''The Ramblin' Man'' is an 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 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 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Recording and composition

With a slightly more commercial sound than some of his recent records, ''The Ramblin' Man'' remained true to Jennings' outlaw country image and uncompromising musical vision. The album was released at what was still considered to be the height of the outlaw movement in country music, and this was reflected in its chart success, with the LP peaking at #3 on the country charts, Jennings best showing since ''

Love of the Common People "Love of the Common People" is a song written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins, eventually released in 1970 on John Hurley's album ''John Hurley Sings about People,'' but first sung in January 1967 by The Four Preps. The Four Preps recording wa ...

'' in 1967. Jennings produced it himself, although

Ray Pennington Ramon Daniel Pennington (December 22, 1933October 7, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for writing the song "I'm a Ramblin' Man", and for founding the independent Step One Records label. Ca ...

co-produced "Oklahoma Sunshine" and "

I'm a Ramblin' Man "I'm a Ramblin' Man" is a song written by Ray Pennington. He recorded the song in 1967 for Capitol Records and took it to number 29 on the country charts. It was later recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings ...

," the latter of which he also wrote. Pennington recorded "I'm a Ramblin' Man" in 1967 for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and took it to #29 on the country charts. Jennings' version would be his second #1 on the country chart and also appeared on Australian charts. "

Rainy Day Woman "Rainy Day Woman" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Waylon Jennings. It was released in December 1974 as the second single from the album '' The Ramblin' Man''. The song reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Cou ...

" was released in December 1974 as the second single from the album and reached #2 on the ''

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 ...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks 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 ...

chart. Curiously, the

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 4, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s an ...

ballad "

Amanda Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much b ...

" was not released as a single at this time; more than 4½ years later, new overdubs were added to the original track and placed on his first greatest hits album. The song was issued as a single and it became one of the biggest country hits of 1979. The album also includes a gutsy cover of the

Allman Brothers Allman may refer to: Music *The Allman Brothers Band, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame southern rock band, formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Allman Joys, an early band formed by Duane and Gregg Allman *The Gregg Allman Band People *Allman (surname) ...

' "

Midnight Rider "Midnight Rider" is a song by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was the second single from their second studio album, ''Idlewild South'' (1970), released on Capricorn Records. The song was primarily written by vocalist Gregg Al ...

," cementing Jennings' fearless reputation as a leader of the "progressive" country sound. The photo on the album cover was shot at Muhlenbrink's (formerly the Red Dog Saloon).

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

: "If he had created a sketch of outlaw on ''

Honky Tonk Heroes ''Honky Tonk Heroes'' is a country music album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. With the exception of "We Had It All", all of the songs on the album were written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver. The album is considered an im ...

'', he perfected the marketable version of it here, making it a little slicker, a little more commercial, and a whole lot more unstoppable. If the songs aren't the equal of ''Honky Tonk Heroes'' or even '' This Time'', ''The Ramblin' Man'' has a wilder sound and a greater diversity of songs that make it seem more unruly than its immediate predecessor and more blatantly outlaw...There are moments of reflection, yet even those feed into the outlaw picture."

Track listing

" ( Ramon "Ray" Pennington) – 2:49 #"

" (Jennings) – 2:31 #"Cloudy Days" (Billy Ray Reynolds) – 2:41 #"

" (

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

) – 3:24 #"Oklahoma Sunshine" (Hal Bynum, Bud Reneau) – 3:29 #"The Hunger" (Lee Fry) – 3:31 #"I Can't Keep My Hands Off of You" (

Bobby Borchers Robert Jerome "Bobby" Borchers (born June 19, 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American country music singer. Borchers was raised in Kentucky. He learned to play guitar at age twelve, and got his first break in the mid-1970s, when Tanya Tucker re ...

Mack Vickery Mack Vickery (June 8, 1938 – December 21, 2004), also known as Atlanta James and Vick Vickers, was an American musician, songwriter, and inductee in the Hillbilly Hall of Fame and Alabama Music Hall of Fame. His songs have been recorded by ...

) – 3:38 #"Memories of You and I" (

Lee Clayton Lee Clayton (born Billy Schatz; October 29, 1942June 12, 2023) was an American songwriter and musician. He notably wrote Waylon Jennings' 1972 outlaw country song "Ladies Love Outlaws". Biography Clayton grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee an ...

) – 4:16 #"It'll Be Her" (Reynolds) – 3:03 #"

" (

) – 2:56

Bonus tracks

#"Got a Lot Going for Me" (Dave Kirby) – 2:32 #"

The Last Letter "The Last Letter" is a song written by country music singer Rex Griffin. Griffin wrote the song in 1937, after he was left by his wife. The song tells through a suicidal letter the feelings of an older man who is left by his young wife. The song ...

" (Rex Griffin) – 4:07 #"The One I Sing My Love Song To" (

Wayland Holyfield Wayland D. Holyfield (born March 15, 1942) is a prominent American songwriter and leader in the songwriting community. His music has been regarded as a standard for “honest simplicity” in the Nashville writing community. Personal life Wayla ...

) – 2:49

Personnel

*Waylon Jennings - guitar, vocals *Joe Allen - bass guitar *Leon Rhodes - bass guitar *

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listene ...

- drums *Richie Albright - drums *Larry Whitmore - rhythm guitar *Dave Kirby - electric guitar *Thomas Jackson - fiddle *Alfred Newell - guitar *Billy Ray Reynolds - guitar *

Kyle Lehning Kyle Lehning is an American record producer whose work is mainly in the field of country music. He has produced virtually every album released by Randy Travis, who described their partnership "an interesting relationship." The only exceptions are ...

- piano, engineer *Bunky Keels - piano *Carl Gay - guitar *Duke Goff - guitar *

Randy Scruggs Randy Lynn Scruggs (August 3, 1953 – April 17, 2018) was an American music producer, songwriter and guitarist. He had his first recording at the age of 13. He won four Grammy Awards and was named Musician of the Year at the Country Music ...

- guitar *John W. Wilkin - guitar *Roger Crabtree - harmonica *David Roys - engineer (Technician) *Herb Burnette - art direction *Bob Jones - photography *Ray Pennington - producer *Ray Pachucki - engineer * Bobby Thompson - rhythm guitar *

Ralph Mooney Ralph Mooney (September 16, 1928 – March 20, 2011) was an American steel guitar player and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Haggard's band, the Strangers. A native of Duncan, Ok ...

- steel guitar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramblin Man Waylon Jennings albums 1974 albums RCA Records albums Buddah Records albums