By Kyle Jorrey
Opinions Editor
This past Wednesday country music star Waylon Jennings at age 64 lost his life to diabetes. And while his passing was hard-felt by the millions of fans who loved and respected his music for the past 50 years, to others, mainly the new generation of music fans, it might have gone completely unnoticed.
And that is the real tragedy.
Because far beyond the songs he created, Jennings represented a dying breed, a type of musician I fear we are running the risk of never seeing again.
He was a musician not driven by money or fame, or producers, or advertisers, but by his love for the music he created. He did things his way and on his terms, and in this MTV age of image-driven pop stars that couldn’t carry a tune on a guitar if their lives depended on it, his legacy will be dearly missed.
Jennings wasn’t born into the entertainment biz. Not even close. He was born in Littlefield, Texas, the son of a guitar-playing truck driver. As a youth he picked cotton and saw music as a way out of poverty. A lover of early stars such as Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb and B.B. King, by age 12 he had formed his first band.
After an early meeting with rock ‘n’ roll legend Buddy Holly, Jennings (who gave up his seat on the plane ride that killed Holly and Richie Valens) was given a spot playing bass guitar on one of the legend’s albums. Shortly after, in the early 60s, he moved to Phoenix and started a band of his own.
With a unique passion and intensity in his voice, Jennings started drawing crowds and talent scouts to the small club in which he played, without the help of promoters. Eventually, he was signed to RCA Records and made the move to the hotbed of country music, Nashville, Tenn.
At this time Nashville had a system, and in that system producers often stamped their own ideas and formulas onto artists. Sounds familiar to the modern creation of the pop stars (i.e. Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Dream and many more) if you ask me. Producers at that time even selected the musicians artists had play in their bands. But Jennings wasn’t having any of it.
Known as the outlaw movement, he got together with country music stars Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash to start producing their own records and using their own musicians. They did it their way, without the flashy rhinestone suits and clean-cut country image, and the result was real, inspiring music and a revolutionary sound. It transformed the musical world.
So moving was this new rebel brand of music that it was loved not only by the country faithful, but by college kids, blue-collar workers and even hippies. His fans respected his individualism, his courage and his passion. Too bad we don’t see much of that today.
Without the help of a Hollywood image (he was usually found in an all black outfit), synchronized dancers, or (believe it or not) TRL, Waylon Jennings was able to sell more than 40 million records worldwide and record 16 No. 1 hits throughout his storied career.
When he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year, Jennings, just as he did when won two Grammys, declined the invitation. He always said he was against competition in the music business.
Yes, in this day and age it takes some real hard looking to find another music star like Waylon Jennings. The rush to make millions and the bureaucracy that are the recording companies make it nearly impossible.
If you want to be a star today, you don’t necessarily have to have talent, and that is a big problem. You’ve got to have a niche, a trademark, or you have to follow a pattern. Producers find a formula that sells and they push it as far as it will, until every last dollar is made. But I still have hope.
I will admit there are still some bands out there doing it their way, making the music that they want to make. They are the only hope for the future. Though it won’t be easy, it is up to the last of these musicians, in the spirit of Waylon Jennings, to start their own outlaw movement.
That way our future generations may be able to enjoy musicians who are in it for the music, not for the dollars. And who sell records because they have talent, not because they fit a preapproved image. Then, and only then, will true justice in the music business be served.
Waylon Jennings made himself a legend with little more than a pen in one hand, a guitar in the other and a love for real music in his heart. Let’s not let his memory and what he stood for be forgotten.
And if you’ve never heard him, use that money you saved from getting your CDs on Napster and go check out an album today.
You don’t have to be a country fan — I’m certainly not. You just have to be a fan of music.
February 21, 2002