HELL WOULD HAVE BROKEN LOOSE IF THE HIGHWAYMEN WOULD HAVE ROCKED UP TOGETHER AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY

WAYLON JENNINGS ain't one of my favourite 'country' artists, but i guess his virtually immortal connection to BUDDY HOLLY, the man who he gave up a seat for on 'that' plane flight in the early hours of February 3rd, 1959, ensures that i have a soft spot for the man who earned the title as the original 'Nashville outlaw'. The pretentious and politicised machinations of the Nashville country music establishment could have done with a few more Waylon Jennings to rattle a few cages over the years, of course Jennings ended up joining the ultimate country music outlaw gang - THE HIGHWAYMEN, with WILLIE NELSON, JOHNNY CASH and KRIS KRISTOFFERSON. I reckon if those four blokes would have ever turned up to the GRAND OLE OPRY together the owners of the establishment would have called in the riot police and the FBI. I could name the Waylon Jennings songs i like on one and half hands, a couple of his latter day songs - ROSE IN PARADISE and DRINKIN' AND DREAMIN' are among them, as well as GOOD OL' BOYS, the opening theme song off the long running TV series THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. One of the only songs of his from earlier on that i like is I'M A RAMBLIN MAN, it goes all the way back to 1974. Classic funked up rockabilly and sung by Jennings with a strong hint of Elvis Presley.