Waylon Jennings
(Vagrant)
In the days when Waylon Jennings' voice had the thunder and strength to rival Jack Bruce's, a cover of "White Room" would have been a great idea. By the time the vocals were done for the track released on Waylon Forever though, ol' Waymore, while still able to carry his weight on less demanding material, didn't quite have the beef to pull it off; his son Shooter, who masterminded this project, should have been more sensitive to that fact. Waylon also always insisted on artistic control and recording and performing with his own band, the Waylors. The decisions Shooter made for this disc seem a little, well... disloyal. He ran all his father's vocal tracks through some heavy and distracting phasing and processing and cut the backing tracks with his own band, the 357's. The younger Jennings hasn't exactly perpetrated a disaster but neither has he done completely right by his daddy's legacy.
Sure, by the time Waylon laid down these vocals his voice had been affected by declining health but he could still rise to the occasion - he could still bring it, even if it took a running start. Like with his buddy Johnny Cash, the ravages of time and ill health, while impossible to ignore, added a poignant element that made the effort involved seem downright valiant. But the treatment here actually highlights the frailness that sometimes creeps into Waylon's voice, and not always to the same empathy engendering effect.
No doubt this was a labor of love for Shooter; his own career is coming along pretty good so it's hard to accuse him of trying to ride his father's coattails to success. And it isn't like Waylon was tricked into recording these tunes. Some - "Lonesome On'ry and Mean", "Outlaw Shit" - are reworkings of some of his classic tunes; some are new originals, at least one of which, "I Found The Body," he co-wrote with Shooter. It isn't that out of the ordinary for him to cover "White Room" either. Waylon always looked to the quality of a song first; he didn't confine himself completely to any one genre. After all, he started out in rock ‘n' roll as a member of buddy Holly's Crickets and his early recordings feature as much folk music as they do country and even a Beatles song or two.
But the question persists: who is this album intended for? Longtime fans are certainly used to the left turns Waylon sometimes took; it's part of what they love about him. But will they accept his voice being messed with so much? Is Waylon Forever an attempt to get the NPR types who embraced Johnny Cash in his later years to open their ears to another country great worth listening to? But Cash's records, like Ray Charles', have always been found in the collections of folks who don't otherwise do much listening out of their favorite genres. And if those folks haven't discovered Waylon Jennings by now they're not paying much attention anyway.
The only conclusion that seems to fit is that the project was a sincere effort on Shooter Jennings part to update his father's sound as a way of keeping his memory and music alive and vital. Many a great has been lost in the posthumous shuffle. It's a fate Waylon does not by any means deserve. So despite its many shortcomings, if Waylon Forever does anything to help prevent that, then you won't hear any complaints here.
Standout Tracks: "Lonesome On'ry and Mean", "Waymore's Blues" RICK ALLEN
