They Said Waylon Jennings Wasn’t Country Too (Outlaw History)
No other genre of American music has an ongoing debate about what it is and what it isn’t like country does, because no other genre has such long-established ties to tradition that so many fans and artists feel must be respected. In their time, artists we consider the very definition of country were accused of being pop, artists like Patsy Cline, and yes, even the great Waylon Jennings.
In the March 1975 issue of Country Song Roundup magazine, Waylon was interviewed by P.J. Russell, the impetus being that a friend of P.J.’s named Marry Jo was accusing Waylon Jennings of not being country, and that Waylon “sounded terrible” and “looked worse.” To the 2013 perspective this might sound like crazy talk; today Waylon Jennings is used as a reference point for what defines real country. But in 1975 when Waylon was first introducing his now signature heavy beat, it sounded foreign compared to the fluffy, polished Nashville Sound that was the current rage.
Waylon, whose handle at the time was the “Nashville Rebel” and came to prominence on RCA as their roster’s “country folk” artist, was in the midst of retooling his sound and taking creative control of his music mere months away from the full onset of country’s Outlaw era. Accused of not being country and wanting to change the country sound, Waylon responded…
I’m not trying to change anything. I’m just trying to sing my kind of music. So people say it’s not country. Some people say I’m trying to be a pop singer. If I’d wanted to cut a pop record, I could have recorded a Buddy Holly song anytime in the past five years and had a pop hit, but I didn’t. I guess if I’m not country and I’m not a Mongolian aviator, I’m just singing Waylon’s music.
There are some people who say I use too heavy of a beat and too many instruments…but if instruments and beats made our music then we’d be in trouble anyway. The soul of the music is in the singer and I don’t believe anybody can really sing country as well as the old boy who’s lived it. Country music is like black man’s blues. They are only a beat apart. It’s the same man, singing the same song, about the same problems, and his loves, his losses, the good and the bad times.
February 10, 2013 @ 12:49 pm
“It”™s the same man, singing the same song, about the same problems, and his loves, his losses, the good and the bad times.”
That quote sums up everything I believe separates good music from bad music. Regardless of genre. If the singer is singing with conviction, heart, and soul you can tell and the song will actually speak to you.
February 11, 2013 @ 12:00 pm
What Waylon says sums it up. Jonnyboy23 is right on the mark. It is what seperates good music from bad music genere be dammed.
February 10, 2013 @ 1:04 pm
Hahaha I wonder if she is still around, and how she feels now.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I could listen to all his songs from every album, and not be tired of his sound or songs.
His live albums are great cause he never plays it the same twice.
His “double live album” is one of the best live albums ever produced. Even though it’s not fully one live concert, it sure sounds like it was.
Waylon is still popular, and always will be.
February 10, 2013 @ 1:14 pm
” The soul of the music is in the singer and I don”™t believe anybody can really sing country as well as the old boy who”™s lived it.” That right there says it all!
February 10, 2013 @ 1:21 pm
To me Waylon isn’t a country artist, anymore than someone like cash isn’t. They wrote and recorded true songs. Those that transcend genre. Hank Sr was the same. If anything, they recorded soul music.
February 10, 2013 @ 1:41 pm
Funny that he didn’t call her an old fart or a jackass, just stood behind his music & said well fine, then i guess we’ll call it mine. I love everything I’ve read about his thoughts concerning music, his or country as a whole. I think his philosophies on music are what kept him authentic & true. It’s why I love his music.
February 10, 2013 @ 10:50 pm
Good point Selena.
February 10, 2013 @ 4:39 pm
When people ask me what kind of music I listen to. I say “good music” it doesnt really matter how its labeled. Waylon’s my favorite, but lynyrd skynyrd, the rolling stones and ton’s of other people make some damn fine music and thats what really matters. If you read Waylon’s autobiography you can see that he held similar thoughts. When someone loves music as much as Waylon did, it shows. Just so happens that he was a country boy.
February 11, 2013 @ 11:18 am
I was just having this argument with my fiance. She asked me why I get upset about todays country music and why it has to be labeled to a genre. Tradition and respect is what I stand by. If we were to get rid of the genre “Country” then there are no longer boundaries or limits. Eventually if nothing is labeled, then country music’s traditions are no longer relevant and will be lost over time. The Ryman and Opry will no longer mean anything. You can no longer have a country music hall of fame because it is genre specific. The roots of country music will be uprooted in my opinion or they will wither and eventually die which over time no one will ever remember them. I believe the music must evolve to a point, but if it evolves till you no longer hear any representation of the past, then what is it?
February 11, 2013 @ 11:47 am
Sometimes I wonder if we, the people that decry the current state of country music, are just the same as Marry Jo. To me, Brantley Gilbert, Luke Bryan, etc. aren’t country, but what if I’m just out of touch. What if I’m just a fogey that refuses to move on from the past. I don’t think I am, but I wonder sometimes.
February 11, 2013 @ 2:11 pm
Trainwreck,
I don’t think you are stuck in the past. You’re up against a lesser quality.
Today’s mainstream country, and the examples you use, Brantley Gilbert, Luke Bryan…they are evolution, but of lesser quality. They are judged as much for the jeans they wear as they are for the music they record. They are evolved into a visual superstar vs. a singer/songwriter superstar.
Is the music secondary…I don’t think so, but it is kind of Music- 1A. image 1B. Then factor in all the parties trying to capitalize on a one hit wonder.
Although Chet Atkins and Waylon parted ways, they also worked for a while together and Chet truely wanted Waylon’s career to succeed. Now, a label/manager/producer is just hoping the next single is a success, thus, if you have to make an album of 10songs, and you only care that one hits it big, how quality is really going to be?
You might be out of touch, but that is a good thing. Don’t feel bad.
February 11, 2013 @ 5:26 pm
I’m just worried that in 40 years, Jason Aldean and Eric Church might be looked at as the Willie and Waylon of this generation. I certainly hope that’s not the case, but eventually these guys will be considered classic country.
February 12, 2013 @ 9:00 am
I don’t think they will Trainwreck. They are trends/fads. They may be considered early stars of pop-country, but that itself is the distinction. Pop-country will never shake the “pop” from itself.
I think you know classic when you hear it and pop-country when you hear it. If you even ask a teenager today, they might say they like country (Aldean and Swift) but if you say do you like “real country” they know what you mean and they usually say “no” just because they are young and probably not exposed to it and wouldn’t relate. So I get why they say no. But when they are 30-40, they aren’t going to be into the fluff and I promise Aldean isn’t going to hang around another 10-20 years.
February 11, 2013 @ 2:05 pm
Waylon Jennings passion for music is quite a story. He always had a sound he wanted to get out. I don’t think he cared what you called it.
His mentor was Buddy Holly, who at the time was fixing to become as big as Elvis but we all know the sad end of things…but the point is Buddy was a big deal, and very very big deal to Waylon.
Why is that important..because Buddy told Waylon to never let anyone tell you how to sound or what you can’t do musically. So for anyone to think they were going to stop what Waylon was going to become when Buddy Holly was his guiding light, is crazy. No one influenced Waylon like Buddy and no one had the stature of Buddy to override that influence.
* Waylon no doubt passed this on to his kids and countless he influenced in music. So although I don’t always agree with someone like Shooter Jennings musical directions, I’m up against Buddy Holly’s influence. I’ll don’t expect to override that influence with my opinion.
February 11, 2013 @ 4:17 pm
I wonder if, at least to a degree, the test of time is what determines what is or isn’t “country” or any genre. The fluff fades away, what is good remains and comes to be seen as enriching the genre or, if it is distinct enough, creating a new one. I hope that is true, anyway. That is not to say that there is no room to question and criticize in the moment.
I sometimes listen to a classic country station here in SW Ohio which caters to an older, fairly conservative base. It plays music which would have been on a country station 30-40 years ago, not just what has been rediscovered by younger fans. It reminds that there was some pretty dull and derivative music making from Nashville back then as well. The good stuff persists and is reclaimed by the next generation.
February 11, 2013 @ 7:38 pm
I guess the problem I have with the majority of “today’s country” is that it doesn’t move me or speak to me at all. I’m a 33 year old male from Texas. I can’t relate to Taylor, Carrie, Brantley or anyone else for the most part on modern country stations. Even the DJ’s seem to be talking to soccer moms or teenage girls. 30-40 years ago you still had male country stars that made songs about real life situations, however mundane some of the subjects might have been. These days, it seems all the male stars want to sing songs that cater to these females, while the female artists sing songs warning about the type of guys these male stars represent.
February 11, 2013 @ 8:01 pm
That’s Dad being Dad!!!
February 13, 2013 @ 2:11 am
Frankly speaking, I don’t like Waylon except “Folk – Country” and “Leavin’ Town” (excellent albums). I’ve never been a great fan of his music, but it doesn’t change the fact he played real country. For example, concerning the Outlaw Country movement I don’t like Willie Nelson or Kris Kristofferson. I personally prefer D.A.C., Johnny Paycheck or Merle Haggard but it doesn’t really matter. When the music has country sound it can be called country, so such serious accusations refferring to Walyon seem completely pointless to me.
February 13, 2013 @ 12:58 pm
I agree with you on really being into DAC, Paycheck and Haggard, but only a Polack would like old school country music like the above mentioned but not like Waylon!
February 14, 2013 @ 3:54 am
Hahahahahhahahahah! Maybe you’re right. Some things cannot be changed. 😀
February 15, 2013 @ 6:18 pm
Can I get an AMEN!!! for Ol Hoss. Waylon was a preacher man, always spoke the gospel.
February 19, 2013 @ 3:06 pm
Real artists dont care what anyone thinks about their craft no matter what medium it is a real artist does it for themselves and if someone else happens to like it great….if they are willing to pay for it…….added bonus
March 10, 2019 @ 10:47 pm
Waylon made the music he heard in his head. If it sold and mad money then good, but if it didn’t then he was okay with that too. He was completely unwilling to compromise the feeling and sound he imagined. I truly believe if his music wasn’t selling he’d rather play honky tonks in Phoenix than change his music to make it big.