Waylon Jennings

Irrepressible individualist country singer/songwriter/guitarist Waylon Jennings was a country artist who was never afraid to get large doses of influence from rock ‘n’ roll. With tunes whose moods swing from hellraising to lonesome, tender to good-timing, the famed outlaw of country music spent over four decades playing.

At age 14, Waylon quit school to host his own radio show in Lubbock, Texas. There he met a Lubbock native, Buddy Holly, who not only recorded Waylon’s first record, but also hired him to be his bass player when the Crickets broke up in late 1958; unfortunately, it was for the ill-fated tour that ended in a plane crash, killing Holly and several others.

He made his way to Arizona where he put together the Waylors, and was signed by A&M records, but his records didn’t do well and he ended up at RCA under the legendary Chet Atkins. He scored his first minor hit in ’65, and hit the Top Five in ’68 with "Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line," followed by other hits including the Grammy-winning "MacArthur Park" in ’69. But he chafed under the Nashville system of musicmaking and persuaded RCA to let him use the Waylors as his band. Bucking the system paid off with Honky Tonk Heroes in 1972, followed by the Willie Nelson-produced This Time in 1974 and Wanted: The Outlaws in 1975 (the first country platinum record). This began a fruitful period in Waylon’s career and over the years he recorded many other albums with Nelson and others including his wife, Jessi Colter, and Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson in The Highwaymen in the ‘80s.

He survived heart surgery in 1988 and had roles in movies as well as continuing to record and tour with the Waymore Blues Band. His final recording was Never Say Die LIVE! (Columbia). Check out his website at waylon.com.

WAYLON: 1937 - 2002

To the despair of country fans the world over, Ol' Waylon's done his final tour and climbed aboard the last tour bus out of town. On February 13, 2002, Waylon passed away at the age of 64 from complications of his struggle with diabetes. He and Jessi had moved from Nashville to Arizona in 2000, after holding a giant garage sale that featured some prized memorabilia. His health problems mounted in 2001, leading to the amputation of his left foot in December.

"The only two things in life that make it worth livin'
Is guitars tuned good, and firm-feelin' women..."

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME - VOLUME 7
Photos, Stories, and 28 Songs
Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook

Features Country Music Hall of Fame honorees Bill Anderson, The Everly Brothers, Don Gibson, Waylon Jennings, The Jordanaires, Don Law, Sam Phillips, Webb Pierce, Charlie Pride and Faron Young. Includes photos and bios of each, plus 28 great representative songs.

Read more
Inventory #HL 313203
Book $12.95 (US)

Waylon’s first electric guitar was a Fender Musicmaster. Eventually he graduated to the instrument with which he has been associated for over 30 years, a 1963 Fender Telecaster. Because that initial guitar got so beat up, he had it covered with a distinctive black and white tooled leather jacket with a Western floral design, and he has stuck with that look ever since.

The Waylon Jennings Tribute Telecaster was based on Waylon's floral patterned '63 Tele. Features included a bound ash body with "white rose" inlay, special "slim profile" maple neck with flying "W" 12th fret inlay, Fender "Elite" machine heads with pearloid buttons, Scruggs tuner on the low "E" string, 21 frets, 2 Texas-Tele pickups, and American Standard Tele bridge.