“Well, I’m taking this one,” Richie Albright told to Waylon Jennings, meaning he was willing to be the fall guy for the cocaine package. Waylon recalled in his autobiography, “Sometimes I thought Richie would’ve leapt in front of a freight train for me.” But Waylon wouldn’t allow it this time.
Richie Albright was the most important drummer in country music history, and one of the most influential side players in the genre ever, and did it from an instrument traditionally frown upon in country music for stepping out, if even being present. “There’s another way of doing things, and that’s rock ‘n roll,” is the quote.
There are many legendary country songs, and many legendary country songwriters. But few songs are as synonymous with country music to the point where they’re so well-recognized and can be recited by those well outside the country fold like “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys.”
The second night of a two-night residency at the The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville—a.k.a the “Mother Church of Country Music”—Waylon Jennings held court with a now legendary band, and numerous special guests. It did constitute a proper final bow.
“She said Jimmy Rabbitt turned her on to my last album” is the line from David Allan Coe’s infamous song “Longhaired Redneck” where many got clued into this man’s importance. But his legacy goes much deeper as both a DJ and a performer.
Billy Joe Shaver wasn’t just a musical legend and icon, or an “Outlaw” as we like to call the artists who work outside of the Nashville system. He was a hero, in both music, and in life. What is a hero? A hero is someone who illustrates a level of bravery well beyond what most would be willing to.
The heart and soul of the songs and words of the American country music Outlaw movement has passed on. Billy Joe Shaver, with only three fingers on his right hand and an 8th grade education left an indelible mark on country music that will never be worn down.
Songwriter, performer, producer, and record label owner Ray Pennington was killed Wednesday, October 7th in a house fire in Sumner County in a rural part of Hendersonville, just north and east of Nashville. He’s known for writing “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” for Waylon Jennings.
It’s worth noting that Rolling Stone’s new updated version of their “500 Best Albums of All Time” significantly diminishes iconic titles from the classic country canon. Not only were some titles downgraded, some were eliminated entirely.
Let’s be honest. Do we really need yet even more new versions of old country songs? But the wildcard here, and what makes this record worth turning your attention to is that you have the once-in-a-lifetime voice of the great Josh Turner gracing these classic songs.
Already a much-deserved nominee for the Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of the Year in 2018 (the kid can downright blaze Tele licks), and having played some 2,000 shows, don’t let the fresh face fool you. Daniel Donato’s more seasoned than some 40-year-olds.
Waylon Payne is the name you turn to when you need a ringer of a song to really anchor a record, and that is what names like Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, Wade Bowen, Charlie Robison, Pam Tillis, and many more have been doing for a while. But those who know Waylon Payne know he’s just as fit to be a performer.
The legendary performance of Waylon Jennings at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on August 12th, 1978 was finally reissued to the public on May 15th in DVD form. Now it has also finally been made available On Demand on Amazon via Eagle Rock Entertainment.
Those that know Waylon Jennings know that one of the primary contributions he brought to country music was importing a little bit of across-the-tracks rock ‘n’ roll influence into the genre. Unlike many modern country performers, Waylon did it with a respect for the original roots of country music, but he undoubtedly did it.
Hold My Beer Vol. 2 is like a love letter to classic country from a Texas perspective. In many respects, it’s a country music album about country music. Along the way though, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen don’t forget to have some fun. After all, that’s the underlying reason for this project.
Any hardcore Waylon Jennings fan worth their salt knows all about what’s been affectionately coined over the years as “The Outlaw Performance” where Waylon Jennings held court at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville in 1978. However obtaining a full copy of the concert has been difficult.
“Nashville.” Oh how people love to wag a dirty finger in its direction as this monolithic homogenized reprehensible blob-like entity looming on the horizon, responsible for all the current ills in country music and some of the cultural filth beyond.
For many in the Texas and Red Dirt realm, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen are their #1 and #1A favorite performers. And when they combine their efforts, that appeal is amplified. Though neither imbibes in really strong traditional country in their respective primary projects, when they get together, the fiddle and steel guitar comes to the top.
It’s the job of a drummer to be heard and not seen. Naming the “greatest” of anything is always a subjective exercise. But this isn’t just a skills competition. Influence, importance to culture, and intangibles beyond drumming all factored into the selection of the below names, and why they should be regarded as the greatest.
Pedal steel guitar playing legend Robby Turner has been hospitalized after a serious automobile accident on Tuesday morning (12-31-19). Known for being the pedal steel player behind The Highwaymen and Waylon Jennings in the latter half of Waylon’s career, as well as playing on records from Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton.
Shooter Jennings and Lukas Nelson got together to recreate the magic of their famous fathers on a new rendition of “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” originally written and performed by Ed Bruce with his wife Patsy. But of course you only get a teaser version of the song in the opening segment of ‘The Ranch.’
Any frustration you might have experienced with The Mavericks for not releasing an original album this year is chased pretty quickly when they light into their version of “Swingin'” made popular by John Anderson, and then “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” written and recorded by Waylon Waymore Watasha Jennings.
The original Willis Alan Ramsey album released in 1972 is the stuff of legend. Considered one of the very foundations of the Austin music scene that was just starting to emerge as a point of national interest at the time, the enigmatic songwriter recorded 11 original songs for Leon Russell’s Shelter label, and they would go on to be covered…
When the Ken Burns documentary was first announced a few years ago, the hope was the film could act like a big reset button on the status of country music, and give a boost to many of the songs and artists abandoned by radio in the present day. It has been a big boon in sales and streams for many of the classic country artists featured.