just country

John Hartford

Johnny Cash and John Hartford playing a medley of Bill Monroe bluegrass songs: “Muleskinner Blues”, “Columbus Stockade”, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “Uncle Penn”.

(from wikipedia) Hartford, who wrote the song Gentle On My Mind,was known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive knowledge of Mississippi River lore. Hartford performed with a variety of ensembles throughout his career, and is perhaps best known for his solo performances where he would interchange the guitar, banjo, and fiddle from song to song. He also invented his own shuffle tap dance move, and clogged on an amplified piece of plywood while he played and sang.

There’s an almost complete solo concert by John Hartford, from (I think) the mid 1970s, at this page: Ramblin. And here is a link to a playlist (10 videos) of John performing solo without an audience, a DVD titled Learning to Smile All Over Again (date unknown, I’m guessing around 1990).

Steam Powered Aereo Plane (Hartford) – John Hartford and the Hartford Stringband

Gentle On My Mind – Glen Campbell and John Hartford

Glen Campbell sings Jimmy Webb

By the Time I Get to Pheonix – 1967

By the Time I Get to Phoenix reached #3 on the U.S. Pop charts in 1967. Written by Jimmy Webb, it was made famous by this recording by Glen Campbell. It was the first of three huge hits the Campbell had with songs written by the great tunesmith Webb, two of which reached number one, the third peaking at number two on the pop charts; a fourth reached number 28. The song has  become a standard and is reportedly one of the most covered songs in history.

Wichita Lineman – 1968

Two versions: the first is a staged television apppearance for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour which aired on November 3, 1968. The second, I believe this one is from the late 70’s, has Campbell fronting an orchestra. Unfortunately the volume is quite low on the live clip with the orchestra.

Galveston – 1969

Where’s the Playground Suzie? – This song reached #28 but I think for many it is as timeless as the other Webb songs recorded by Campbell in the sixties.

Honey Come Back – 1970

Campbell’s 1974 album Reunion: the songs of Jimmy Webb features eight new Jimmy Webb compositions, including the following two.

Just One More Time

The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress – a much later live version

Highwayman - Jimmy Webb introduced the song himself on his 1977 album El Mirage. When Campbell recorded the number a couple of years later it became the title track of his 1979 release.

Waylon Jennings: early hits, 1966-73 + biography

1966

(That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me (Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman) Waylon’s first top ten hit.

What Makes a Man Wander (Harlan Howard) – This song was track ten (of twelve) on Jennings’ major label debut album Folk-Country.

Nashville Rebel (Harlan Howard) – The third studio album by Waylon Jennings for RCA Victor includes songs from the soundtrack to a movie called Nashville Rebel, written and directed by Jay Sheridan. Wikipedia says the album “is” the soundtrack. But although Jennings as the lead character performed more songs than the others, there were a number of other acts involved. Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Faron Young, Tex Ritter, Sonny James, and the Wilburn Brothers also contribute performances to the movie. The following clip is of one of five numbers done by Jennings in the film. The album, on the other hand, has twelve songs including a cover of The Beatles’ Norwegian Wood. Five tracks are credited to Sheridan. These may be instrumental background music.

1967

Walk On Out of My Mind (Red Lane) – This song reached #5 on the country charts, the second in a series of five straight top ten hits for Jennings in 1967 and ‘68. During this period he recorded three albums per year. This song was released in ‘67 though it wasn’t released on an album until July 1968 on his second LP of the year Only the Greatest.

Mental Revenge (Mel Tillis)- The youtube provider says this television appearance was in 1966. It’s possible, but the single wasn’t released until 1967. The song appeared on the 1968 album Jewels. It was typical for the single to be released in the year before the album. A darkly comic lyric by Mel Tillis.

1968

Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Ivy Bryant)  The song reached #2, the highest position a Jennings recording would reach until 1974 when he topped the chart with two consecutive singles.

a. On a country music TV program. The video begins with an interview.

b. On the Johnny Cash show. Second song is Chuck Berry’s Brown Eyed Handsome Man.

1969

Me and Bobby McGee (Kris Kristofferson, Fred Foster) The song which ultimately became more closely associated with Janis Joplin than with anyone else who recorded it, was not released in any form by Jennings on record through 1973 as far as I can tell (unless I missed it). Roger Miller and Kenny Rogers & the First Edition were the first and second, respectively, to record it, both in 1969.

Brown Eyed Handsome Man (Chuck Berry), the only single to be released from the album Waylon (1970) was a #3 hit on the Billboard country chart. In Canada it became his third #1 hit.

1971

Good Hearted Woman (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson) – The album of the same title was one of two 1972 releases, Ladies Love Outlaws was the other, which transformed Jennings’ perceived image into one of the was responsible for transforming Jennings’ image into that of one of the most conspicuous representatives of the outlaw country movement.

a. The particular gig from whence comes this next video, recorded at the Grand Ole Opry in 1978, was later released as a VHS movie with the title The Lost Outlaw Performance, in 1994 (according to Amazon).

b. Waylon and Pals

1972

Sweet Dream Woman (Chip Taylor, Al Gorgoni) – A fine song from the album Good Hearted Woman

1973

You Asked Me To (Billy Joe Shaver, Waylon Jennings) – This performance appears to be from around 1972-73. A commenter at the youtube source says he was there (although he’s uncertain of the year) and places the concert at Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin TX. It’s the earliest footage of Jennings that I’ve seen where his hair is long and he isn’t clean-shaven.

The song appeared on the album Honky Tonk Heroes (released July 1973) an album notable for, among other things, the fact that Billy Joe Shaver wrote or co-wrote all of the songs except the final track, a ballad, We Had It All.

We Had It All (Troy Seals, Donnie Fritts) – A slide show with pictures of Waylon and Jessi Colter.

Waylon Jennings Biography (from CMT.com with additional images added by me)

Waylon Jennings was born in the hardscrabble West Texas town of Littlefield on June 15, 1937. He learned to play guitar and snagged a disc jockey job at a Littlefield station while still a boy. In 1958 he moved to Lubbock, where he worked as a DJ and met rising star Buddy Holly, with whom he toured and played electric bass during 1958 and 1959. It was Jennings who gave up his seat to the Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson) on the doomed 1959 plane flight that took the lives of Holly, Richardson, and singer Ritchie Valens.

The disaster stunned Jennings and it took him several years to regain his momentum. But his time with Holly had been pivotal: “Mainly what I learned from Buddy,” Jennings recalled, “was an attitude. He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn’t have any barriers to it.” After working West Texas radio again, Jennings began performing at a bar called J. D.’s in Phoenix, Ariz. There he began to craft a sound that combined his aggressive Telecaster electric guitar style, his rough-edged vocals, and an eclectic repertoire that often borrowed from rockabilly, rock and folk.

And it was there that Nashville-based Bobby Bare, then a country hitmaker for RCA Records, heard Jennings and immediately called RCA producer Chet Atkins. Although Jennings had already recorded some country-folk sides for A&M Records in Los Angeles, A&M agreed to let Atkins sign him, and his first RCA session took place in March 1965.

Over the next five years, Jennings won mainstream country stardom with hits like “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,” “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” and “The Taker.” Though it wasn’t typical of his work, his rendition of “MacArthur Park” (recorded with the Kimberlys), won a 1969 Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group.

Despite his achievements, the high-spirited Jennings chafed under Nashville’s typical production process, in which salaried staff producers chose song material and session musicians and recorded artists in company studios. Gradually he won the right to choose his own songs, producers, and sidemen (often his road band), in the process turning out albums like 1973’s Lonesome, On’ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes, which showcased the hard-hitting, stripped-down music he much preferred to pop-tinged Nashville Sound productions. Hit singles such as “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” and “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” also exemplified his hard-charging, rock-influenced style. In 1975 he won CMA’s male vocalist of the year award.

By this time Jennings was extending his audience to embrace hordes of college-age fans, who flocked to see him at venues including Willie Nelson’s free-wheeling outdoor music festivals at Dripping Springs, Texas. In 1976, both artists soared to even more dizzying heights with the RCA release Wanted! The Outlaws. Featuring Jennings, Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jennings’s wife, Jessi Colter, it became the first country album to be certified platinum. By the turn of the 21st century, 13 additional Jennings albums (including duet projects) had sold half a million copies or more.

As the ’70s progressed, Jennings and Nelson recorded duet albums and crossover hits like “Luckenbach, Texas” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which won a 1978 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Jennings himself rode high on the charts into the late 1980s, chalking up No. 1 singles including “I’ve Always Been Crazy,” “Amanda,” “I Ain’t Living Long Like This” and “Lucille (You Won’t Do Your Daddy’s Will).” During many of these same years, the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard — for which Jennings wrote and sang the theme song and served as offscreen narrator — further popularized his sound and the trademark image of his leather-covered guitar.

While Jennings was selling albums in numbers previously associated with rock stars, his excessive lifestyle also resembled those of many rock icons. Substance abuse eroded his career for a time, but he eventually beat this problem and stabilized his personal life. He set an example for others by completing his high school equivalency diploma, and has spoken to schoolchildren about the importance of staying in school.

The singer continued a scaled-down but no less creative career, recording for MCA and Epic during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and touring into 1997. With Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson, Jennings gained another No. 1 smash with 1985’s “Highwayman,” title cut for a gold-selling Columbia album. (The foursome recorded two follow-up albums and also made limited concert tours.) In addition to important albums reissued by RCA and by Buddha Records, he recorded new albums for RCA, Ark 21 Records, and a children’s album titled Cowboys, Sisters, Rascals, and Dirt (Sony Wonder, 1993). Other achievements include motion picture and TV movie roles and a televised documentary on cowboys that aired on TNN.

Jennings won election to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and died on February 13, 2002, at his home in Arizona. His and Colter’s son, Shooter Jennings, also pursued a career in country music.