written by Waylon Jennings

produced by Richie Albright and Waylon Jennings

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June 15th, 2021: would-be 84th birthday of

Waylon Arnold Jennings. Happy Birthday, WJ.

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In non-sequence according to my List, most of these are being done

as birthday tributes, going by the chronological days I’m building these pages. June 1937 saw the birth of a lad who would become one of the pioneers of outlaw country music, Waylon Jennings. He began performing in the ’50s, and in the mid-’60s landed a recording deal with one of the oldest labels/companies in the history of the industry, RCA Victor, formed at the turn of the 1900s. He recorded with RCA until 1986, at which point his assets were transferred to Universal and MCA, and then to CBS/Sony and Epic. In the mid- to late-’70s he began scoring hit records left and right. During this era, Waylon was asked for his services on the upcoming TV series The Dukes Of Hazzard.

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Though the show was a bit before my time and not of my favored television genre, I was familiar with the theme song for many years. Since the mid-’90s, I was a fan of the four southern comedians who would become the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, and one of those comedians was Larry The Cable Guy (Dan Whitney). Larry would call into a rock station in my home state, entertaining the DJs and their guests, at which point each time they’d play the opening of “Good Ol’ Boys.” Though I didn’t connect for a while after that it was the Dukes Of Hazzard theme, I could appreciate the song for its gratuitous hook and good ol’ outlaw country feel. Now that Waylon’s serenading the angels up above, I wonder if he can do all the drugs he wants without consequence.

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RIP Waylon, 6/15/37 to 2/13/02.

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

full/original version

TV version