Willie Nelson met Waylon Jennings in an all-night restaurant. But he was a contemporary, so Id be willing to give a pass to Bryan for that one. I wasnt ever going to do drugs again, as amazing as that sounded. Waylon Jennings' Widow Jessi Colter To Release Tell-All Book About Everything that two men can possibly go through together, me and Jelly Roll have gone through together, Jennings explained. And from what this article shows, these artist who were called out, clearly understood their limits and went on and are still going on strong. I think that when we started to wear that on our sleeves openly, thats when things started to open up for us. He put his left arm through my right, and we sat there for about an hour while he colored. How dumb would I have to be to try to sew Willie into a bedsheet? she continued. Cant help but believe this entire situation is blown out of proportion. Everybody got to know everyone else's kids. The country music industry wanted them to conform to what was already taking place. . The old joke is that a couple of snorts of cocaine will make you feel like a new man. They did music their way ! 2:52 pm. Not only did he insist on recording country music outside the bounds of . But they didnt let that get in the way of their music-making friendship. Around the same time, Jennings was having a hard time making music the way he wanted in Nashville. Soon, everybody else in Nashville, from Dolly Parton to Johnny Paycheck, wanted to get some of the outlaw shine and bring-in gritty LA musicians and Memphis musicians and get creative, but none of them could really duplicate the unique sound of Waylon, Willie, Jessi & co. Log In. Today, they don't seem like outlaws: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Jr., David Allan Coe, Tompall Glaser, Johnny Paycheck and numerous others are simply considered country legends. Major Support for American Masters provided by. However, the record label complained that the album wasnt polished enough. Plus, Jelly smokes a lot of weed, like Willie. My former bandmate John let his whole band go to his ex-wife because he didnt want any business with drugs. In 1972 he decided to retire from music and move to Austin. I acant think of a single song on the charts that is REAL COUNTRY with the exception of Mo Pitneys COUNTRY . So, we called it Waylon & Willie as a tribute to that friendship. 5:34 am. I appreciated reading the artists own accounts instead of someone else claiming to know their thoughts. This drivethis unwavering desire for self-bettermentwas not only a huge source of Jennings strength as he navigated the transition from prison life back into family life, but it was also the underlying motivation behind Jennings collaboration with fellow Southern rapper, Jelly Roll. LeAnn Rimes recorded a version of the song for her 2011 . With more than 45 artists taking the stage to honor Willie, it's hard to choose just 10 outstanding moments, but these stood out, musically and emotionally.