WAYLON JENNINGS - SONGBIRD

Country music legend Waylon Jennings died back in February 2002 and in the years that followed nearly all of his original albums have been re-issued. However, there has only been a handful of previously unreleased tracks issued... until now.

I have been a fan of Waylon since 1976 when I bought Wanted! The Outlaws and over the years that followed have collected all his albums and saw him in concert at the Hammersmith Apollo, London in 1983 and as part of The Highwaymen in 1992 at Wembley Arena, London.

In this article/review I will be looking at the latest archival release Songbird, the first of three that will feature previously unheard material.

Several years ago Shooter Jennings, Waylon's son, discovered a wealth of multi-track transfers of songs his father had recorded in the late-1970s and early-1980s. During this period Waylon had released albums including Ol' Waylon, I've Always Been Crazy, What Goes Around Comes Around, Black On Black, Waylon And Company and Sweet Mother Texas. 

Starting in 2008 Shooter and record engineer/producer Nate Haessly went through all the tapes hoping to find something of interest and songs that had never been heard before. What they found was a treasure trove of songs that Waylon had recorded in the downtime between tours and during the peak of his career.

Talking about the discovery Shooter said, "These weren't demos, these were songs that were cut with the intention of releasing, and as time went on, not all of them found places on the albums that Waylon and the Waylors were releasing at the time."

While working through the tapes they realised there was enough quality material to make three albums aimed at the fans.

Although, in most cases, they were finished masters some would benefit from some additional instrumentation. It was decided to call on the services of those who had previously worked with Waylon including Jerry Bridges, Barney Robertson, Gordon Payne and Carter Robertson, all members of The Waylors.

Additional vocals were provided by American country artists Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe who would feature on the albums opening track.

To avoid the modern digital sound all the tracks were mixed at Sunset Sound Studio 3 (apparently renamed Snake Mountain by Shooter) on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood using a vintage analogue mixing desk. Despite comments of AI being used no digital alteration was made to any of the tracks.

In June 2024 he announced on social media that he had a wealth of unreleased Waylon Jennings recordings from the 1970s and 1980s and that they were working on what would become the first of three albums of material.

The following year, in June 2025, the first single, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's Songbird was made available on his YouTube channel. A few days later the song was made available for streaming, the first new solo Waylon Jennings material in more than ten years. A second single, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town), was released in August. Both created a lot of interest and demand for the new album.

The forthcoming album was promoted on social media and in the music press although it was almost the day of release before a track listing appeared.

Songbird was released on 3 October 2025 on the Son of Jessi label marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers. It was available in several different formats including  CD, vinyl (black, red, orange and purple), digital download and streaming.

The cover featured a photograph taken by Billy Mitchell and the packaging was designed by Jeri Heiden of SMOG Design Inc. Her previous work had included the albums Behind The Mask (Fleetwood Mac), Graceland (Paul Simon), Live From The Forum MMXVIII (The Eagles), Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (Barbra Streisand) and many, many more.

Shooter gives an overview of how it all came together and there are details of the musicians, credits and track listing. Unfortunately there is no detail on the individual tracks, songwriters, recording dates etc, and this is my only complaint.

We now take a look at the tracks that appeared on Songbird with some background information to each of the songs.

The album opens with a cover of the Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) song Songbird. This classic song was first released on the 1977 album Rumours and was the closing song at all of Fleetwood Mac's concerts in the 1970s and 1980s. Waylon turns in a beautiful and heartfelt performance supported by some excellent piano and steel-guitar along with the recently added vocals of Elizabeth Cook and Ashley Monroe. A fine cover and great opening track which I enjoyed very much. However, being a Fleetwood Mac fan and with Rumours being my all-time favourite release, nobody will ever sing Songbird like Christine McVie. Waylon would also record another Fleetwood Mac classic, Stevie Nicks' Rhiannon, which was released on his 1985 RCA release Turn The Page.

The next track, The Cowboy (Small Texas Town) was a song written by Johnny Rodriguez who didn't record his own version until 1979, a year after Waylon recorded his. It is a simple story of a humble artist whose music brings together different segments of society during his travels from a small Texas town.

I'd Like To Love You Baby was composed by J J Cale and appears on his 1974 album Okie. The lyrics delve into the complex desire for love and companionship while also touching on the idea of other romantic interests and a partner not always being around.

Waylon toured and worked in the studio with Johnny Cash many times over the years and recorded three of Cash's songs, Folsom Prison Blues, I Walk The Line and You Beat All I Ever Saw. They also released the duets album Heroes and recorded and toured as part of The Highwaymen. Making its first appearance on Songbird is the Jack Routh composition I'm Gonna Lay Back With My Woman that Cash included on his 1974 album The Junkie And The Juicehead Minus Me. Listening to the song it is not hard to imagine Cash and Jennings performing a duet, similar to those featured on Cash's I Would Like To See You Again release. . The song breaks down at the end but it doesn't take anything away from what is a great performance by the artist and musicians.

Wrong Road Ahead follows and was composed by producer and songwriter Allen Reynolds. Recorded first by Crystal Gayle in 1974 and also by Loretta Lynn and Marianne Faithfull who included the song on her 1976 country flavoured album Dreamin' My Dreams. The song is about the frustration of falling back into a relationship that is unhealthy and likely to lead to heartache. The singer is aware they are going down the 'wrong road' and that it is leading to a negative outcome.

I Hate To Go Searchin' Them Bars Again was written by singer and instrumentalist Isaac Payton Sweat who hailed from Port Arthur, Texas and had his first hit with Cotton Eyed Joe in the 1980s. I Hate To Go Searchin' is a typical bar-room song about drinking too much and searching for love. In some reviews this song has been classed as a rehearsal as it breaks down at the end but I personally don't think it is the case.

Jesse Winchester was a prolific songwriter whose songs included Mississippi, You're On My Mind and Every Word You Say. His songs have been covered by artists including Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Elvis Costello, Patti Page and The Everly Brothers. He wrote Brand New Tennessee Waltz and released the song on his 1970s self-titled album. Over the years it has been covered by Matthews Southern Comfort, The Walker Brothers, Sweethearts Of The Rodeo, Ralph Stanley and many others. A sad, reflective song about past love and a wish to return to Tennessee.

(I Don't Have) Anymore Love Songs is a cover of the Hank Williams Jnr song that appeared on his 1979 album Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound. It tells of the difficulties of writing about a love that has never come true.

The penultimate track is the second song on the album originally recorded by Johnny Cash, After The Ball. Written by Cash and originally released by Cash on his The Rambler concept album in 1977. Waylon sticks pretty close to Cash's version and it is another great cover of a song by his close friend and musical partner.

The closing track, Dink's Blues, is an American folk song often known as Fare Thee Well and Dink's Song. First recorded by John Lomax back in 1909 it has been recorded by many folk artists including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Originally telling the story of a woman deserted by her husband when she needed him most it is sung from the viewpoint of a man here. The song features some beautiful harmony from Jessi Colter.

Reviews have been positive with Record Collector saying, "It's a covers album, and a fine one at that, classic country from a time when pedal steel ruled, the vocals earthy and heartfelt.  The music is effortless. A country classic made up of leftovers that would have been career greats for so many artists."

Doug Maynard wrote, "Truly a treasure this is. From the first song, a cover of Christine McVie's Songbird, to a cover of Johnny Cash's After The Ball, and everything in between. Waylon took these songs and made them his own. The band is sharp, the voice is strong and clear, and this is pure Waylon at his best."

Writing on glidemagazine.com Shawn Donohue ended his review with the comment, "A wonderful addition to Waylon Jennings' discography, Songbird is filled with enjoyable tunes, resulting in a pleasure-filled ride."

"Waylon was the real deal if ever there was one, and that's why unheard tracks come so anticipated, especially in this era when so much of popular music sounds like bad parody," was the opinion of savingcountrymusic.com. They went on to say, "The 10 tracks from Songbird are from the 70s and early 80s era, discovered by Shooter in the family's musical archive. You can tell they're from that era since they come with that distinctive Waylon half time beat and two tone bass line, with Waylon's voice sounding fresh and vital. This is Waymore at the peak of his  powers."

As I wrote earlier there is no recording information but from my own research using John L. Smith's excellent reference book The Waylon Jennings Discography (Greenwood Press-1995) I have pieced together information on four of the tracks.

The Cowboy was the only song recorded during a three-hour session on 13 April 1978 at Jack Clement Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Two months later, in June, at American Studios in Nashville a guitar overdub took place and at the time the title was changed to Small Texas Town (The Cowboy). The song was recorded during the sessions for the I've Always Been Crazy album and was among several songs recorded around the same time that didn't make it onto the album or any other release.

On 8 June 1978 three songs were recorded at American Studios in Nashville including I'd Like To Love You Baby. It would be over two years before the song was revisited. At a session at Pantheon Studios in Scottsdale, Arizona on 12 December 1980 Jessi Colter overdubbed a vocal on the song. The song may have been intended for the Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter album Leather And Lace as some songs from the album were recorded at the same session.

The Brand New Tennessee Waltz was recorded, along with two other tracks, during a session at American Studios in Nashville on 6th January 1979. It was originally planned to be the title track of a new album but for unknown reasons the title was changed to Sweet Mother Texas and the song was dropped.

Moving on to 1980 and on 8 December during an afternoon session at Pantheon Studios in Scottsdale the basic tracks were laid down for I Don't Have Anymore Love Songs. Further sessions were held on 11 December, 20 January 1981 and 1 February 1981, also at Pantheon Studios. This song, along with two others recorded during the same period, were scheduled to be included on the previously mentioned album The Brand New Tennessee Waltz but once again were deleted when the album was renamed Sweet Mother Texas. In 1985 Waylon recorded the song again and this time it did find a release as a single and on the RCA compilation album The Best Of Waylon released in 1986.

Songbird is an excellent album and an essential addition to any Waylon Jennings collection. I am looking forward to the next two releases and, hopefully, even more unreleased tracks from the archives in the future.

As Shooter wrote in his liner notes, 'Enough explaining. Just put the damn record on... and remember: Waylon Jennings is Still The King!