Waylon Tribute

To Waylon………

I never had the honor of meeting the man
Never had the pleasure of shaking his hand.
Never wrote a note, telling him he was great
He never knew I existed, and now it’s too late.

Well, on chance there is email in Heaven, I’ll write it now…………

I grew up with you, but you were much older than me.
Your music was a part of my family.
We got my Dad an album as gift for his birthday
When he and Mom were gone, I’d sneak it out to play.

My Grandpa enjoyed traveling to see your shows
Especially with pal Willie, Lord only knows
How many times he heard you sing.
For me, that made your music more interesting.

One day as a youngster, I came home from school.
Grandpa was sitting on an old barstool.
We danced in the kitchen to that album of Dad’s
One of the best memories of Grandpa I ever had.

“Clyde played electric bass”
You sang it with finesse and grace
“Sit on the porch ain’t got no shoes”
Today it’s us who are singing the blues.

“Amanda, light of my life,
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife”
You etched in our minds this wonderful song
Now suddenly, it’s time for us to tell you “so long.”

Today I’ve been thinking about Kris, Johnny and Willie
And two more of your friends, David Allan and Billy.
I know they look back, and were glad to know you
Though you’re in a better place, I know they must be blue.

“A good-hearted woman in love with a good-timin’ man”
After all those years, Jessie was still holding your hand.
I’m glad she was there, knowing you easily passed
And your suffering is over with at long last.

“Like Desperados waiting for a train”
Where you are, “Ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain”.
You jumped on board, are now seeing old friends,
Maybe sharing stories, maybe making amends.

Please give our love to all those musicians who went before,
I’m sure many good ones met you at that door.
Your music brought all of us good memories to share.
Though you’re gone from this life, in our hearts you are there.

It’s a day too late but I’m thanking you now.
I know you’ll get this note, some way, some how.
Always a favorite “Honky Tonk Hero”, all of this explained why.
Here’s to you Waylon Jennings, a toast, and sweet goodbye.

Written by Dana Jones
February 14, 2002

***

HOSS........REMEMBERING WAYLON

Nashville, February 13, 2002 - - I was sittin in the Longhorn with my friend Captain Midnight this afternoon when we heard the news. The Captain is the skinny guy in the picture on the cover of Honky Tonk Heroes. He's also my host and long-standing friend here in Nashville. He and Waymore were real close.

Waylon was the first Nashville "star" I met when I first came to town, although at the time there were just a few of us who knew that he really was. All of us, Waylon and Shaver and Midnight and Tom T.'s brother, Hillman, and me used to hang out at Bobby Bare's little Return Music office on 19th Avenue.

One of the reasons we hung out there was because there was a pinball machine that paid out that, if you got desperate, you could take a telephone book and hold it up to the side of it and beat on it with this big glass ashtray they had around there, and it would rack up games which you could then cash in for money to eat on. Waylon never had to do it, except just out of cussedness, but there was plenty of times that machine bought me a couple of Burger Boys from across the street. In fact, whenever I think of Waylon, it's mostly in connection with pinball machines. Numerous times, after Waylon had managed to get 'em to let him make records his way and it had started to pay off for him, he and I hung out all day long at JJ's playing the machine there, just the two of us, not saying a word, for about eight hours and about eighty of his bucks.

Waylon and I never had much to say to each other, for no particular reason, I guess there wasn't much to be said. I have never been good at ego strokes, and I am by nature a shy and taciturn person. But maybe that was the reason why whenever I saw him he'd say "Hey, Hoss," and we'd silently enjoy the Dr. Snapp buzz and grind our teeth and just play the pinball.

When Patty's and my house on Granny White Pike burned down, the first thing that I remember was getting a check for two hundred bucks from Waylon, back when two hundred bucks was a lot, to us and to him. He never mentioned it to anyone, not even to Midnight, who was a true confidante. And later that same week, Jessi gave me a copy of "The Power of Positive Thinking", and the next day I got two solid weeks of sessions.

Being in close proximity to Waylon a few times over a few years doesn't mean I think I knew him any better than anybody else who liked his music. We never got personal. I never worked with him. So any opinion I have about his legacy or whatever is just about as uninformed as anyone else's.

But there is this truth: he was The Hoss. He was a big ole robust vibrant in-your-face cowboy singer, and the world is bereft of a unique and original. So now I'm sitting here in the Sweetheart Penthouse. Me and Patty are hanging out with Captain Midnight, who is fielding calls from well-wishers and attempting to absorb the reality reflected by the news. Every once in a while he wanders into the office here, looks at the mementos on the walls: his platinum record (the FIRST platinum record for a Nashville record) awarded to him for his participation on "Wanted: The Outlaws" (Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser), the cover of "Honky Tonk Heroes", numerous pictures of Midnight with Waylon, Midnight with Roger Miller, Midnight with Kinky and Roger Friedman and Kacey Jones, Midnight with his beloved wife Scout, now departed for three years. He shakes his head sadly and walks back into his bedroom to take another call.

The earth rolls on.

Panama Red

A Tribute to Ol' Waylon

By Gary Greene

It is always sad to lose a hero. Waylon Jennings died peacefully I was told in Arizona, Wednesday night. I met Ol Waylon once here in Rome he and his wife, Jessi, signed my "Storms Never Last" Songbook. Waylon led me to Billy Joe Shaver. "Honky-Tonk Heroes", Waylon's album, had all but one song penned by Mr. Shaver. I had to find out more about
Shaver, and I have met several friends through Billy's E-mail list. My cousin called to let me know about Waylons departure. I wonder how many people realize that Waylon gave his seat to The Big Bopper, J.P. Richardson, right before the plane took off and crashed killing him, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Buddy told Waylon he hoped the Bus froze up...Waylon reply was I hope your ol plane crashes. It took Waylon years to get over that.

Paul Anka sings "I Did It My Way". Well...Ol Waylon did do it his way with Willie Nelson Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Sad, we have lost a music outlaw. But The Lord has a good new picker for his band. Bless you and your songs Hoss........We all are gonna miss you. As Ol Hondo Crouch once said. "You can't forget memories." I have a worn guitar pick (thanks, David) and a signed Song book and memories of seeing and meeting a legend.

Gary Greene

P.S. Thanks to Chris Fincher for the article in Monday's Rome News about storytelling.
I was the guy in the black Sheriff Marge T-shirt. By the way Luckenbach is a place, and it is real but it is not a town. I should know, I am the Georgia Ambassador to Luckenbach.

So long, Waylon...you and your music will live forever!