Honky Tonk Heroes

My 16 year old self would've wanted to punch me for saying this, but I actually really liked a Country album. Didn't overstay its welcome and after a stressful day of work, felt soothing. Had some great acoustic guitar and bass to accompany the outlaw imagery. Would say Omaha was the best of the bunch.

This is what country is about. Waylon takes pain and hope and love and blends it all together in a great album. He’s definitely a pillar of country for a reason.

Waylon gets in, handles his business, and gets out. Great lyrics (no, really, some true classics in here) and slick early-70s production make this a good time to listen to.

I don't like country music, but the first track started and maybe I've just been listening to the wrong country music?? The first country album I think I would go back to, such easy listening. It gets an extra star because it made my 3yr old daughter want to dance with me. 6/5

First album generated that I gave more than one listen for the day. Shaver writing for Waylon. Awesome.

I loved it. It took me back to my childhood when I worked for my dads drywall company in hill yard (an area of spokane) and would go get lunch across the street and they played country music with slide steel guitars

one of my favorite all time country albums. The birth of Outlaw country and by far Waylons best work (only album you really need by him imo). I always thought Willie Nelson was the better of the 2 but that this album may have been the best between them all. The tone, the lyrics, the non twang-y country and his deep voice all just took Country in the best direction it's ever been taken, mixed with blues and rockabilly

1001 country albums that sound like each other

Not a huge country fan, but don't mind this kind of "classic country". Songwriting is great and production is clean. Would have liked the songs to open up a bit more and have time for longer solos and more jamming, but I guess that wasn't the style.

Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I still really hate that whimpering steel guitar sound with a deep and abiding passion and the lyrical content of most of these songs absolutely do not connect with me. But not all of them. There are some solid tracks here. Enough to give it a middling grade from me, at least.

🪕 Rating: 4.9 / 5 🍺 Short Review: Sounds like a jukebox in a saloon where everyone’s too tired to lie but too proud to cry.

Surprisingly really enjoyable. Old country is so much better than new country damn

Take me back to Nashvillle right now. Lush with the kind of pathos and grit that all of favourite country music shows. Real characters in profound circumstances. Pure songwriting magic.

Pretty good listen, but it's short and forgettable. Favorite track might be Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me

Waylon just has a voice like no others and isn’t boring while using it.

Outlaw country

Outlaw country is easily my favorite country subgenre. Seems almost unrecognizable to the modern trash coming out. Somehow comes in at under 30 minutes despite the songs feeling like they take their time and aren't rushed. Rating: 4.8

Really good country album. No complaints.

Waylon is a legend, and I knew that I was going to love this. And I did. This is everything that is great about classic country, especially outlaw country. My only regret is that this album is so short (27 minutes), but there is a lot more Waylon out there to listen to.

One of the kings of country at the top of his game. Quick and punchy, rollicking one minute and mourning the next. A quintessential country album. Best song: Honky Tonk Heroes

An underrated classic artist. Need to remember Waylon more!

This was actually pretty cool! Really liked the first song and seems like some funny/cool old country to have in your lexicon.

Alveg heyrt verra honk í tonk í stöff. Vistaði meira að segja upphafslagið á playlista. En þetta verður þreytt áður en platan klárast og hún er ekki nema 27 mínútur og 10 sekúndur að lengd. Yeehaw.

Good ol' fashioned outlaw country

Man I’m a sucker for outlaw country. The driving drum and bass lines, the soulful singing, the salt of the earth content. And who does it better than Waylon. Sign me up!

We used to be a real country!

Listened to this one in the car with my dad, driving back from his hometown on windy Montana back roads. Ain’t nothing better than listening to him singing along to Honky Tonk Heroes

This was a welcome reminder that when I say "I hate country music," what I actually mean is that I despise what commercialism did to country music. Starts strong and never drags. This kind of experience is why I'm here; perhaps the list could lose just a small portion of the Morrissey and middle of the road Brit nostalgia in favor of more varied influential albums?

I love Waylon’s playing and singing and Billie Joe’s songwriting. There are very few perfect country albums and this is one

I was introduced to Waylon through Alvin and The Chipmunks. They covered his song Luckenbach Texas, and I loved it. Honkey Tonk Heroes is a five star album, beginning to end.

Honky Tonk Heroes It’s hard not to reference Merle yesterday, and this feels like a significant evolution from I’m a Lonesome Fugitive. The sound is far, far better; richer, deeper and warmer (exemplified by the superb bass - in tone and playing and in its place in the mix), giving the whole thing a loose, easy going charm, and it's a great listen I also prefer Waylon’s voice (not least as he sang the Dukes of Hazzard theme tune) - he has a much less stylised country timbre than Merle and is much more appealing, especially in combination with the excellent, vaguely rock’n’roll tinged music. Although things like the guitar on the title track carry those rock’n’roll influences, it’s still a recognisably country album, with some excellent melodies and lyrics and some great songs; the title track, the melancholic Old Five and Dimers, the superb, loping and fiddling Willy the Wandering Gypsy (despite the mad fade out), Omaha, the excellent Ride Me Down Easy, the skipping, picaresque Ain’t No God in Mexico and the Elvis-ish gospel of We Had it All. Overall it’s a great combination of Waylon’s charisma and Billy Joe Shaver’s songs, and is an excellent album, a clear step past a lot of 50s and 60s country albums. And it's only 27 minutes long. Not sure if it’s a 4 or a 5. It perhaps does feel a little lightweight in places so I think I’ll settle on a high 4. 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 Playlist submission: Between Willy the Wandering Gypsy, Ride Me Down Easy and We Had it All…I’ll go Ride Me Down Easy

Weird thing, the chorus’ of the first 4 songs all finish on a variation of “like me” or “and me”. Enjoyed it

I'm finally able to appreciate classic country.

The third time through my ears latched onto “Old Five and Dimers (Like Me)” and I noticed the in-plain-sight rhyme repetition: be/see/me/be/me/be/me/believe be/be/me/be Zen, dude! There’s more depth to plumbing, I’m sure, but I’m not sure the lovely ordinariness of voice and accompaniment is enough to keep me diving. Still, a good time.

I like the sound and style, although none of the songs grabbed me. Cool he played with Buddy Holly though!

Nr. 108/1001 Honky Tonk Heroes 3/5 Old Five And Dimers 2/5 Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me 4/5 Low Down Freesom 4/5 Omaha 3/5 You Ask Me To 3/5 Ride Me Down Easy 3/5 Ain't No God In Mexico 3/5 Black Rose 3/5 We Had It All 2/5 Average: 3,0/5 Ultimately forgettable Country album.

1973 Have I said that I'm not a fan of country music? FFS, this is horrific! I can imagine this being the music of choice at a truck stop on the A17 in the Fens. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ 50% Revisit ❌️ Jesus ★☆☆☆☆ (2/10)

“My feet would fit a railroad track I would made one Hell of a train” - Peak Southern Poetry -

How much fucking Country is on this list.

Seriously? How did this make the list?

How can you be mad with Waylon Jennings (I guess if you count creating Shooter Jennings, but he also created Mason Jennings). I love this era of country and the one that came before it so you know what this is going to mean. 5 Stars.

I wondered when I'd get some Waylon. Billy Jo Shaver was so on with his song-writing.

So glad to see Waylon on the list. More please!

Had never listened to this all the way through. Modern country has fallen a long way from this

One of my favorite country albums. Great songwriting and storytelling and delivery to match

This album has me smiling from the first notes. I enjoyed it so much, I immediately listened to it again!

No notes. Actually Waylon was the prickliest of the great outlaw acts so I love him a bit less than Kris or Willie. Nonetheless he’s great.

It’s a 5. Waylon Jennings is one of the country artists I definitely grew up on; even if I can’t remember a single song the guy has done, the name is famous to me, & his reputation in the world of country music feels monumental. It certainly feels reflected with these tracks; even if he’s not the primary songwriter here (I feel like I need to look up more from one Billy Joe Shaver), Waylon’s voice brings them all to life in a way that probably only a few other country artists of this era could really capture. The band around him does a great job as well (as always, I love that steel guitar), occasionally bringing a loose breakbeat energy to some of these tracks that adds just a touch of Beatles-y flair that spices up the album nicely. It really is just a smartly written album, & the instrumentals behind each track elevate them more, with Waylon’s voice painting all the right strokes. It’s a super tight 27 minutes that touches on everything from reliving faded musical glory, to cheap lifestyles, to the natural high of traveling, the law-filled streets of California, the freeing lawlessness of Mexico, and a couple of love tracks, whether they’re about devoted love or constantly leaving. If I have a nitpick, it’s that I do think it’s not structured quite as tightly as a top to bottom album, with a few fadeouts that feel a little cheap (I would’ve ended on “Black Rose” instead), but it doesn’t matter that much. It’s still a very easy 5 for me, and it’s the type of country album that’s right down my alley. Good fucking stuff, Waylon.

Waylon Jennings? Yes, gimme some. 5 stars.

bão demais da conta sô!

So good. Wish it were longer, but I think that’s the idea.

Love old country!

I didn’t expect to love this album as much as I did, and I think I loved it because it reminded me of car rides with my grandparents. I also just feel connected to my roots when I listen to old country music.

Yeehaw! *clicks heels like an old time prospector* This is the kind of country music I like. Grounded in real life and emotion.

The best country album has to be one of Johnny Cash's live prison sets. But this is easily the best studio album. Great heart, fantastic performances, endlessly quotable. Country music without the cliches. Perfect from beginning to end.

Always love Waylon

A clasdiv’

I love when country songs are deep and not just about beer, truck and thick woman. So like this album too.

Didnt expect to enjoy a country album this much

Hell Yeah, Brother. The soundtrack to day drinking in the middle of the week before a long drive home

Surprisingly great record! I've always understood Waylon Jennings to be "Willie Nelson but boring," but I need to re-examine that. Maybe not as solid as some Willie records I've heard, but solid from beginning to end, and with some outstanding highlights along the way. "The devil made me do it the first time; the second time I done it on my own," is a perfect line.

God damn it, I’m British! I shouldn’t love this as much as I do! Just brilliant - great songs, great voice, and a rhythm section that grooves harder than PFunk. What an album.

Whelp, I’m not usually one to reach for a cowboy hat, but here we are. It’s rough around the edges in the most beautiful way possible, like discovering a classic rock record you didn't know existed. Spins: 2 Playlist Additions - Honky Tonk Heroes - Old Five and Dimers (Like Me) - Omaha - You Ask Me To - Ain't No God In Mexico - Black Rose - We Had It All - Slow Rollin' Low

This is a nice, moody, classic country & western album. It's well done and the songs are well crafted. It doesn't have a lot of "oomph," but it's nice for what it is. I'm between a 4 and 5 on this one, as I do think it is just a great album that keeps to the best parts of country and western without getting into the garbage pop country sound that then evolved. In the end, I'll give it a 5 on this scale, as I think this could be a 4.5 for me, which I round up on this scale.

nie wybrałabym sama,ale jednak czułam się jak cowboy 🤠

Great find. Surprisingly, this is my first introduction to Waylon Jennings, and simply put, a solid album with not one bad song. The first time I listened to it was when my listening partner got this album and I gave it a 4, but I have since listened to it another 2 times and this is an album I want to own. This alone is a 5 criteria for me. I have added it to my "to buy" list. Standout track was Ride me down Easy. 5 stars

Easy 5, brings some great memories back

Outlaw Country. Love this album and the story behind the songs. Was listening to Outlaw Country on SiriusXM on evening and they went into a deep-dive on this album. The great Billy Joe Shaver wrote most of the songs I believe... as the story goes, Waylon just kept asking him to sing ol country songs and if he liked em he recorded em

Not my genre but this is the real deal.

So pure and classic. This is what all those alt-country dudes are aiming for

This is a hell of an album, and my first by Mr. Jennings. Short, sweet, outlaw as hell, somehow kind of modern? Great melodic hooks, great storytelling. Fantastic stuff and I’m glad I finally listened to it.

This is a damn good album. The title track and Omaha aren’t just good country songs, they’re good songs in general. Also it’s an album that doesn’t out stay its welcome. Good stuff.

Awesome

Just real good, soulful, honest country music. When it's good, it's great.

Some great old school country. I love it. I will be playing some Waylon more often.

Damn near perfect country record. Deep, mellow, unhurried, bittersweet. One is deeply appreciative for the turns Waylon took and even if one's cynical about Outlaw Country (marketing concept as much as anything), there's no arguing with the quality of the outputs.

An absolute fucking classic. Billy Joe Shaver was a poet and cowboy mystic. His songs are what make this an all-timer.

Pure bad assery.

Absolutely amazing I love country music so much im gonna explode

Cowboy shit

Country guapo, para escuchar

Wow! Die erste Entdeckung. Das gefällt sehr gut.

Whooo… a perfect storm of an album. Hotshot young writer meets legend. Legend says let’s do something then ducks writer. Writer convinces legend to do it. Chet Atkins says no way… Waylon says, good go. Calls his boys, makes one of, if not the best country albums of all time. Sells like hot cakes. Starts whole movement.

This is the two hundred sixth album I’m rating. I listened to one of his songs and it was really good. Adding to my Playlist - Honky Tonk Heroes, Old Five and Dimers (Like Me), Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me, Low Down Freedom, Omaha, You Ask Me to, Ride Me Down Easy, Ain’t No God in Mexico, Black Rose, and We Had it All. Not Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. All in all I liked 10/10 songs. I like country.

This is a great album!!

My kinda country. Compact sing song tunes, soft and buzzy. This is an album.

This was class. Expected half hour of dukes of hazard music but was thoughtful songwriting and really nice production. Will add this to a playlist.

Classic Waylon. We lost the giant when he passed.

9.7/10. Maybe greatest country album of all time.

If anyone ever makes a movie about me, I want this album to play at a pivotal scene where I’m struggling with a big decision. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, THIS is Country music. And it doesn’t get much better than this.

An absolute banger of an album. Every song is near country perfection. I had never heard this album before but I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to discomer it. The band is stellar, the playing on every track filled with nuance, subtlety, space and attention to detail. Speaking of detail this is an beatiful sounding album. The details in the instrumentation is beautifully rendered. The details of each instument is easily discerened but never in your face, always balanced in in service of the song. A nearly perfect album. 5 stars

Wow! Amazing

This is a certain kind of fantastic. I may have heard this before, years ago, as my dad had a cassette with Merle on one side and Waylon on the other side, and I don't remember the album titles... but believe me when I say that modern country is a pale shadow of the real roots country. Bob Wills is still the king!

The audio quality is so good, so dynamic and rich. I love how country music like this excels at story telling. That instrumentation on You Ask Me To. The track lengths and album length, chefs kiss. A nice mix here. You can slow dance with your partner or ride the rails with them. Sounds nice if you ask me.

Solid album. I'm never putting Country on, but I really like this style. It has enough rock and roll in it to make it interesting.

Релакс хонкитонк, все как надо, уже спокойно скачу на лошади по полю

As always, I feel somewhat conflicted that the name on the record isn't the name of the person who wrote the music. In my eyes, this is Billy Shaver's record, filtered through the possibly more marketable Waylon Jennings. That being said, it's great. I've always had a soft spot for outlaw country. I just love the blues, man.

If country music was like this album instead of the absolute trash they produce in Nashville the world would be a better place. Loved it from start to finish, excited to listen again.

Thoughts before listening: I'm very excited for this. Waylon's great, and I'm pretty sure Billy Joel Shaver wrote this album. I'm sure this will get the normal "country music sucks" 1-star reviews so unless I'm WAY off on what this will sound like, I'll likely be giving it 5-stars to help right the ship a bit. Review: This is 100% a 5-star album full of so many classics of the outlaw country movement. This is my favorite era of country music and Waylon is one of the all-time greats.

I'm really pleased that this album makes the cut. Coming from the 'Nashville of the North', Liverpool (UK), I am quite familiar with C&W music. Liverpool is one of the few, if not the only, cities in the UK of having had a dedicated C&W radio channel. My brothers friend was the son of the legendary Joe Butler - C&W dj. This is a great album and my stand out favourite is, 'we had it all'. 5 stars all the way!