Waylon Jennings
Waylon / Singer of Sad Songs [reissues] - Collectors Choice
FILTER Grade: 85 / 88%

They don’t make them like Waylon Jennings anymore. Turn on CMT and notice the grizzled cowboys are few and far between, though Toby Keith continues to suffer under the tragically misguided impression that he carries that torch. Instead, male country stars now look more like the kind of guys you see in Details, commercials for Bally’s Total Fitness or dancing in the background of a Lady Gaga video. The only indications that these girly men are in fact cowboys—despite their perfect skin, butt and crotch-hugging jeans and highly stylized hair—are the Stetson hats and the boots, which still seem to be part of the required dress code. Fuck that. Waylon Jennings was a real cowboy who looked more like he had just finished a three-day bender with Willie or Johnny rather than a fashion shoot. And he didn’t need to wear a cowboy hat to prove his credentials. On these two reissues, 1970’s Waylon and Singer of Sad Songs, the grizzled gunslinger mixes originals, like an updated take on his early hit “Yellow Haired Woman,” with deftly delivered covers such as Mickey Newbury’s pothead classic “Thirty-third of August” and the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” So, fuck Garth. Fuck Tim. Fuck Kenny. Double fuck Toby. Waylon Jennings is the real deal and this is the undeniable proof.