Waylon Jennings - Songbird (2025)

Although gone too soon at age 64 in 2002, Waylon Jennings' legacy continues to live on thanks to his son, Grammy-winning producer Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings. The younger Jennings is assembling a trio of albums sourced from a trove of high-resolution transfers of multitrack material recorded between 1973 and 1984 that was unreleased at the time of his father's passing. The first collection, Songbird, is headlined by Waylon's surprisingly heartfelt take on Christine McVie's "Songbird" (which closed side one of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 blockbuster, Rumours). Shooter wisely brought guitarist Gordon Payne and bassist Jerry Bridges—surviving members of his father's band, The Waylors—to refresh these tracks. "Songbird" also features new background vocals from Ashley Monroe and Elizabeth Cook. While the exact recording dates and personnel of these cuts are not apparent, together they add up to a coherent album with the kind of flow and storytelling that made Waylon's best albums so essential.

Written and first released by Johnny Rodriguez in the late 1970s, "The Cowboy (Small Texas Town)" could be a page out of Waylon's biography with lyrics like, "But the cowboys they still come to see me/ And the hippies all gather around/ When I sing of my life in the city/ With roots in a small Texas town." "Wrong Road Again," a hit single for Crystal Gayle and later memorably covered by Marianne Faithfull, is the kind of heartbreak ballad that Jennings' warm, emotional voice could always make his own. A snappy rhythm powers a rendition of J.J. Cale's funky "I'd Like to Love You Baby," where desires split as Jennings pleads, "I'd like to love you baby and/Keep my other baby too." Songbird closes with a significantly rearranged rendition of "Dink's Blues" a storied American folk tune also recorded by Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Jeff Buckley and others. The tale of being deserted by a lover just when they are needed most, it's given extra majesty here thanks to fiddle overdubs and a crying pedal steel guitar. A promising start to much-heralded reissue project.

TRACKLIST

1. Waylon Jennings - Songbird
2. Waylon Jennings - The Cowboy (Small Texas Town)
3. Waylon Jennings - I'd Like To Love You Baby
4. Waylon Jennings - I'm Gonna Lay Back With My Woman
5. Waylon Jennings - Wrong Road Again
6. Waylon Jennings - I'd Hate To Go Searchin’ Them Bars Again
7. Waylon Jennings - Brand New Tennessee Waltz
8. Waylon Jennings - I Don't Have Anymore Love Songs
9. Waylon Jennings - After The Ball
10. Waylon Jennings - Dink's Blues