Honky Tonk Heroes

This a good cd to listen to. Some classics. But then they all are.

Well, everybody knows the story about how an unknown songwriter named Billy Joe Shaver talked the semi-famous singer Waylon Jennings into recording his songs. The result was the first "outlaw" country album.Record producers seem to think the last person who should be consulted on their music is the musician. Waylon, who was lonesome, on'ry, and mean, bucked the system and determined that he was going to make music his way. "Honky Tonk Heros" was the result, a rough-edged collection of simple songs and spare arrangements. Acoustic guitar and harmonica lead the instruments on most tracks."Honky Tonk Heroes" won't sound all that revolutionary to the modern listener, but it's still good -- and I would buy this CD for the legends that surround it. All the songs on "Honky Tonk Heroes" are good; probably none belong in the top ten list of Waylon's best. My favorite is "Omaha" which has one of those melodies that stick in your head for days on end.Waylon's gone now; I don't think Billy Joe ever made any money although he's now an elder statesman accepting homage from callers at his trailer house in Austin. (I don't know whether or not he lives in a trailer house. I just made that up cause it sounds like it should be true.)

Gemini, what can you say? This album did several things!! It established Waylon Jennings as a Superstar!! It also put Billy Joe Shaffer on the map as he had all of his material covered but one song. The other song covered "We had it All" was written by the great Funky Donnie Fritts and Troy Seals and covered by Ray Charles as well. It has legendary status!! This is Waylon's first true Outlaw Album and is well done. This marked the shift from Nashville Stodgy to Austin Cool. It also marked a shift for an artist to have creative control over his or her work!! It also showed you could sell real country music big time without Chet Atkins production stamp on it!! The outlaw movement was as cool as the music and it forever changed Austin, Texas.As I remember, the album did not have much critical acclaim until well after it was released. This album stamped the outlaw movement along with Willie Nelson's "Phases and Stages". This album raised the bar to make a whole album good!! That meant every song was substantial and well written. Before this, many albums had one or two great songs with filler material to" get the album out"!!!

This CD has it all....great songs, great performances, and great production. This is country before it sounded like pop/rock with cleaner guitars and a twang.My only moment of "thumbs down" is "We Had It All." A string section? Sorry, but the rest of the CD is bare-bones arrangements, and the string section is a distraction and feels very out of place. My favorites are God in Mexico and the title track - but I'm not really a "hits" fan and am more interested in the whole spirit, sound + feel of the CD...which is overall great!

Awesome cd

The CD is fine, but unfortunately, the boxes aren't well-protected and it arrived broken. They should pay more attention to this.

Excellent renditions of mostly Billy Joe Shaver songs. I really like Billy Joe’s original versions, but think Jennings’ interpretations are even better. Forget about labels - country, folk, pop, whatever - this is just great American music, from the songwriting to the performances.

This is the first album made with his studio in which Waylon had complete control of the content. He even fought with Billy Joe Shaver, who wrote most of the songs, over how they were produced. I had already found Waylon before this, but this album blew me away! It is Waylon at his best! I had the vinyl when it first came out. I think this is the album that sold a million copies (or it might have been Wanted the Outlaws). Long time ago for me. Have most every album Waylon made (in vinyl), and have replaced most of them with CD's through the years. Buy this - you will love it. It will also give you an introduction to Billy Joe and his songs - just a very few. His voice is different tho.