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Come along on The Journey..., February 5, 2000
By Patrick Moore (Fulton, MS) - See all my reviews
"Waylon Jennings Starts Here", is the theme of this box-set from Bear Family in Germany.Through unheard demo recordings, unreleased songs, finished tracks, and even a few commercials, we see the start of a historical carrer in modern music. Unlike other career retrospectives, this set alone does not attempt to summarize Waylon's career. Nor does its companion set "The Journey: Six Strings Away" (BCD 16370 FK). Instead, we are allowed to glimpse the birth of Waylon The Performer.
Appropriately, the set begins in Norman Petty's recording studio in Clovis, NM. With Buddy Holly producing, Waylon cut three tracks : "Jole Blon", and two versions of "When Sin Stops". The events of February 1959 derailed Waylon's carrer, albeit temporarily. But less than two years later, Waylon was back in a recording studio. Not in Clovis or Lubbock, but in Phoenix, Arizona. It would be here that Waylon Jennings, Country Legend would be born.
Indeed, the first two discs are made up of studio tracks and demo recordings from the Phoenix years. For the first time, Waylon's recordings for the then-new-now-legendary A&M Records. "Just To Satisfy You" is presented here in two versions, the first being the acoustic version that appeared on A&M in 1964, the second, an unreleased version with far heavier instrumentation ala the Beatles or Rolling Stones. The complete "Waylon Jennings At J.D's" album is presented in original sequence, kicking off disc 2. One song, "Step Aside (You're Standing In My Way)", was performed by Nancy Sinatra on her 1966 album "Nancy In London". Waylon's version uncannilly copies Johnny Cash's style to a T. Another song, "Living Proof", was a duet with a teenager named Mirriam Eddy--better known to the world as Jessi Colter. Colter's voice in 1964 sounds much like it does today. And, Waylon asked to "Stop The World And Have A Coke".
The RCA years start at Disc 3. The first 8 albums Waylon made for RCA are complete here, along with bits and pieces of three others. There are some sonic surprises though. "Norwegian Wood" is in true stereo for the first time, as is the Waylon/Anita Carter duet "No One's Gonna Miss Me", a track that only appeared on LP once-in mono-on the 1980 UK compilation "Waylon Music". The recently discovered original version of "The Chokin' Kind" appears for the first time ever. Listening to it, it is clear why Waylon was unhappy with the reading of the song. The song is much faster than the one that was eventually released, and the lyrics dealing with love gone wrong are inappropriate for the melody.
One gathers, after reading the discography, that RCA stockpiled songs, then issued them when there was new product to be released.. It is not uncommon for a Waylon album from the late 1960's to be culled from as many as five previous sessions, the Harlan album and "Nashville Rebel" being notable exceptions.
Of course, there is some dross. The instrumental tracks for the movie "Nashville Rebel" are in mono (the rest of the RCA material is in true stereo), and have not held up well. Possibly the original masters no longer exist. Anyhow, like most soundtrack instrumentals, they don't bear repeated listening. They make disc 4 longer, not better.
Discs 5 and 6 are a treasure trove of first-time-on CD tracks. The only glitches are on Disc 5: the tape is stretched or some other recording bugaboo slows the song for a split second at the beginning of "California Sunshine". And "Long Gone" is faded in (the version on Waylon Files Vol. 5 and the "Only The Greatest" LP are not). The title track, originnally issued in 1967 on the "Love Of The Common People" LP and reissued in 1999 by BMG subsidiary Buddha Records, has a flaw about a minute into the song. Either the tape was wrinkled, or was spliced. But every version of "Destiny's Child" has this flaw. And it is here too.
The book that is packaged with the set is well done indeed. Written by biographer Lenny Kaye, there are rare photos and a discography that covers the set's time period. Of the photos, we find out the photo used for the "Leavin' Town" LP has a gas station price sign airbrushed out. The "Leavin' Town" back cover photo, a cropped, black and white pic, now appears in a full color, uncropped shot of Waylon against a backdrop of a four-lane, sign laden Nashville boulevard (which one I don't know).
Overall, is it worth it? Absolutely. There is plenty for the hardcore fan, but plenty for the new fan too. Bear Family wisely split this set into two parts, not merely for price reasons, but for aesthetic reasons as well.
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