Search - Waylon Jennings :: I've Always Been Crazy

Back when music was worth listening too...

DanD | 01/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Be careful of something that's just what you want it to be," Waylon sings on the opening song. A little later: "Women have been my trouble since I found out they weren't men." These two quotes summarize this legendary album: perfection and suspicion, love and heartbreak. This is a mostly autobiographical album about an outlaw who made music the way he--and his fans--wanted it made.



I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY is pure Waylon Jennings--there's not much I can say beyond that. He wrote or cowrote most of the tunes, the highlites being the title track, "A Long Time Ago" (definitely an autobiographical number, written with Shel Silverstein), the slap-stick, Roger Miller-esque "As the 'Billy World Turns", and the growled "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand." But his choice of covers is impeccable. Tony Joe White's "Billy" is haunting and picturesque, delivered in a way that will entrance you. He covers several Buddy Holly hits in a worthy tribute to his departed comrade, and turns Cash's "I Walk the Line" into a mellow, bluesy ballad (it takes guts to do that; it takes skill to pull it off). Merle Haggard's "The Bottle Let Me Down" is revamped (with original steel picker Ralph Mooney sitting in). The album ends on master-songwriter Shel Silverstein's "Whistlers and Jugglers."



This is a legendary album. Waylon Jennings, to this day, remains unchallenged as one of the greatest performers of all time. I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY is the story of this man's life, more or less...with blasting steel, driving drums, and a voice that will make you forget every other singer you ever heard. It don't get much better than this. Ah, heck, I'll go ahead and say it--you'd have to be crazy to pass this one up."

Waylon's Finest Album

bestseller92 | Southeastern Oklahoma | 08/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""I don't look the way the average cowboy singer looks," Waylon sings at the start of "A Long Time Ago", and that surely was true. He didn't sound the way your average country singer sounded, either, and for that we can all be forever grateful. In 1980, when I was 12 years old, I ordered his "I've Always Been Crazy" album on LP. That album was accidentally destroyed a few years ago, but now RCA has re-issued the set on CD for the first time. I bought mine today, and wow, if anything it's even better than I remember. Great songwriting and singing, a couple of humorous songs, a couple ballads, and most of all that great Waylon DRIVE. His cover of "Tonight the Bottle Let me Down" flies out of the speakers at about Mach 8, and even eclipses Haggard's original, in my opinion. If you like Waylon, get this CD. I think it's the finest album he ever recorded. Heck, it might just be the best country album EVER recorded. VERY HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED!!"

Vintage Waylon

Colorado Tex | Fountain, Co USA | 11/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"We had this on 8 track tape in the mid 70's. It was the first Waylon music I listened to and led to a couple decades of following his music and concerts. There are several good songs but Billy was my favorite. A couple friends sharing life and moving on . I could relate to it. I recommend it for Waylon fans."