Waylon Jennings - Greatest Hits

Outlaw country's defining best-of, Waylon Jennings' 1979 Greatest Hits returns on 150 gram vinyl, eleven songs that capture a rebel at the peak of his powers.

Through the seventies, Jennings fought Nashville's assembly line for the right to record his own way, with his own band and his own rough-edged sound. He won, and the run of records that followed changed country music, giving the genre a harder, rock-inflected swagger and turning him into one of its biggest stars. This collection gathers the highlights of that era for RCA in one place.

"Good Hearted Woman" and "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" show his gift for plainspoken, sing-along storytelling, while "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" takes a pointed swipe at the industry over a chugging, hypnotic groove. "Amanda" reveals the tender heart beneath the leather, a gentle ballad sung with real warmth and a hint of regret.

Jennings' booming baritone and the Waylors' thumping, Telecaster-driven backing give every song an unmistakable outlaw stamp, and the production keeps the band loose and live rather than polished. You can hear exactly why a generation of country rebels took their cues from him.

It remains the most direct route into his music, and still one of the best country records you can put on a turntable.