Waylon Jennings Album: “Are You Ready For the Country”

It was back in the late 1970's and I was a teenager who loved to listen to Waylon. These songs are classic "outlaw" waylon at it's best. Back in the mid 1970's Waylon released "Are You Ready For The Country" continuing on in the tradition of "Ramblin' Man", "This Time", "Honky Tonk Heroes" and the other albums he had been doing since breaking free from the "Nashville" production on the earlier sessions (they were good, but sounded like all the other Country artists on RCA at the time)... Waylon however wanted to do it his way and nowhere is it more evident than on "Are You Ready For The Country".

This set begins with the rocking title cut then he eases down with "So Good Woman" which sounds like it must have been directed straight at Jessi "You know I've run around all my life/You could've done better cause you've been a good wife"

"Them Old Love Songs" is the third track and talks about someones wish to find a love "like people do in them old love songs"... I could go on and on, but one of my favorites on here is "MacArthurs Park". Waylon had done a version with a female vocalist back in the last 1970's but the Nashville people put strings, horns and flutes in it. This time Waylon did it his way, singing all the vocals and using his band with the trademark sound of Ralph Mooney's steel guitar taking front and center. There is also the tribute to Buddy Holly here called "Old Friend" among others that are just plain good music.

This CD continues with the lp "What Goes Around" which starts off with "Ain't Living Long Like This", goes into the title cut and the first four songs are toe tappers, one of the best of which is "I've Got The Train Settin' Waitin", but then it gets weird with "It's The World's Gone Crazy" ("the dancer's are dancin' alone/the sidemen all want to be frontmen and the front men all want to go home... just an example of the lyrics on that weird little tune)... Side two of that album showed a more laid back smoothe Waylon starting with "Ivory Tower" then the story song "Out Among The Stars" about a down and out young man who "can't find a job but has found a gun" and holds up a liquor store, then the classic "Come With Me"... there are more tunes here but I've hit the hilites on two of my favorite Waylon lps of all time and they've put them together on this one CD... What more could you ask for?

Waylon Jennings'

(1976) is mostly an album of thoughtful and sentimental outlaw reflections, but it includes some songs that are on the rowdy side, too. Waylon looks back through his past in Old Friend, a song he wrote about Buddy Holly. Then he celebrates his wife in So Good Woman, and contemplates faith in the spiritual Precious Memories. Accepting the inevitable, he sings the lament of an aging outlaw coming to terms with the reality of a failed May/December romance in A Couple More Years.

I've walked a couple more roads than you baby, that's all

I'm tired of running and you're only learning to crawl

And you're going somewhere, but I've been to somewhere

And found it was nowhere at all

And I've picked up a couple of more years on you baby, that's all.

Jennings does a great version of Jimmy Webb's MacArthur Park (Revisited). Waylon had said he always thought of the sentimental classic as a country song.

I recall the yellow cotton dress

Foaming like a wave

On the ground around your knees

The birds, like tender babies in your hands

And old men playing checkers by the trees.

Are You Ready For The Country isn't all sentimental reflections and comfortable country songs, either. This guy can rock, too. Waylon was a member of Buddy Holly's touring band, and was giving 'em hell way back when rock n' roll was still in it's infancy. The title song was written by Neil Young, and this version sounds even better than Neil's. That's saying a lot coming from me, as Harvest is one of my all-time favorite albums. Waylon nails The Marshall Tucker Band's Can't You See, too, with a spirited vocal performance and highly charged backup from his band. It was during this mid-to-late 1970s period that Waylon Jennings recorded his best work (Dreaming My Dreams, Honky Tonk Heroes, Waylon Live, and others), and I would consider this album an essential part of that era.

The pairing of these two albums appears a little odd but many of Waylon's seventies albums had already been released on CD. Still, both albums are well worth hearing and Waylon's fans everywhere will welcome this twofer.

The first album here (Are you ready for the country) was recorded when Waylon was at the peak of the outlaw phase of his career. Apart from the brilliant title track, it features many other outstanding songs including Can't you see (written by Toy Caldwell of the Marshall Tucker Band), MacArthur Park (an incredible version of this classic song), Couple more years (also recorded by Dr Hook at around the same time), Old friend (about Buddy Holly) and Precious memories (the gospel classic).

The second album (What goes around) was recorded just three years later but by that time Waylon's sound had changed somewhat. The style may be different but the music is still brilliant. On this album, the first five tracks are generally up-tempo while the second five are generally slower, more reflective. The album opens with I ain't living long like this (a Rodney Crowell song also recorded by Emmylou) but my favorites here are It's the world's gone crazy (the lyrics may seem crazy at first but the song makes sense if you listen to it a few times), Ivory tower and Come with me.

Most of Waylon's seventies albums are now available on CD. If you are a Waylon fan, make sure that you buy them before they go out of print. This twofer may not be the highest priority among those available but it is certainly deserving of a place in any collection of Waylon's music.

Waylon Jennings has a great timbre to his voice that brings a touching melancholy quality to every song he sings.

A must for anyone who loves music and for the country music lovers too. Fantastic voice, great performances. One of the best, if not the best, country music records I have.