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From the Vault...
06/13/1999
#633 |
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info
Jennings, Nelson, Cash, Kristofferson
"Highwayman"
© Columbia Records
Year of Release: 985<
Rating:
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track listing
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Highwayman
The Last Cowboy Song
Jim I Wore A Tie Today
Big River
Committed To Parkview
Desperados WaitingFor A Train
Deportee (Plane Wreck AtLos Gatos)
Welfare Line
Against The Wind
The Twentieth CenturyIs Almost Over
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Jennings, Nelson, Cash, Kristofferson
"Highwayman"
One of the greatest projects in popular music is merging two or more
well-known performers into one group. Some examples: Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
and Paul Rodgers (Bad Company): Put them together with other musicians, and
you have THE FIRM. Another great combo: Jeff Lynn (Electric Light Orchestra),
George Harrison (The Beatles), Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison: Put them
together and you have THE TRAVELING WILBURYS.
In country music, we have four great singers, forming THE HIGHWAYMEN:
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson. All
four of these singers are great in their own country right. It's just great
to merge these talented singers together for an album, in which they were
credited as Jennings, Nelson, Cash, Kristofferson. They would be
known (to you and I) as The Highwaymen. (Let it not be confused with
the unreleated 1960s group of the same name, who had a #1 hit, "Michael.")
J,N,C,K released five albums as of 1995; Their 1985 Highwayman, is their
first album together.
"Highwayman" is a great song, having a sound similar to Johnny
Cash's "Ghost Riders In The Sky". "The Last Cowboy Song"
has a "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" feel.
All four singers are vocalizing on these two songs.
Like "Highwayman," all four singers sing the following tunes:
"Big River", a good honky-tonker. "Desperados Waiting For A
Train" is a slow country ballad, as in Lee Greenwood's "God Bless
The USA". "Welfare Line" is a cool country song, having a
medium-sized honky-tonk sound.
Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson provide the vocals for "Jim, I Wore A Tie
Today," a ballad in the common country sound. (Country singers wearing a
business tie? NOT!) Another Cash & Nelson tune in the same style as the
"Tie" song, "Committed To Parkview" has a Steve Goodman
storytelling atmosphere, and it is a definite Country ballad. "The
Twentieth Century Is Almost Over" has a fine, bouncy country feel, as
Willie and Johnny provide their fine vocals. It could also pass as a gospel
sounding sound, as this type of music is one of Johnny Cash's favorites.
Cash & Nelson, along with Johnny Rodriguez, vocalize on "Deportee
(Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)", a common Willie-type ballad, as heard on
Nelson's Red Headed Stranger album. "Against The Wind" is a
Bob Seger remake, featuring Jennings, Nelson and Cash. Honestly, Seger's
version is better, as The Highwaymen's version could of been a bit better.
This is the only song that is the least to listen to.
Highwayman is a fine, fine album for the "old-fashioned" country
admirer. The sound on this album is hardly featured in today's common country,
as Jennings, Nelson, Cash & Kristofferson truly defines what the country sound
truly is. Compare their music to common country artists today, like Garth
Brooks, and Shania Twain, it's different. It's all country, but like other
sources of music, styles change, but in the end, it's still the same
classification it was originally labelled: Country.
So, if you're into the 'ol Outlaw Country, and you enjoy J,N,C,K's music,
then Highwayman will not be a disappointment. It's a fine album, and
has the country sound of yesteryear.
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Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Columbia Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
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