VA - Lonesome, On'ry And Mean: A Tribute To Waylon Jennings (2003)

Though his outlaw persona defined the late Waylon Jennings in the minds of many, this tribute underscores the expansive range of both his artistry and his influence. As with Dualtone's Dressed in Black: A Tribute to Johnny Cash, producers Dave Roe and Chuck Mead (from BR549) go beyond the obvious in both artist and song selection. Guy Clark's laid-back acoustic rendition of "Good Hearted Woman" makes the song sound like one of his own, while the sophistication of supper-club piano informs "Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" as interpreted by Norah Jones. Punk-rock renegades John Doe and Henry Rollins, roots-rocker Dave Alvin, and country mainstays Cowboy Jack Clement (in a trans-generational duet with Pam Tillis) and Kris Kristofferson all find a kindred spirit in Jennings. With "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," Robert Earl Keen subjects one of Jennings's best-known anthems to the album's most radical rearrangement, but many of the interpretations are more faithful to the originals. Junior Brown's "Nashville Rebel" could pass as a Waylon soundalike, and Radney Foster slips as comfortably into "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)" as if it were favorite flannel shirt. --Don McLeese