Steve Wynn Story Illustrates the Strong Wisdom of Waylon Jennings

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When you think of country legend Waylon Jennings, you think of an Outlaw first. But you also think of an innovator. Waylon was famous for winning creative control over his music, and within the Nashville/RCA system as opposed to outside of it. This inspired other artists to seek control over their sound and the songs they recorded as opposed to relying on Nashville’s established producers.

Along with his drummer Richie Albright, Waylon Jennings also innovated the half-time drum beat and two-tone bass line that we all now think of when we think of the sound of Outlaw music. That sound, and Waylon’s songs and attitude would go on to inspire countless other performers, in the ’70s when Waymore was reigning at the top of the charts, and still today.

Waylon never followed, or imitated. He led. Even if he was going to fail, he would rather do it his way. That’s why it isn’t just the music, but Waylon’s attitude that was so influential, and inspirational … and not just in music, but in life.

Recently, hotel and resort mogul Steve Wynn shared a story about Waylon Jennings that perfectly illustrates this point about Waylon Jennings. Now 83 years old, Wynn recently recalled an interaction he had with Waylon back in the mid ’70s when Willie and Waylon were at the top of their game, and Wynn was at the top of his, operating top-billing casinos like The Golden Nugget that Waylon would play at regularly.

The Golden Nugget was known as the country music casino in Las Vegas, and also booked performers like Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, Kenny Rogers, and the like. “We were country when country wasn’t cool,” Wynn recalls. Steve then went on to tell what he said was “one of the best stories I can remember.”

Wynn recalls that Waylon Jennings was in town playing shows, and at the same time there was another country artist named Wendel Adkins playing in the lounge at the Golden Nugget for scale. Wendel was known for playing Waylon Jennings songs almost exclusively, along with other Outlaw country covers. In other words, while Waylon was in the main performance hall singing his own songs, Wendel was in the corner by the bar singing Waylon too.

Steve Wynn goes on to explain how he would always eat ribs for dinner in between the first and second shows of the night, and one night he invited Waylon to join him. It happened to be that Wendel Adkins was hanging around backstage, starry-eyed to see Waylon Jennings perform in person. So Wynn introduced Wendel to Waylon, who was aw shucks humbled and honored to meet his hero.

“Oh, Mr. Wynn, this is so exciting for me,” Wendell said to Wynn. Waylon said to Wendel, “Hey, you’re too good looking, but Steve tells me you’re a nice kid. Call me Waylon.”

Wendel says, “Mr. Jennings … uh, Waylon. I hope that you don’t mind that I sing like you cause ever since I was a kid I only wanted to be like you.”

Waylon then puts his hand on Wendel Adkins’ arm and says, “Wendel, if you’re doing me, you’re always going to be one record behind.”

“Well I broke up,” Steve Wynn says about the interaction. “I thought that had been the coolest thing I’d ever heard. ‘You’re always going to be one record behind.’ That was about the most condensed piece of wisdom I had ever heard. I built those 13 hotels, and I said to myself, ‘ I wanna make sure that all those other guys are one hotel behind.'”

Steve Wynn says the story “perfectly defines one of the most important aspects of success – originality!”


Incidentally, when researching/confirming Wynn’s story, it was discovered that Wendel Adkins passed away last year on March 9th, 2025. His name has been added to 2025’s In Memorium list. His quality covers of Outlaw country songs, along with a few of his originals like “Rodeo Cowboys” can still be found on many streaming services and in rare physical copies.

Wendel wasn’t from Oklahoma like Steve Wynn said, but from Ohio, and was originally born in Kentucky. There is also a chance that the story Wynn recalls happened in the ’80s as opposed to the 70s. Wendel Adkins went on to become a big deal in Sweden, and had his music released by Sony in the country. And yes, Wendel sounds a lot like Waylon Jennings.


Even today, many people try to emulate Waylon Jennings and the other Outlaws of country music. But in truth, if you really want to follow Waylon’s lead, it’s not to sound like him, dress like him, or carry some Outlaw chip on your shoulder. It’s to be distinctly yourself, to carve your own path, and to disrupt and revolutionize country music like Waylon did in his era.

Some have criticized Sturgill Simpson over the years for trying to sound like Waylon Jennings—something he scoffs off, citing Waylon as only a minor influence. But with his album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Sturgill did what Waylon did back in the ’70s. He broke the system by being innovative, and turned country music on its head.

Few of us have the capabilities to be the next country star or hotel mogul. But all of us can venture to be the best versions of ourselves, innovate in our fields as opposed to imitate, and lead instead of follow. That’s the ultimate lesson and wisdom to glean from the music and life of Waylon Jennings.

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