Once upon a time,
Waylon Jennings was one of the hardest partying men in country music (no small statement), but by the time he appeared on PBS's long-running music series Austin City Limits in 1984,
Jennings asked that his taping take place at 11 a.m., which would have been closer to his bedtime during his years as country's number one outlaw. A newly cocaine-fee
Waylon plays "I Can Get off on You" early in this set, which contains his complete set from that KLRU-TV taping, and the man sounds tough and committed throughout a fast-paced show, during which he runs through 14 songs in less than 40 minutes and displays his trademark ability to sound energetic and laid-back at the same time.
Waylon was always an artist of glorious contradictions, and a number of them are clearly audible on Live from Austin TX; for a man who looked, sounded, and lived like a badass, he was always at his best wearing his heart on his sleeve on broken-hearted numbers like "It's Not Supposed to Be That Way" and "Dreaming My Dream with You," and while he was famous for his rowdy, hard-living ways, he was perfectly comfortable singing "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand" against type.
Jennings wastes no time in this show, but the spirit is with him at all times, and both his voice and his lead guitar work shine, while his band (including the great
Ralph Mooney on pedal steel) is in superb form. And
Jennings sings
Rodney Crowell's "Ain't Living Long Like This" as if he owns it. Live from Austin TX captures what was probably just another set in the life of
Waylon Jennings, but the subtle fire and total commitment he brings to these songs prove the man never dogged it in front of an audience, and anyone who ever enjoyed his rough, sweet music will get a kick out of this. ~ Mark Deming