''The Ramblin' Man'' is The 21st studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

, released on

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

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; ...

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, which was recorded at

Glaser Sound Studios Tompall & the Glaser Brothers were an American country music group composed of three brothers: Chuck (February 27, 1936 – June 10, 2019), Jim (December 16, 1937 – April 6, 2019), and Tompall (September 3, 1933 – August 13, 2013) Glaser. ...

, 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 w ...

'' in 1967. Jennings produced it himself, although

Tompall Glaser Thomas Paul "Tompall" Glaser (September 3, 1933 – August 12, 2013) was an American country singer who was a key figure in the 1970s outlaw country movement.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. C ...

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. The song was Jenni ...

," 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), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

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" 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 advertis ...

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. Curiously, the

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 5, 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 ...

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 by ev ...

" 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 The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Greg ...

' "

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

," 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).

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

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

Honky Tonk Heroes ''Honky Tonk Heroes'' is an album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1973 on RCA Victor. Most of the songs on the album were written or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver. The album is considered an important piece in the development of the outlaw sub ...

'', 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

Bonus tracks

#"Got a Lot Going for Me" (Dave Kirby) – 2:32 #" The Last Letter" (Rex Griffin) – 4:07 #"The One I Sing My Love Song To" (

Wayland Holyfield Wayland D. Holyfield (March 15, 1942 – May 6, 2024) was an American songwriter and leader in the songwriting community. Personal life Wayland Holyfield was born in Mallettown, Conway County, Arkansas. He was educated in Arkansas public school ...

) – 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), known professionally as 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 listened to dr ...

- 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 songwriter, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, the Strangers and ...

- steel guitar

References

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