Waylon Jennings “Outlaw Performance” Now Available Digitally
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.
Featuring one the most legendary lineups of Waylon’s backing band including Ralph Mooney on steel guitar, Richie Albright on drums, and a big flashing Waylon Flying “W” as a backdrop, it’s arguably one of the best performances Waylon ever gave, with multiple cameras and high-quality audio equipment there to record it all. Comprised of 16 songs, including many of Waylon’s signature hits, it captures the country music Outlaw at the height of his powers.
The release includes the entire hour-long concert as opposed to some previous releases that only included excerpts of certain moments. Snippets from the concert have lived on YouTube and such, and it was released previously in 1994 on VHS, with copies going for $80.00+ on the resale market.
Many enterprising Waylon fans have also turned the concert into an audio bootleg over the years, which for what it’s worth, is probably the best live record from Waylon you can find. A version of the concert was released on CD in Europe in 2015, and was taken from the WSM live broadcast that accompanied the performance.
The DVD version also includes a “Friends Remember The Outlaw” segment featuring 1990 interviews with George Jones, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and drummer Richie Albright, all taking about the importance and legacy of Waylon. In the segment, George Jones talks about how Waylon once paid off some of his outstanding debts when he was at a low point, and Johnny Cash talked about the time in 1985 when he called Waylon up in a panic needing a guitar player in Toronto when his left on an emergency. Instead of procuring one for Cash, Waylon decided to travel to Toronto and fill in on guitar himself.
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Purchase “The Outlaw Performance” on DVD
Rent or Purchase “The Outlaw Performance” Digitally
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Track List:
1. Are You Ready For The Country?
2. Lonesome, On’ry and Mean
3. Waymore’s Blues
4. Amanda
5. A Long Time Ago
6. Jack A Diamonds
7. Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
8. This Time
9. You Asked Me To
10. I’ve Always Been Crazy
11. Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out Of Hand
12. Good Hearted Woman
13. Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
14. Luckenbach, Texas
15. Honky Tonk Heroes
16. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
sbach66
June 4, 2020 @ 8:11 am
Nice. I highly suspect that I will join the ranks of the “enterprising” fans who will turn it into a bootleg; I would certainly purchase an authorized audio version if it was available.
Ells Eastwood
June 4, 2020 @ 9:04 am
I’ve got some bootleg Sunday Valley to swap with ya sbach66!
618creekrat
June 4, 2020 @ 9:37 am
Yeah, kinda surprised they haven’t also repackaged it as a 16 track MP3 album. The ensuing sales would be virtually free money.
Big Tex
June 4, 2020 @ 9:13 am
Waylon: One of my favorites, for sure.
I saw Waylon perform several times across the country. I was in attendance at one of his performances in Vegas one night. Waylon had come down with “Vegas throat,” which afflicts many performers periodically in that climate, and his voice was not at 100%.
There was a heckler in the audience who, periodically, would yell out some crude remark toward the stage. Finally Waylon had enough. Waylon put his hand above his eyes to shield them from the spotlights, looked out into the audience and said, “Hoss, whoever you are, you need to know this. I’ve lost the last fifteen fights I’ve been in, but I think tonight is the night my luck’s gonna change.”
That shut the heckler up.
Luckyoldsun
June 4, 2020 @ 10:03 am
I saw Waylon once as a solo, at the Bottom Line, and twice with the Highwaymen–at Nassau Coliseum and in Central Park. Waylon was an entertainer as well as a great performer. He basically served as MC of the Highwaymen shows, whether by design or because he just grabbed the role. Willie was kind of aloof and seemed more into performing his own songs than doing the group thing. Kris was like the admiring nephew, Cash was generous, but limited in his interactions. Waylon brought it all together, telling jokes, entertaining the audience, and getting the others to loosen up.
It’s unfortunate that there’s never really been a post-career Waylon resurgence, like there was for Cash.
hoptowntiger94
June 4, 2020 @ 10:07 am
Kind of a sterile environment. Even Waylon’s performance in the clip is rather pedestrian. I’ve been listening to Waylon Live in all its reincarnations for decades and it’s much more lively. I love a rowdy crowd on a live album/ dvd and and artists’ improvisation. I’ll pass on this Branson-like retirement party.
karl
June 4, 2020 @ 5:39 pm
I think this is the same I’ve seen on youtub called the lost outlaw performance.
Really top notch concert. I saw Waylon at Opryland with my first wife. Probably in ’85 or about there. Jerry Reed was with him, Jessie, and Hank Jr. John Anderson opened the show for him. Great time.
618creekrat
June 4, 2020 @ 6:48 pm
THAT was a heck of a lineup!
sbach66
June 4, 2020 @ 5:59 pm
Bought the digital version. Might not be the bootleg I was hoping for, there’s a fair bit of voice over commentary from Waylon, which kind of downgrades it as a standalone audio concert experience, IMHO..
sbach66
June 4, 2020 @ 6:25 pm
Yeah, not what I was hoping for. And after doing some additional looking, I see that the dvd version has the concert alone without the commentary.
Trigger
June 4, 2020 @ 6:46 pm
Ah! Good to know.
sbach66
June 4, 2020 @ 7:16 pm
And they didn’t just drop the commentary in between the songs, they dropped it over intros and instrumental breaks. Hate to say that listening to Waylon tell a story about cooking breakfast with Johnny Cash is disappointing… but it is, given that it’s right in the middle of a song.
DJ
June 5, 2020 @ 11:00 am
“It’s unfortunate that there’s never really been a post-career Waylon resurgence, like there was for Cash.”
AMEN!
Jerseyboy
June 5, 2020 @ 4:06 pm
I love Waylon, and I have this on DVD and it’s great with the great Ralph Mooney.
Saw Waylon at the Nassau Coliseum back in 78 with Willie and Jessie, and was a fan ever since, remember ‘White Mansions”?
Went to school in Lubbock and got to DJ in the same town that Waylon did along with his pal Buddy Holley (correct spelling).
The icing on the cake was getting to hang out with Waylon’s brother James at Waymores in Littlefield, worth the trip.
One of my favorite Waylon songs is ‘Clyde’ played electric base, wish he was still around, I love the man!
Doug
June 8, 2020 @ 8:11 pm
Is that JJ Cale’s Clyde?