Folk-Country
Folk-Country | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Waylon Jennings | ||||
Released | March 14, 1966 | |||
Recorded | March – July 1965 | |||
Studio | RCA Victor Studios, Nashville | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 29:06 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Producer | Chet Atkins | |||
Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
|
Folk-Country is the major-label debut album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1966 on RCA Victor. It is his first collaboration with producer Chet Atkins.
Background
According to the book Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, Chet Atkins first heard of Jennings through comedian Don Bowman, who had worked with Waylon on the radio in Lubbock, and country singer Bobby Bare. In March 1965, the singer made his first recordings for RCA in what would be a moderately successful but increasingly frustrated artistic partnership. In the authorized Jennings documentary Renegade Outlaw Legend, Jennings recalled that at the time he was in awe of the legendary Atkins: "That's God's right hand as far as country music. When you walked in there, the most important thing in your life is to impress him."
The album bears little resemblance to the sound Jennings would pioneer in the 1970s as part of the "outlaw" movement, with Atkins tempering Waylon's assertive vocal style and surrounding him with the hallmarks of the "Nashville sound" that had been enormously successful for previous RCA artists like Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves. Author Michael Striessguth observes in his book Outlaws:
- "Chet threw plenty of Waylon's records against the wall and more than a few stuck...Waylon in the mid-1960s was controlled, even gentle, which helped put over the polite sound that defined much of his repertoire, but not his true style...So Waylon's early hits found him reaching for distant places in his range on songs such as Harlan Howard's "Another Bridge to Burn", Don Bowman's "Now Everybody Knows" and Waylon's own arrangement of "Man of Constant Sorrow", all of them drenched in background vocals as if they were Jim Reeves records."
The album contains four songs written or co-written by Jennings as well as four songs composed by country tunesmith Harlan Howard. In an uncharacteristic move, Atkins allowed Jennings to use members of his band the Waylors on the recording, something that would rarely be permitted again, much to Waylon's annoyance. Atkins marketed Jennings to the folk-pop audience, calling the album Folk-Country, as folk music was experiencing a renaissance on college campuses throughout the country, but the majority of the songs were mostly country-pop. As Jennings recalled later, "Folk-Country was Nashville's scheme to snare some of the hootenanny folk audience, which was then starting to cross over to rock...I didn't mind the label; to me, folk music was the original country music, sung by folks, plain and simple."[1] The album did contain one Jennings classic: the catchy, up-tempo "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)," which was released as a single (peaking at #16) and would remain a part of Jennings' live show for years.
Critical reception
Folk-Country peaked at #9 on the Billboard country album chart. AllMusic: "Folk-Country is Waylon's true debut album for the RCA label, and while it is very much embryonic in terms of its revelation of the mature Jennings sound, its roots are clearly audible and the material, while safe, is more than satisfying...The single 'Stop the World (And Let Me Off)' is indicative of the kind of countrypolitan fare Atkins was developing at the label. And while this is only 1966, the listener can hear Jennings stretching the song to its limits - at least the limits imposed by a mainstream country single."
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Another Bridge to Burn" | Harlan Howard | 2:41 |
2. | "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" | Carl Belew, W. S. Stevenson | 2:03 |
3. | "Cindy of New Orleans" | Waylon Jennings | 1:59 |
4. | "Look into My Teardrops" | Don Bowman, Howard | 2:21 |
5. | "Down Came the World" | Bozo Darnell, Jennings | 2:17 |
6. | "I Don't Mind" | Howard, Richard E. Johnson | 2:55 |
7. | "Just for You" | Jennings, Bowman, Jerry Williams | 2:11 |
8. | "Now Everybody Knows" | Bowman | 2:39 |
9. | "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take" | Jennings | 2:05 |
10. | "What Makes a Man Wander" | Harlan Howard | 2:37 |
11. | "Man of Constant Sorrow" | Traditional | 2:44 |
12. | "What's Left of Me" | Howard | 2:33 |
Personnel
- Waylon Jennings - guitar, vocals
- Kenny Buttrey - drums
- Richie Albright - drums
- Buddy Harman - drums
- Jerry Gropp - guitar
- Fred Carter - guitar
- Jerry Reed - electric guitar
- Pete Wade - guitar
- Floyd Cramer - piano
- Hargus Robbins - piano
- Ray Stevens (Harold Ragsdale) - piano, vibraphone
- Bob Moore - bass
- Henry Strzelecki - bass
- Paul Foster - bass
- Anita Kerr Singers - backing vocals
- Anita Carter, Dorothy Dilliard, Louis Nunley, William Guilford Wright, Jr. - chorus
- Technical
- Bill Vandervort, Jim Malloy - engineer
References
- ^ Jennings, Waylon; Kaye, Lenny (1996). Waylon: An Autobiography. Warner Brooks. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-446-51865-9.
External links
- Waylon Jennings' Official Website
- v
- t
- e
- Waylon at JD's
- Folk-Country
- Leavin' Town
- Nashville Rebel
- Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan
- Love of the Common People
- The One and Only
- Hangin' On
- Only the Greatest
- Jewels
- Just to Satisfy You
- Waylon
- Singer of Sad Songs
- The Taker/Tulsa
- Cedartown, Georgia
- Good Hearted Woman
- Ladies Love Outlaws
- Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
- Honky Tonk Heroes
- This Time
- The Ramblin' Man
- Dreaming My Dreams
- Are You Ready for the Country
- Ol' Waylon
- I've Always Been Crazy
- What Goes Around Comes Around
- Music Man
- Black on Black
- It's Only Rock + Roll
- Waylon and Company
- Never Could Toe the Mark
- Turn the Page
- Sweet Mother Texas
- Will the Wolf Survive
- Hangin' Tough
- A Man Called Hoss
- Full Circle
- The Eagle
- Too Dumb for New York City, Too Ugly for L.A.
- Ol' Waylon Sings Ol' Hank
- Cowboys, Sisters, Rascals & Dirt
- Waymore's Blues (Part II)
- Right for the Time
- Closing In on the Fire
- Waylon Forever
- Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings
- Waylon Live
- Never Say Die: Live
- Live from Austin, TX
- Never Say Die: The Final Concert
- "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)"
- "The Chokin' Kind"
- "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line"
- "The Days of Sand and Shovels"
- "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"
- "Under Your Spell Again" with Jessi Colter
- "Good Hearted Woman"
- "Sweet Dream Woman"
- "You Can Have Her"
- "We Had It All"
- "You Ask Me To"
- "This Time"
- "I'm a Ramblin' Man"
- "Rainy Day Woman"
- "Dreaming My Dreams with You"
- "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
- "Bob Wills Is Still the King"
- "Can't You See"
- "Are You Ready for the Country"
- "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)"
- "I've Always Been Crazy"
- "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand"
- "Amanda"
- "Come With Me"
- "I Ain't Living Long Like This"
- "Clyde"
- "Good Ol' Boys"
- "Shine"
- "Just to Satisfy You" with Willie Nelson
- "Women Do Know How to Carry On"
- "Lucille (You Won't Do Your Daddy's Will)"
- "Hold On, I'm Comin'" with Jerry Reed
- "The Conversation" with Hank Williams Jr.
- "I May Be Used (But Baby I Ain't Used Up)"
- "Never Could Toe the Mark"
- "America"
- "Waltz Me to Heaven"
- "Drinkin' and Dreamin'"
- "Working Without a Net"
- "Will the Wolf Survive"
- "What You'll Do When I'm Gone"
- "The Broken Promise Land"
- "Rose in Paradise"
- "My Rough and Rowdy Days"
- "If Ole Hank Could Only See Us Now"
- "How Much Is It Worth to Live in L.A."
- "Which Way Do I Go (Now That I'm Gone)"
- "Wrong"
- "Where Corn Don't Grow"
- "The Eagle"
Waylon & Willie | |
| |
Other collaborations | |
| |
Collaboration singles | |
|
- The Best of Waylon Jennings
- Don't Think Twice
- Heartaches by the Number
- Greatest Hits
- Waylon's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
- The Best of Waylon
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Waylon Jennings
- RCA Country Legends
- Ultimate Waylon Jennings
- 16 Biggest Hits
- Nashville Rebel