose in Pardise.

I've had this album/CD since it came out and listen to it quite frequently. It is good; no matter what the critic from Emap Magazine indicates in his review. I definitely did not perceive it as being pompous, humorless and out of date. Waylon was hangin' tough when he made this recording and still is. A great addition to any Waylon fan's collection.