Waylon freakin’ Jennings, man.
One of the most iconic country musicians in the history of the genre, a rightful member on the Mount Rushmore of the genre, and also one of the only people who can truly call themselves part of the “outlaw country” movement.
He had an unquestionable wild side, and was absolutely known for doing things his own way. For example, he once rode Buddy Holly’s motorcycle in his hotel room. He also saved Willie Nelson’s iconic Red Headed Stranger album from being thrown out by a record executive because he refused to keep his mouth shut.
And, he also knew how to make a damn good country song on top of all of that. On August 18th, 1977, he was sitting at the top of the US country album charts with his classic record, Ol’ Waylon.
He broke quite a few other records with it, too.
Ol’ Waylon was at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart for 13 weeks in 1977 and was eventually certified platinum. It also was his highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 and peaked at #15.
It went on to become one of his highest-selling albums, too, due in large part to the absolute classic song with Willie Nelson “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)”. It was also country music’s first million-selling full-length album.
In addition to one of his signature songs, it included a cover of Neil Diamond’s hit “Sweet Caroline,” a version of Kenny Rogers’ “Lucille” and a medley of two songs previously recorded by Elvis.
It was preceded by two other #1 records of Waylon’s, 1975’s Dreaming My Dreams and 1976’s Are You Ready for the Country.
There will never be another one like ‘Ol Waylon Jennings.
“Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti6QV90X-Sk
“Sweet Caroline”
“Lucille”
“Medley of Elvis Hits”