Rating: 
Summary: Are you sure Hank did it this away....
Review: Book is full of great stories. Paints a good picture of the music business.
Rating: 
Summary: Real And Gutsy
Review: He had one of the most original, distinctive styles ever recorded. His book doesn't shy away from spilling the frustrations, the highs, lows, drugs, mood oddities.
His language could stand a tune up, but I prefer that to some people's bios that gag you with syrup and choke you on plastic poses they think you swallow unquestioned.
His humor and honesty shine throughout. He's presented himself and his music straight from the heart. What more can you ask?
Rating:
Summary: Good story turned to disappointing drivel
Review: I enjoyed reading about Waylon's experiences and relationships until he got bogged down in the drugs of which he is so proud. Those chapters truly made for boring reading. He could have condensed the experience, acknowledged how much he hurt those who loved him, and then moved on. Instead, he seems to revel in reliving those painful details and doesn't regret his behavior. Jessi deserves more gratitude than he expresses toward her. The book was often disjointed and it was hard to follow the chronology of events. With the last half condensed into 2-3 chapters, it would have been a great story.
Rating:
Summary: Good story turned to disappointing drivel
Review: I enjoyed reading about Waylon's experiences and relationships until he got bogged down in the drugs of which he is so proud. Those chapters truly made for boring reading. He could have condensed the experience, acknowledged how much he hurt those who loved him, and then moved on. Instead, he seems to revel in reliving those painful details and doesn't regret his behavior. Jessi deserves more gratitude than he expresses toward her. The book was often disjointed and it was hard to follow the chronology of events. With the last half condensed into 2-3 chapters, it would have been a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: WAYLON PENNINGS
Review: I have an eclectic taste in music, but a person could count on 4 fingers and 2 thumbs how many Country-Western performers I really enjoy. I'd put OL' WAYLON on the forefinger. If his name is on your forefinger too, then you are sure to find the AUTOBIOGRAPHY of WAYLON JENNINGS worthwhile.
WAYLON reveals his life story here in great detail. It is an extensive journey from his cotton-pickin' youth, to his struggling honky-tonk musical beginnings, to his lowdown dirty daze at the top of the Country charts & the bottom of his drug addiction, and finally to his mellowed state as a blissfully married man and the grandpappy of Outlaw Music.
What I most appreciated was the informal, grammatically-incorrect, down-home conversational style of the writing. I suspect that Lenny Kaye did little more than insert proper punctuation and maybe prod the old cowboy from time to time.
The book is sure to appeal to anyone who wants a peek at the behind-the-scenes maneuvering in the Nashville Country Music world of the 1960s & '70s. It also paints a picture of the last days of BUDDY HOLLY and Waylon's association with the Rock legend shortly before the unfortunate airplane crash that took his life. It is therefore, a must-read for any hardcore HOLLY fans.
Being a religious man, I didn't care for the profanity which seemed unnecessary, and especially the taking of The Lord's Name in vain (which always affects me like fingernails on a chalkboard.) But, hey, it IS Waylon being Waylon.
The story is in turn raunchy, touching, and (as anyone who ever saw Waylon perform live would guess) QUITE FUNNY! One minute he's full O'himself, reveling in his old-tyme bravado, and the next minute he's got you laughing out loud with some self-deprecating observation.
WAYLON SEZ :
Littlefield, Texas is "so flat your dog could run off and you could watch him go for three days." (-page 7);
"Of all the religions I've run into, the Church of Christ has probably got it wronger than anybody." (-page 13);
He was expelled from music class in high school for "lack of musical ability." (-page 33);
"Like all Southern people," he was "scared of the devil and scared of God equally." (-page 70);
Guitars are "a lot like women. You can touch one of them in the dark and know she ain't yours; or you're with the right one." (-page 105);
"I still cringe whenever I hear myself singing Hoyt Axton's 'NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN.' It sounded like I'd never even been to Cleveland." (-page 184);
Around 1976, Jessi Colter, "WAYLON'S LAST WIFE" - as she describes herself - (what a cutie!) began seeking WAYLON'S deliverance from drug addiction. "Lord," her prayer used to go, "watch over Ol' Waylon 'cause he's so dumb." (-page 299);
And Waylon's first experience in a New York delicatessen is not to be missed!
But on page 101, he says of Barbara Rood, who would become his second wife, "EVEN IN THE GLAMOR TOWN OF PHOENIX, SHE STOOD OUT LIKE A LIGHTHOUSE IN THE FOG." Huh? Glamor town? PHOENIX?! A city where there are more pickup trucks than teeth?! Oh well, the man DID say that he used to do a lot of drugs.
A fellow reviewer wrote, "If you read only one book in your life, you HAVE to read this one." I'm not NEARLY so enthusiastic. I'll bet that if I racked my brain really, really hard for a really, really long time, I might be able to come up with one, or maybe even two books that are better and more important than WAYLON's AUTOBIOGRAPHY. But yes, the chances are that you would enjoy at least a fair portion of it quite a bit. The ol' boy was an American Original.
Rating:
Summary: great storytelling!!!
Review: I was very pleased to read this book, told by Waylon himself. He's long been one of my favorites. However, there was a little too much cursing for my taste, but then, that's only my opinion!
Rating:
Summary: WAYLON RULES!
Review: If you are a fan of Ol Waylon! This book covers in detail all that you need to know about Waylon. I laughed and Cried reading that book not because I am huge fan of Waylon. But, also because the stories were well written and to the best of my knowledge looked like Waylon was honest when he wrote the book.
I only hope Jessi Colter write a book as well. that also would be very intersting, Seeing the story from her point of view, and learning about her as an artist and a wonderful human being.
Rating:
Summary: If You Read Only One Book.....
Review: If you read only one book in your life, you HAVE to read this one. I read it several years ago and just recently read it again. I've read a lot of biographies, and this one is the most sincere and most entertaining one yet. This book shows just how much today's country singers should thank their lucky stars that Waylon Jennings EVER came along. You can tell how very much he loved Jessi and his kids. READ IT!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Sure that Hank Done it This Way
Review: The book details how Waylon became used but not used up through a series of exploits--many shameful. Extensive womanizing back when he truly was lonesome, ornery, and mean left many good-hearted women heartbroken. Waylon didn't have to reveal so much dirty linen from his past, but at least now we can be certain he had always been crazy but it kept him from going insane. He could and probably should have shown more regrets for some erstwhile indiscretions, but most likely his legacy will not forfeit the love of the common people because country's fans are loyal to a fault. Even if he thought he was too dumb for New York City and too ugly for L.A., he and many of his contemporary honky tonk heroes have considerably more talent than most of those warmed over rockers played on country radio today. The autobiography conclusively proves that we may have lost the wolf, but the wolf's music will survive.
Rating:
Summary: Sure that Hank Done it This Way
Review: The book details how Waylon became used but not used up through a series of exploits--many shameful. Extensive womanizing back when he truly was lonesome, ornery, and mean left many good-hearted women heartbroken. Waylon didn't have to reveal so much dirty linen from his past, but at least now we can be certain he had always been crazy but it kept him from going insane. He could and probably should have shown more regrets for some erstwhile indiscretions, but most likely his legacy will not forfeit the love of the common people because country's fans are loyal to a fault. Even if he thought he was too dumb for New York City and too ugly for L.A., he and many of his contemporary honky tonk heroes have considerably more talent than most of those warmed over rockers played on country radio today. The autobiography conclusively proves that we may have lost the wolf, but the wolf's music will survive.
|
