WAYLON JENNINGS DIDN’T LEAVE RCA TO BECOME AN OUTLAW. HE STAYED — AND FORCED ONE OF NASHVILLE’S BIGGEST LABELS TO LET HIM CHOOSE HIS OWN SONGS, USE HIS OWN BAND, AND CONTROL HIS OWN RECORDS. By 1972, Waylon was exhausted and frustrated. He had spent years inside Nashville’s system, where producers chose studio musicians and artists had limited control over how their records sounded. While recovering from hepatitis, he even considered walking away from music. Instead, Waylon hired manager Neil Reshen and renegotiated his RCA contract. The new agreement gave him something almost unheard of for a Nashville artist at the time: creative control. He began producing his own records, recording with the musicians who played beside him on the road, and choosing songs the old system might have rejected. One result was “Honky Tonk Heroes”, built largely around the writing of the then little-known Billy Joe Shaver. The records sold. The movement grew. By 1976, “Wanted! The Outlaws” became country music’s first platinum album. Waylon’s beard and black hat made him look like an outlaw. But the real rebellion was written into his contract.
Waylon Jennings and the Real Rebellion Behind the Outlaw Sound By 1972, Waylon Jennings was worn down by the machinery…