Waylon Jennings - Folk-Country (RCA Victor, 1966)

I spent this past summer listening to a lot of Waylon Jennings. So many of his songs really seemed to hit home with me then, and, as usual, I kept going back to his pre-Outlaw albums, which many of his fans undervalue because of their adherence to the rules of the Nashville establishment at the time. My 1996-1998 residency in Mississippi was a period during which the number of country LPs in my vinyl collection increased significantly because good, if not rare, stuff from the 1960s and 1970s could be found at local resale shops, yard sales, and flea markets in abundance and for low prices. I scored this Waylon Jennings record and five others for a grand total of 15 dollars one day somewhere outside of Tupelo.

A FRESH-FACED WAYLON JENNINGS CIRCA 1965-1966

Folk-Country was Jennings' fine debut album for RCA. Released in 1966 and consisting of material recorded the previous year, its title could have been more accurately changed to Folk-Country-Rock in reference to the sound of several tracks. This initial effort established the formula that most Waylon Jennings LPs from the 1960s would follow: six tracks per side with a 75%/25% ratio of good-to-great/mediocre-to-lame material (mostly by other songwriters but featuring a few Waylon originals as well) and a total running time of approximately one half-hour. Folk-Country's best moments are those that to my ears sound closest to rock/folk rock ("Stop the World [and Let Me Off]," "Look Into My Teardrops," "Just for You") or are simply examples of prime mid-1960s country (the Marty Robbins-ish "Cindy of New Orleans," "Down Came the World," "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take," "What Makes a Man Wander," "What's Left of Me"). Although Jennings' interpretation of the traditional "I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow" provides a first-rate example of genuine "folk-country," the more deliberate sentimental material ("Another Bridge to Burn," "I Don't Mind," "Now Everybody Knows") only sometimes works. All in all, a very good inaugural major label effort that indicated even better things were still to come.

POSING WITH ACOUSTIC 12-STRING & CUSTOM TELECASTER

1. Another Bridge to Burn
2. Stop the World (and Let Me Off)
3. Cindy of New Orleans
4. Look Into My Teardrops
5. Down Came the World
6. I Don't Mind
7. Just for You
8. Now Everybody Knows
9. That's the Chance I'll Have to Take
10. What Makes a Man Wander
11. I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow
12. What's Left of Me

PRODUCER CHET ATKINS (L) WITH JENNINGS IN THE STUDIO CONTROL ROOM