Maps of Music

Honky Tonk Heroes (1973)

Where the lyrics of Honky Tonk Heroes take you, and where it was really made.

Most of the songs were written by an unknown songwriter, and the album's usual producer was at first reluctant to record them.

Key places

Where Honky Tonk Heroes was recorded (1973)

Recording site RCA Studio B — Jennings brought Tompall Glaser to RCA Victor Studios in Nashville to co-produce the album. The album was recorded there with his band, the Waylors. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Honky Tonk Heroes: nineteenth studio album by Waylon Jennings
• Released in July 1973 on RCA Victor
• Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, in February 1973
• Most songs written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver
• Considered an important piece in the development of the outlaw sub-genre in country music
• Revived the honky tonk music of Nashville and added elements of rock and roll

Background

• Jennings renegotiated his contract with RCA Records in 1972 with manager Neil Reshen
• The new contract gave him creative control over his work
• By 1973, Atlantic Records was trying to sign Jennings, who had grown dissatisfied with RCA's conservative influence
• Willie Nelson, who had signed with Atlantic, was becoming more popular, which led RCA to renegotiate with Jennings
• Jennings met Shaver at the 1972 Dripping Springs Reunion in Dripping Springs, Texas
• Chet Atkins, his usual producer, was reluctant to record songs by a newcomer
• Jennings replaced Atkins with Tompall Glaser as co-producer

Recording

• Jennings recorded the album with his own band, the Waylors
• Jennings and Shaver worked on the songs for several weeks
• The title track caused clashes over its arrangement
• Atkins' only input was his suggestion to add 'We Had It All', a former top ten single
• RCA asked Jennings to add a song not written by Shaver to improve the single's chances

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Born June 15, 1937 in Littlefield, Texas; American country singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and author.
• Considered one of the pioneers of the outlaw movement in country music.
• Played in the Texas Longhorns as a teen; worked as a DJ at KLLL in Lubbock.
• Played bass for Buddy Holly on the Winter Dance Party tour; gave up his seat on the plane that crashed in 1959.
• Led the Waylors at JD's club in Phoenix, Arizona, developing a rock-influenced country style.
• Signed with RCA Victor in 1965; gained creative control in the early 1970s with Lonesome, On'ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes.
• Had a number-one hit with "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" from Dreaming My Dreams.
• Recorded Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, the first platinum country album.
• Narrated and sang the theme for The Dukes of Hazzard, "Good Ol' Boys", which became his biggest hit.
• Joined Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash in the Highwaymen.
• Overcame cocaine addiction in 1984.
• Inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001; died February 13, 2002 in Chandler, Arizona.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Honky Tonk Heroes had a good reception by music critics
• Rolling Stone said the album offered a chance to hear the crisp, robust, no-nonsense sound that had been Jennings' trademark since his early days with Buddy Holly's Crickets
• The Music Journal described the album as brash, lively and down-to-earth
• Stereo Review said Shaver's songs had Jennings in a corral if not in a box
• The Chicago Tribune called the album a pretty powerful example of both the old and 'new' Waylon
• The Baltimore Sun declared it country music at its best
• The Kansas City Star offered straight C&W minus the show biz pretension

Reappraisal

• Stephen Thomas Erlewine in AllMusic wrote that the album arrived at the right moment to revive Nashville honky tonk by injecting a rock and roll attitude
• Kenneth Burns, in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, called it one of country music's landmark albums
• Michael Streissguth wrote in 2013 that the album christened country music's outlaw era

Records

• Billboard Top Country Albums: number 14
• Billboard 200: number 185
• 'We Had It All' peaked at number 28 in Billboard's Country Singles
• 'You Asked Me To' peaked at number 8 in Billboard's Country Singles
• Listed in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2005

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Shaver refused the $100 Jennings offered him and said he was willing to fight the singer if he would not listen to his songs.
• Jennings and Shaver clashed over the arrangement of the title track, which was especially problematic during recording.
• Jennings described Tompall Glaser as a best friend, saying he had taken the place of Glaser's brothers in his life after they split up.
• The album was reissued on CD in 1994 by RCA Records.
• Jennings also spent more time at Tompall Glaser's 'Hillbilly Central' studio in Nashville, drawn to its looser atmosphere than RCA's.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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