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| Birth Name(s) : Waylon Jennings |
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Full Waylon Jennings Biography
Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was a respected and influential American country music singer and musician. A self-taught guitar player, he rose to prominence as a bass player for Buddy Holly following the break-up of The Crickets. He escaped death in the February 3, 1959 plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson when he gave up his seat to Big Bopper.
During the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, the charter airplane carying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (aka "The Big Bopper") crashed outside Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all on board. Jennings had given his seat to Richardson, who had the flu and desperately needed rest (contrary to the movie La Bamba). 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 ole bus freezes up!" Jennings shot back facetiously, "I hope your damn plane crashes!" These words would haunt him for years.
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 performed at a newly-opened nightspot called JD's. In these years of two and three shows a night, sometimes six nights a week, singing a variety of folk, Rock 'n' Roll, pop, country, R&B and blues material, he developed a unique sound, a devoted following, and made a decent living. 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). Bobby Bare did his own cover of "Four Strong Winds" after hearing Jenning's version, and Bare later recommended Jennings to producer Chet Atkins, who signed Waylon to RCA Victor. Still under contract to A&M, Alpert released him, allowing him to sign with RCA. Jennings packed up and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1965.
Two things came along to turn Jennings' hard times around. The first was a business manager from New York City named Neil Reshen, and the second was his old friend Willie Nelson. Reshen approached Jennings, 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.
Now based in Austin, Texas, Nelson had made inroads into the rock and roll press by attracting a diverse fan base that included the young rock music audience. Atlantic Records had signed Nelson when the time was right, and they were looking to sign Jennings as well. Nelson's rise to popularity made RCA nervous about losing another hot artist, which gave Jennings the leverage he needed in his contract re-negotiations.
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.
In the 2005 Academy Award-winning Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, Waylon was portrayed by his son, Shooter, as a tribute to him, though the younger man's shoulder-length hair and beard made him look nothing like his father had appeared at the time (circa 1966) when Cash and Jennings shared an apartment outside Nashville. Shooter also plays his father in a scene set several years previously, for this scene he did cut his hair and shave, heightening the resemblance to Waylon.
On March 22, 2006, Jennings' mother Lorene Beatrice (nee Shipley) Jennings died in Littlefield, Texas, at the age of 84.
In 2006 Jennings received a tribute from John Schneider, Tom Wopat and Catherine Bach (Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke). Waylon composed the theme song Good Ol' Boys (Theme To The Dukes of Hazzard) and was also the Balladeer (narrator) on the show.
Schneider, Wopat and Bach reworked the theme song, added to it and re-recorded it. They also made a video for the song which is on the 7th season Dukes of Hazzard DVD set. The song ends with Daisy (Catherine Bach) saying "we love you Waylon" as the music fades out. This project was done with the blessing of Waylon's widow, Jessi Colter.
On June 20th, 2007 Jennings was awarded posthumously the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music. Jennings' son, Buddy Dean Jennings accepted the award on his late father's behalf. |
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