No. 53, Waylon Jennings Honky Tonk Heroes

On this episode, we discuss Waylon Jennings' 1973 landmark LP: Honky Tonk Heroes. While it may be up to debate as to which album marked the beginning of "Outlaw Country," there is little doubt as to the impact Waylon Jennings and Honky Tonk Heroes had on the burgeoning movement and country music in general. 

Jennings' groundbreaking LP stripped away the strings and lush vocals dominant in Nashville at the time, and instead presented hard-edged honky tonk music, with attitude to spare. Jennings also found a willing partner in crime in the little-known at the time Texas songwriter, Billie Joe Shaver, whose songs spoke of both the freedom and the consequences of living hard. Their partnership created a genre-defining album that changed country music and influenced a whole group of musicians that followed.