It’s no secret that Waylon Jennings was a frontrunner in the outlaw country music scene back in the day.
His polarizing, “I don’t give a fuck, I’m doing this my way” persona is what made him a fan favorite for traditional country music fans.
With that being said, I’m still stuck on these Tales from the Tour Bus videos with Mike Judge (Creator of King of the Hill, and voice of Hank Hill).
We’ve learned about Billy Joe Shaver’s “Wacko From Waco” incident, a number of George Jones wildest moments, and even Waylon’s DEA raid.
This video in particular is titled “Luckenbach, Texas,” based on Waylon’s original hit song that eventually included a Willie Nelson feature.
However, the best part of the video may not be about the song itself.
The story goes that Jennings new-found success and notoriety as a country music outlaw had gained him the respect of The Hells Angels motorcycle gang, to the point where they would show up to all of Jennings’ shows.
“We show up at a festival somewhere and Waylon would be like ‘oh God, here they go again.'”
In fact, Waylon’s son Shooter recalled being babysat by the Hells Angels while his dad was touring or off doing whatever.
Shooter said:
“I was literally being babysat by Hells Angels, they were very nice. This one guy Hotfoot, I remember him going to a putt putt course with me when I was a little kid.”
And there was another guy named Boomer who was one of the original members:
“I remember from a very little age, I was like ‘that guy was cool.’ He had a cane with a skeleton on it. He gave me a Pez dispenser with a skull on it because he knew how much I loved that cane.”
Practically all of Waylon’s band, and his family were under the protection of the feared motorcycle gang, and nothing would ever happen at the man’s shows because everybody was scared of them.
Check it out:
Hank Williams Jr., Jamey Johnson & Shooter Jennings Perform Waylon Jennings Medley
Diggin’ into the vault.
We’re taking it all the way back to 2012 and a performance from SiriusXM Radio‘s Outlaw Country station.
The great Hank Williams Jr., Jamey Johnson, and Shooter Jennings took the opportunity to tip the cap to a premiere country music outlaw (and Shooter’s old man), the great Waylon Jennings.
The medley kicked off with “Good Hearted Woman,” and took a turn to “There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang,” which was originally a duet performed by Waylon and Johnny Cash.
The trio concluded the performance with a nod to Hank Jr.’s old man with Waylon’s 1975 hit, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.”
Gotta love it.
Jamey Johnson Will Always Covers The Greats
Talk about wisdom from a legend.
Jamey Johnson is about as real as they come, as he prides himself in writing songs about real life, everything from hardships growing up, to personal experiences.
Recently, he sat down for an interview with the Country Music Hall of Fame, discussing the importance of carrying on the legacy of country stars who both inspired and came before him.
In the video, he talks about how many of the all time greats in country music have passed on, from Merle Haggard, to Johnny Cash, to George Jones.
His biggest fear is that shallow songwriting about “beer” and “partyin'” could erase the memory and importance of the true country music legends.
“Without people like me out there covering their songs, they just stop. If nobody was singing Johnny Cash, there’s a whole generation that would grow up without Johnny Cash. And if you ask me, that’s not gonna be a good world.
The young artists today… it’s important they learn those songs, it’s important that they pass it along. That you pay respect but that you also pass along the ministry of those important singers.
They had a lot to say that matters.”
He also discussed how he didn’t realize the importance and relatability of those songs until a little later in his music career:
“You don’t realize that until you get some age to ya… when I was young, I didn’t understand Merle Haggard lyrics, the same way that I did when I got to be 25, 30, 40 years old. Those lyrics hold more truth, and more wisdom, and more meaning than you could possibly realize.
I just view myself as a torch that’s passing down (music) from one generation to the next, and if I could be used in that way, maybe that’s a good purpose.”
Real recognizes real.
All I gotta say is, we need some new Jamey Johnson music soon. It’s been way too long.
Unfortunately, we got a false alarm here recently as one of Johnson’s bandmates told the world there was a new album in the works, but Johnson declined the rumors.
And speaking of covers, check out this badass video of Jamey covering a George Jones medley:
