THE RESTLESS KID
John L. Smith | Fort Wayne, Indiana United States | 05/02/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"During my years of detailing Waylon's recording career and writing discographies and liner notes for him I have been constantly aware of his versatility in his love for music. On this CD nothing is more evident than just that. Eventhough these songs were "recorded" early in his career the scope and range of the material is fascinating. From composers like Buck Owens, Bob Dylan, Harlan Howard, Johnny Bond and even Carl Sandburg, Waylon has taken the material and done it his way. Despite the background distraction of patrons of JD's the sound quality is excellent given the circumstances of the audio systems used in those early days. On doing the liner notes for Waylon's 1974 album THIS TIME I wrote that he could sing a menu and make a hit. Every song on this CD carries Waylon's own stamp...from "Sloop John B." to "Streets Of Laredo" to "Girl From The North Country" it's all pure Waylon. No wonder Bobby Bare pushed so hard for RCA to take a listen and sign this young man from Phoenix. Bear Family has once again, following on the heels of their monumental boxed sets of Waylon Jennings material, brought forth another chapter in the musical career of a country legend. John L. Smith compiler of THE WAYLON JENNINGS DISCOGRAPHY (Greenwood Press 1994)"