Waylon Jennings “Songbird”

Rediscovered recordings are hardly revolutionary, but give a fresh voice to later era outlaw legend.

While it’s not unusual for departed musicians to have their back catalogues or unheard recordings raided to squeeze an extra dollar out of their legacy, the forthcoming collection of three albums by legendary outlaw Waylon Jennings differs in at least they have been chosen, curated and supplemented where necessary by his son Shooter Jennings, who has recently been quite a name du jour in the producer’s chair in and around the americana scene.

The first of three forthcoming albums of rediscovered recordings, it is hard to know how much retouching has been done behind the scenes, but the recordings were largely set for release as fully realised songs rather than rough demos. There are a few that end rather suddenly, but this was a bit of a Waylon thing anyway.

Opening with an aching cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Songbird’ – a supreme opener if you had never heard the peerless original – the album soon slips into Waylon’s comfort zone from the later part of his career; good times, bad times, good tunes, sad tunes. Tracks such as ‘I’m Gonna Lay Back With my Woman’ and ‘I Hate to Go Searchin’ Them Bars Again’ leave you comfortably in Waylon territory, like a warm blanket of sound around you.

The recordings are loose and good fun – I’m sure no one was expecting an americana “OK Computer” after all. Tales of good love, bad love, missing love, family love, and love of drinking follow, with the man himself in good voice.

With regular touring band, the Waylors playing on the majority of tracks, you can hear how the band had perfected the loose and yet still tight playing of the best bar bands that have driven miles across the country year after year.

Produced in analogue fashion on period mix desks at Sunset Sound Studio 3 in California, the recording holds up to much of the rest of Waylon’s catalogue – you could hardly call it groundbreaking, but if you love Waylon, you’ll surely love this, and if you are looking for a place to dive in, you could do a lot worse. Good to hear the old boy again, and good to hear this project done well and with evident love.