Texas Musician Top Ten: Waylon Jennings (#10)

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Top Ten Time!!! It’s now time for my ten favorite Texas-born musicians. No surprises at all on the list, because I’m kind of boring and repetitive. Also no surprise that most of these top ten are blatantly country. Sorry, Linda. Let’s get started with a country great. #10: Waylon Jennings And, just like ZZ Top yesterday, Waylon sent me to a specific place in Texas on my winter road trip: Luckenbach! Yes, the defunct town (lost its post office in 1971) is a destination for music fans. (And if you’re expecting something lavish, most Walmarts have bigger parking lots than the “town” of Luckenbach.) Waylon was born with the name Wayland, but his mother changed his birth certificate when she was told that Wayland was the name of a nearby Baptist church (and, being a Church of Christ member, she couldn’t stand that!). Jennings said initially he didn’t like the name (and his middle name was Arnold, so he was royally hosed with a name! ), but things turned out fine in the long run: you don’t need a last name with Waylon. Most people know that Jennings was Buddy Holly’s bass player and gave his seat on the fateful plane to J.P. Richardson because J.P. had the flu. The loss of his friend helped steer Jennings toward a lot of drug and alcohol abuse. When he finally got clean later in his life, he actually looked younger than he did in the 70s. Waylon had three top 40 pop hits: “Good Hearted Woman,” “Luckenbach Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),” and “Theme from The Dukes of Hazard (Good Ol’ Boys).” Not as prolific on the pop side as Willie (in fact, two of the three were with Willie), but that didn’t bother him. Jennings suffered from diabetes, caused by his wild living. It eventually took his life in 2002. At least he lived long enough to see his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Waylon Jennings Born Wayland Arnold Jennings June 15, 1937, Littlefield Died February 13, 2002, Chandler, Arizona (complications of diabetes) (age 64) HALL OF FAME: Country Music One of my favorite Waylon songs from the “early” days of his career, “Walk on Out of My Mind” (Linda? NO!!!!!!!!):