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Waylon Arnold Jennings



(June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002)

Biography
Early life and career

Jennings was born in Littlefield, Texas, the son of Lorene Beatrice (née Shipley) and William Alvin Jennings.
When Waylon was eight, his father taught him how to play guitar and Waylon formed his first band two years later. During his time working as a DJ, he befriended Buddy Holly. The two were inspired by the music of the Mayfield Brothers of West Texas, Smokey Mayfield, Herbert Mayfield, and Edd Mayfield. When he was twenty-one, Jennings was tapped by Holly to play bass in Holly's new band on a tour through the Midwest in early 1959. Holly also hired guitarist Tommy Allsup and drummer Carl "Goose" Bunch for the "Winter Dance Party" tour.

During the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, the charter airplane that carried Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka "The Big Bopper") crashed outside Clear Lake, Iowa and killed all on board. In his 1996 autobiography, Jennings admitted that, in the years afterward, he felt severe guilt and responsibility for the crash. After Jennings gave up his seat, Holly had jokingly told Jennings, "I hope your ol' bus freezes up!" Jennings shot back facetiously, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes!"

Phoenix

After several years of inactivity, during which time he moved from Texas to Arizona and continued working in radio, Jennings began performing and recording again, this time in Phoenix, Arizona. He signed a contract with Herb Alpert's newly-formed A&M Records, and he had a few hit singles on local radio in Phoenix, including "Four Strong Winds" ( written by Ian Tyson) and "Just To Satisfy You" (co-written with Don Bowman). Duane Eddy and Bobby Bare recommended Jennings to producer Chet Atkins, who signed Waylon to RCA Victor. Bobby Bare did his own cover of "Four Strong Winds" after he heard Jenning's version. Still under contract to A&M, Alpert released him which allowed him to sign with RCA Records. Jennings packed up and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1965.

The Nashville Sound

Jennings was accustomed to performing and recording with his own band, The Waylors; this was a practice that was not encouraged by Nashville producers who controlled nearly every aspect of recording. Over time, however, Jennings felt limited by the Nashville Sound and the lack of artistic freedom that came with it, in the 1960s country music industry.

With his recording contract nearing an end, RCA had already lost another creative force that year: Jennings had met Willie Nelson, who had likewise felt frustrated by the lack of freedom in the studio and by the entire Nashville ethos, which led him to relocate his base to Texas, two years earlier. Jennings seriously considered leaving Nashville and returning to a broadcasting career in Phoenix that year.



Outlaw

Neil Reshen approached Jennings, who was still recovering from hepatitis, and offered to re-negotiate his recording and touring contracts. Jennings agreed and the contract re-negotiation began in earnest. At a 1972 meeting in a Nashville airport, Jennings introduced Reshen to Nelson. By the end of the meeting, Reshen was manager to both singers. By that time, Jennings was aware of the fact that rock bands had almost unprecedented creative freedom to record what they wanted to record, with or without a producer and even to design their album covers. He wanted similar freedom for himself—an unprecedented move in 1972 Nashville. Also in 1972, RCA issued Ladies Love Outlaws, an album that Jennings never wanted released. Nevertheless, the title track is often considered the first song of the outlaw country movement.

He followed with Lonesome, On'ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes in 1973, the first albums recorded and released under his own creative control. The albums were huge commercial and critical successes. More hit albums followed, with The Ramblin' Man and This Time, in 1974, and Dreaming My Dreams, in 1975.

In 1976, Jennings began his career-defining collaborations with Nelson on the compilation album Wanted: The Outlaws!, country's first platinum record. The following year, RCA issued "Ol' Waylon", an album that produced another huge hit duet with Nelson, "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)". Waylon and Willie followed in 1978, producing their biggest hit with "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys". He released I've Always Been Crazy in 1978, followed with a "greatest hits" album in 1979. Around the same time, Jennings fathered two sons with two different women, one who later came to be known as Edgar McCarson, who took the last name of his step father, and Waylon Albright Jennings, better known as Shooter Jennings who played the role of his father in Walk the Line in 2005.

By the early 1980s, Jennings was completely addicted to cocaine. His personal finances had again unraveled and left him bankrupt, though he insisted on repaying every penny and did additional tours to satisfy the debt. His work became less focused and his tours had progressed into full rock and roll-type excesses. In a widely publicized case, he was arrested in 1977 for cocaine possession by federal agents, though due to almost comedic errors by the DEA, the charges were later dropped. The episode was recounted in Jennings' song "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?"

Addiction and recovery

Jennings decided that it was finally time to clean up, at least for a little while. He underwent the detox process, with the intent to start using cocaine again in a more controlled fashion afterward. By Jennings' own admission in interviews, his son, Shooter Jennings, was the main inspiration to stay off of cocaine permanently. In 1984, he went "cold turkey" to end his cocaine addiction for good.His later life was plagued with health problems, including a heart attack and diabetes brought on by a voracious appetite that developed after he beat his cocaine habit. Jennings performed his final concert in late fall of 2001. According to the sleeve notes on the album, "The Crickets and their Buddies", Jennings final recording session was his contribution to that album, where he provided the lead vocal for the Buddy Holly classic "Well All Right."

Later years

Outside the music industry, Jennings was also known as the voice of the narrator on the television series "The Dukes of Hazzard" and its predecessor, the 1975 film, "Moonrunners". The theme song, "Good Ol' Boys", an original Jennings composition. In the mid-1980s, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Nelson and Jennings formed a successful group called The Highwaymen. Aside from his work with The Highwaymen, highlights from his own career include WWII with Willie Nelson, in 1982, Will the Wolf Survive in 1985, The Eagle in 1990 and Too Dumb for New York City, Too Ugly for L.A. in 1992.

In mid 1999, Jennings assembled what he referred to as his "hand-picked dream team" and formed Waylon & The Waymore Blues Band. The highlight of this period was the January 2000 recording, at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, of what would become Jennings' final album, Never Say Die: Live. An abbreviated album, composed of 14 tracks, was released in October 2000.

In October 2001, Jennings was finally inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In one final act of defiance, he did not show up to accept the award and opted instead to send his son Buddy Dean Jennings in his place.

Death

Jennings suffered from worsening diabetes that had ended all but abbreviated touring. On December 19, 2001, his left foot was amputated in a Phoenix, Arizona hospital due to infection arising from his diabetes. Then, on February 13, 2002, Jennings died in his sleep of diabetic complications in Chandler, Arizona. He is interred in the Mesa City Cemetery, Mesa, Arizona.

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