Waylon Jennings in his prime… you simply can’t beat it.
And back on February 1st, 1975, he appeared on Pop! Goes the Country to sing his hit “Rainy Day Woman.”
It was a weekly half-hour, syndicated variety country music television series that aired in from the mid-’70s to the early ’80s, and featured performances, comedy sketches and interviews from both established and well-known artists, to smaller, up-and-coming singers.
The show was originally hosted by the great Ralph Emery and recorded at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. And they referenced the pop genre in the title because of frequent guests like Barbara Mandrell and Dolly Parton, who were considered pop country at the time.
They also had on greats like Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard and the aforementioned Waylon, so there was a good balance in terms of the kinds of artists and styles of country music that they had on.
But today, I want to talk about Waylon’s performance of “Rainy Day Woman.” It was written by him and included as the second single from his 1974 album The Ramblin’ Man, eventually peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
I will never get tired of watching live performance videos of him, because he had such a cool, effortless and authentic way about him that came through so organically when he was on stage. There will never be another one like him, that’s for sure.
I think this YouTube comment summed it up best, though:
“Badass.”
This will make your Wednesday a hell of a lot better:
