Waylon Jennings is heralded as one of the greatest country singers of all time and a pioneer of the “Outlaw” subgenre of country music. Active in music from 1951, where he was a DJ for a Texas radio station, until his 2002 death, Jennings created a sound that helped boost the careers of other 1970s country stars like Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe, and Johnny Paycheck. After his death, one last album of original Jennings’ recordings was released, “Goin’ Down Rockin: The Last Recordings,” in 2012, which was from Jennings’ final recording session. At that point, fans of the outlaw were left with that being the last bit of fresh music from Ol’ Hoss.
Then, on Father’s Day in 2024, Jennings’ son Shooter announced he had discovered and started to digitalize a mass collection of his father’s recordings from the mid-70s to late-80s. He said there was enough material to fill up a few albums, with the first having an anticipated release of mid-2025. Songbird, Waylon Jennings’ 47th studio album, was subsequently released on October 3, 2025.
The album opens up with “Songbird,” a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s song from their 1975 hit album Rumors. A song that John McVie of Fleetwood Mac said is one that “when Christine [McVie] sang, grown men would weep. I would weep.” And while I didn’t cry when I heard it, I did think it was one of Waylon’s prettiest recordings. Much like his 1979 hit “Come With Me.” “Songbird” was released as the album’s first single on June 15 and was met with widespread acclaim across social media. On August 15, a follow-up single was released and is also the next track on the album: “The Cowboy (Small Texas Town.)” This song was soft launched as billboards with lyrics of the song started appearing around Jennings’ hometown of Littlefield, Texas. Co-written with Johnny Rodriguez, the opening lyric explains it all: “I’m just a cowboy who came here to play you my music, that’s all,” which sums up all the Jennings made himself out to be throughout his career. Great opening for the album.
The album then proceeds on with a cover of J.J Cale’s “I’d Like to Love You Baby,” a great song that ties in the “backward-ness” of cheating in a way that only country music can. A great undertone to this song is that you can hear Waylon’s widow Jessi Colter on background vocals, as she did in a lot of other of Waylon’s songs. Next up on the queue is “I’m Gonna Lay Back With My Woman,” which is a song that’s about ½ music and ½ singing, but the way Waylon played his guitar, I don’t mind one bit. But it’s just a song about a man that’s been gone a long time and is ready to come back to who he loves. Up next is a cover of Crystal Gayle’s “Wrong Road Again,” a song about missing your ex instead of moving on. Waylon Jennings changes his voice depending on the message of the song he’s singing, and this is one of those times like “Songbird,” where changes into a deep, smooth crooner.
The next two songs, “I Hate to Go Searchin’ Them Bars Again” and “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” seem to me like filler songs, but they have great quality to them. “Brand New Tennessee Waltz” is a beautifully written ballad originally by storied American-Canadian songwriter Jesse Winchester, that is a play-on of the classic dance “Tennessee Waltz.” Not my favorite on the record, but it’s filler with a great twist.
Finally rounding out the album are two of my favorites here. The first is “After the Ball,” originally written by Johnny Cash. A fun song that The Man in Black wrote in a similar style to Shel Silverstein. Guy is just saying he doesn’t want to be at the dance and he’s “waiting for you, after the ball.” Finally closing the album is a classic folk song called “Dink’s Blues (Song.)” This song traces its roots to the early 1900s, when folk pioneer John Lomax started performing it. Other notable performers of this tune throughout time include Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan.
Overall, this is a very solid album and a strong addition to Waylon’s discography. I’ve long awaited a new set of Waylon Jennings music and I am not disappointed. It may not be as good as some other albums like 1973’s Honky Tonk Heroes or 1980’s Music Man, but it is definitive Jennings. I rate this album a solid 9/10.
