''Only the Greatest'' is a studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

, released in 1968 on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. It includes the single "

Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" is a song written by Jimmy Bryant. Originally recorded by American country music singer Jim Alley, it was made famous by American country music singer and musician Waylon Jennings. Waylon Jennings version Jenning ...

," which Jennings took to #2 on the country music charts that year.

Background

''Only the Greatest'' was Jennings eighth LP for RCA Victor in four years. Contrary to the title, it is not a "best of" package, although it does contain the singer's first pair of

Top 5 ''Top Five'' is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Chris Rock. Produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, the film stars Rock, Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union, and follows New York City comedian and film star Andre Allen (Rock), w ...

country hits: "Walk On Out of My Mind," which rose to #5, and "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line, which peaked at #2. Written by

Jimmy Bryant Ivy John Bryant Jr. (March 5, 1925 – September 22, 1980), known as Jimmy Bryant, was an American country music guitarist. He is best known for his collaborations with steel guitarist Speedy West and his session work. Biography Bryant wa ...

, "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" was released in July 1968 as the second single from ''Only the Greatest''. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', in a review of the album, said that it and "Walk On Out of My Mind" were "typical of the robust, compelling vocal style" that Jennings became known for. Nathan Brackett and Christian Hoard, in ''The New Rolling Stone Album Guide'', wrote that Jennings began to "really assert his rough-hewn sensibility" on "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line." The song spent eighteen weeks on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

charts, peaking at #2 and holding that peak for five weeks. In his autobiography ''Waylon'', Jennings recalled of the song, "I waited a damn year to cut that song;

Charlie Louvin Charles Elzer Loudermilk (July 7, 1927 – January 26, 2011), known professionally as Charlie Louvin, was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known as one of the Louvin Brothers, and was a member of the Grand Ole Opry ...

's bass player had the original version for Capitol ecords I didn't want to cover him. I think he outsang me on it, but I had the best track. I knew it had the potential to go all the way, and it might had not ' Harper Valley P.T.A.' kept it out of the number-one slot." In Canada, the song reached Number One on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks charts for the week ending September 30, 1968. Jennings would perform the song as part of a medley on ''

The Johnny Cash Show ''The Johnny Cash Show'' is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The ...

''. Although the single was Jennings' biggest success yet, he was chafing under the constrictions imposed by RCA Victor, and remained frustrated that the strapping sound of his live shows with his backing band the Waylors was not coming across on record with the studio musicians that played on his recordings. The album primarily relied on other songwriters, including

Harlan Howard Harlan Perry Howard (September 8, 1927 – March 3, 2002) was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard wrote many popular and enduring songs, recorded by a variety of different artists. C ...

Bobby Bare Robert Joseph Bare Sr. (born April 7, 1935) is an American country music singer and songwriter, best known for the songs "Marie Laveau", " Detroit City" and "500 Miles Away from Home". He is the father of Bobby Bare Jr., also a musician. Early ca ...

Jerry Chesnut Jerry Donald Chesnut (May 7, 1931 – December 15, 2018) was an American country music songwriter. His hits include "Good Year for the Roses" (recorded by Alan Jackson, George Jones and Elvis Costello) and " T-R-O-U-B-L-E" (recorded by Elvis Pre ...

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger best known for his association with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Gle ...

, and

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Waylon Jennings albums 1968 albums RCA Victor albums Albums produced by Chet Atkins