Waylon Jennings – Don’t Think Twice (1970/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:39 minutes | 675 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © A&M
The country and western and folk music paths come together here as if they were two mountain trails meeting at a truly wonderful vista. This is years before Jennings introduced thudding double bass drums, heavy electric guitars, the thick scraggly beard, and the dark leather cowboy hat. Here he just looks like a well dressed dude who might break your nose in a bar. In the world of used record store buyers who ask for “no beards” on their Waylon, Merle, or Willie, this here is the jackpot. Jennings comes across as an undersung interpreter of Bob Dylan; this is a “Don’t Think Twice” one can really take seriously, while the “I Don’t Believe You,” with its soulful dobro picking and swishing Jerry Lee Lewis-style piano, is one of the best covers ever of a songwriter whose work has been recorded extensively. There’s more. Jennings pulls off a fine rendition of “House of the Rising Sun” and is arrogant enough to call his arrangement “The Real Rising Sun.” A trio of terrific country tunes are there for the old fans, and things only falter with some banal cover versions on side two. Herb Alpert co-produced, and one wonders if he is blowing the trumpet on the version of Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds.” – Eugene Chadbourne
Tracklist:
1. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (Bob Dylan) – 3:00
2. “River Boy” (Fred Carter, Jr.) – 2:30
3. “Twelfth of Never” (Jerry Livingston, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:24
4. “The Race Is On” (Don Rollins) – 2:30
5. “Stepping Stone” (Smokey Stover) – 1:51
6. “The Real House of the Rising Sun” (Traditional) – 3:35
7. “Just to Satisfy You” (Don Bowman, Jennings) – 2:21
8. “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine” (Paul Campbell, Joel Newman) – 2:26
9. “Unchained Melody” (Alex North, Hy Zaret) – 3:12
10. “I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)” (Bob Dylan) – 4:00
11. “Four Strong Winds” (Ian Tyson) – 2:54
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