Once upon a time,
Waylon Jennings
was one of the hardest partying men in
country music
(no small statement), but by the time he appeared on
PBS
's long-running music series
Austin City Limits
in 1984,
Jennings
asked that his taping take place at 11 a.m., which would have been closer to his bedtime during his years as
country
's number one outlaw. A newly cocaine-fee
Waylon
plays
"I Can Get off on You"
early in this set, which contains his complete set from that
KLRU-TV
taping, and the man sounds tough and committed throughout a fast-paced show, during which he runs through 14 songs in less than 40 minutes and displays his trademark ability to sound energetic and laid-back at the same time.
was always an artist of glorious contradictions, and a number of them are clearly audible on
Live from Austin TX
; for a man who looked, sounded, and lived like a badass, he was always at his best wearing his heart on his sleeve on broken-hearted numbers like
"It's Not Supposed to Be That Way"
and
"Dreaming My Dream with You,"
and while he was famous for his rowdy, hard-living ways, he was perfectly comfortable singing
"Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand"
against type.
wastes no time in this show, but the spirit is with him at all times, and both his voice and his lead guitar work shine, while his band (including the great
Ralph Mooney
on pedal steel) is in superb form. And
sings
Rodney Crowell
's
"Ain't Living Long Like This"
as if he owns it.
captures what was probably just another set in the life of
, but the subtle fire and total commitment he brings to these songs prove the man never dogged it in front of an audience, and anyone who ever enjoyed his rough, sweet music will get a kick out of this. ~ Mark Deming