Music/Livin': Been Caught Surfin’ - Checkin’ out the websites of the Country Music Legends
Waylon.Dot Com - Say it out loud. Kinda rolls off yer lips don't it? Waylon's website is real good. Seems like they dug out the ol' family album, raiding it for pictures and puttin' 'em on the website, saying: "come on in friends - this way into our lives". The galleries alone are incredible. Album Covers, Showbills, every single album Waylon ever made -- (and that's alotta albums) plus a gallery of his Backstage Passes (just about the best darn backstage passes ever made.)
The site is goooood loooookin'. It feels like it was made by yer techie redneck uncle, the one who storms into Radio Shack and doesn't wanna be bothered by them guys in the knit ties with the cross pens and - he just goes right to the transistors and the radar detectors.
The best thing about it is the 'family' feel to it. You can click over to home-style info on Shooter. You can check out every darn record cover Jessi Colter ever made (Further proof that she is the foxiest woman ever to grace country music). There's a link over to the WaylonPedia, which is like a wiki but with a beard, if you can imagine such a thing. It gets a 'lil confusing there, with links to waylonandwillie.com that actually lead to Waylon's old site-- but no worries, ya'll can figure it out. The 'Outlaw Connection' link takes you to Waylon friendly sites and in the 'Store' section you can buy a Waylon flyin' W guitar pick and bumper sticker (but not a Flyin W T-shirt -- what's goin' on with that?). The Waylon dubya is waayy cooler than the Van Halen logo (obviously Weezer thought it was great as well). But hands down, my favorite thing on the site is the shot of Waylon and Buddy Holly from one of those old photo booths. Waylon was in Buddy's second group of Crickets after the original guys left. He took Waylon under his wing and showed him the ropes. That pic is priceless.
Another outlaw's site worth it's weight in whiskey is Willie's, willienelson.com. Willie is selling live music wristbands. You can carry the whole concert he did in Monroe LA, on 10.25.07 or Huntsvillie Al from 11/01/07 in a wristband that houses a USB memory stick containing a whole Willie show. Say you go to a concert and you liked it so much you wanna take it home with ya? Well straight off the soundboard here comes the show on one of them 'lil cause-y rubber wrist bands, like Lance Armstrong or Bono wear, 'cept this money goes to the charity known as the Redheaded Stranger (a worthy cause). The wristband is full up with the show you just saw (or the show you missed--- there's a bunch of dates available on the site). Very interesting item and very weird too.
Johnnycash.com has got a little more of a commercial vibe to it. But it's nice, very nice. The merchandise is top notch. They've got a onesie with "I Crawl the Line" written on it. C'mon! That's great stuff. For those of ya'll without rugrats, a onesie is one of those tiny wraslin' outfits they make for babies. Like the ones Jerry "The King" Lawler wore, but without them Lane Bryant-style leggings. They also got Johnny Cash radio which pops up the second you get on the site. Bill Miller hosts it and does a fine job of taking you through the career of the Man in Black. It's deep in content, it's got tons of design and thought to it and my favorite part of it is the Bio section. The site keeps opening windows, which is a little inconvenient, but it's worth it for stuff like this. Just click on the 60s or the 70s and you'll dive into the most detailed description of Cash's career imaginable. The site uses real pretty fonts and the "Cash" typefaces are top notch although it's a lil bit difficult to navigate through.
George Jones? That's next week. What's that? Merle Haggard? Ol' Merle's site is under construction. But when it's read, I'm ready too.
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Music: Renegade. Outlaw. Legend. - Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings (from wikipedia) (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) personified the outlaw country movement of the '70s. Though he had been a professional musician since the late '50s, it wasn't until the '70s that Waylon, with his imposing baritone and stripped-down, updated honky-tonk, became a superstar. Jennings rejected the conventions of Nashville, refusing to record with the industry's legions of studio musicians and insisting that his music never resemble the string-laden, pop-inflected sounds that were coming out of Nashville in the '60s and '70s. Many artists, including Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, followed Waylon's anti-Nashville stance and eventually the whole "outlaw" movement -- so-named because of the artists' ragged, maverick image and their independence from Nashville -- became one of the most significant country forces of the '70s, helping the genre adhere to its hardcore honky-tonk roots. Jennings combined the grittiest aspects of honky-tonk with a rock & roll rhythm and attitude, making the music spare, direct, and edgy.
Jennings was born and raised in Littlefield, TX, where he learned how to play guitar by the time he was eight. When he was 12 years old, he was a DJ for a local radio station and, shortly afterward, formed his first band. Two years later he left school and spent the next few years picking cotton, eventually moving to Lubbock, TX, in 1954. Once he was in Lubbock, he got a job at the radio station KLLL, where he befriended Buddy Holly during one of the station's shows. Holly became Waylon's mentor, teaching him guitar licks, collaborating on songs, and producing Jennings' first single, "Jole Blon," which was released on Brunswick in 1958. Later that year, Waylon became the temporary bass player for Holly's band the Crickets, playing with the rock & roller on his final tour. Jennings was also scheduled to fly on the plane ride that ended in Holly's tragic death in early 1959, but he gave up his seat at the last minute to the Big Bopper, who was suffering from a cold.
The disaster stunned Jennings, and it took him several years to regain his momentum. But his time with Holly had been pivotal: "Mainly what I learned from Buddy," Jennings recalled, "was an attitude. He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn't have any barriers to it." After working West Texas radio again, Jennings began performing at a bar called J. D.'s in Phoenix, Ariz. There he began to craft a sound that combined his aggressive Telecaster electric guitar style, his rough-edged vocals, and an eclectic repertoire that often borrowed from rockabilly, rock and folk. Continue Reading...
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