blog post New albums mark 10th anniversary of Waylon Jennings' death

It’s been 10 years since the death of Waylon Jennings and to mark the anniversary, there are a few projects in the works.

An upcoming Jennings album, tentatively titled Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Final Recordings, will feature previously unreleased music recorded in 2002. The release is part of an effort by Jennings’ family to create a legacy brand for the star, similar to the successful estates of artists such as Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Hank Williams.

Meanwhile, the second installment in a planned trilogy of tribute albums, Waylon: The Music Inside, Volume II, has just been released. This collection features Dierks Bentley, Hank Williams Jr. and Jewel, amongst others, covering Jennings’ songs.

Jennings grew up in Littlefield, Texas. He worked in radio in Lubbock and went on to join Buddy Holly’s band as a bassist. On that fateful night of Feb. 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, J.P. Richardson (the Big Bopper) and Ritchie Valens boarded a flight that would claim their lives, Jennings was spared because he travelled on the tour bus instead. He had traded his plane seat with the Big Bopper. According to Jennings, Holly said to him “I hope your damned bus freezes up again” to which Jennings jokingly responded “I hope your ole plane crashes.” After the accident, Jennings musical world also crashed, as Holly had been his mentor.

Jennings went back to work in radio. He eventually found his way back into music, performing at a bar in Phoenix, Arizona. When fellow performer, Bobby Bare, passed through town and heard Jennings performing, Bare contacted his producer, Chet Atkins. Atkins signed Jennings to a label deal in 1965.

Jennings moved to Nashville and became roommates with Johnny Cash. Together, they embarked on earning their hell-raising reputations. Jennings was dubbed an outlaw for introducing the concept of artistic freedom to country music. He insisted on the right to choose his own material, studios and musicians. While this was the norm in rock music at the time, country was tightly controlled by producers and labels. Jennings was the first to break through and take back control over his music.

By 1975, Jennings won Country Music Award for male vocalist of the year and his biggest selling record, Wanted! The Outlaws, was flying out of record stores in early 1976. It became the first country record to be certified platinum, and it featured recordings by Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter (Jenning’s wife) and Tompall Glaser.

Jennings’ sales success led to a role as narrator of the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, and his song “Good Ol’ Boys” became the show’s theme song. Unfortunately, with this success came Jennings’ addiction to drugs. Jennings eventually broke his habit and returned to music in the late 1980s. He also earned his high school equivalency diploma, in order to set an example for his son, Shooter (Waylon Albright Jennings), as Jennings had been a high school dropout.

By 2000, Jennings recorded his final album Never Say Die: Live, at the Ryman Auditorium. In 2001, Jennings was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Jennings died on February 13, 2002 at age 64, from complications related to diabetes.