Jennings then worked as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona, and Phoenix. He formed a rockabilly club band, The Waylors. He recorded for independent label Trend Records and A&M Records before succeeding with RCA Victor after achieving creative control.
During the 1970s, Jennings was instrumental in the inception of Outlaw country movement. He released critically acclaimed albums Lonesome, On'ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes followed by hit albums Dreaming My Dreams as well as Are You Ready for the Country. In 1976, he released the album Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, the first platinum country music album. That success was followed by Ol' Waylon and the hit song "Luckenbach, Texas". Jennings was featured in the 1978 album White Mansions performed by various artists documenting the lives of people in the Confederacy during the Civil War. The songs on the album were written by Paul Kennerley. By the early 1980s, Jennings was struggling with a cocaine addiction, which he quit in 1984. Later, he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash, which released three albums between 1985 and 1995. During that period, Jennings released the successful album Will the Wolf Survive. He toured less after 1997 to spend more time with his family. Between 1999 and 2001, his appearances were limited by health problems. On February 13, 2002, Jennings died from complications of diabetes.
Jennings also appeared in films and television series. He was the balladeer for The Dukes of Hazzard, composing and singing the show's theme song and providing narration for the show. In 2001, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which he chose not to attend. In 2007, he was posthumously awarded the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music.
Jennings's music was characterized by his "powerful" singing voice, noted by his "rough-edged quality", as well as his phrasing and texture. He was also recognized for his "spanky-twang" guitar style. To create his sound, he used a pronounced 'phaser' effect' plus a mixture of thumb and fingers during the rhythmic parts, while using picks for the lead runs. He combined hammer-on and pull-off riffs, with eventual upper-fret double stops and modulation effects. Jennings played a 1953 Fender Telecaster, a used guitar that was a gift from The Waylors. Jennings's bandmates adorned his guitar with a distinctive leather cover that featured a black background with a white floral work. Jennings further customized it by filing down the frets to lower the strings on the neck to obtain the slapping sound. Among his other guitars, Jennings used a 1950 Fender Broadcaster from the mid-1970s, until he gave it to guitarist Reggie Young in 1993. The leather covers of his guitars were carved by leather artist Terry Lankford.
His signature image was characterized by his long hair and beard, as well as his black hat and the black leather vest he wore during his appearances.
Jennings's music had a major influence on several neotraditionalist and alternative country artists, including Hank Williams Jr., The Marshall Tucker Band,[124] Travis Tritt, Steve Earle, Jamey Johnson, John Anderson, his son, Shooter Jennings, Sturgill Simpson, and Hank Williams III.
In 2008, his first posthumous album, Waylon Forever, was released. The album consisted of songs recorded with his son Shooter when he was 16. In 2012, Waylon: The Music Inside a three-volume project, consisting of covers of Jennings's songs by different artists, was released. The same year, it was announced for September the release of Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings, a set of 12 songs recorded by Jennings and bassist Robby Turner before his death in 2002. Jennings's family was reluctant to release any new material because they did not feel comfortable at the time. The songs only featured Jennings and Turner on the bass, while further accompaniment would be added later. Ten years after, Turner completed the recordings with the help of former Waylors. The Jennings family approved the release despite the launch of a new business focused on his estate. Shooter Jennings arranged deals for a clothing line, while also launching a renewed website, and started talks with different producers about the making of a biographical film.
Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down
Waylon Jennings Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But tonight your mem'ry found me much too sober
I couldn't drink enough to get you off my mind
Tonight the bottle let me down let your memory come around
The one true friend that I thought I'd found tonight the bottle let me down
I've always had a bottle I could turn to lately I've been turning every day
But the booze don't take effect the way it used to
Tonight the bottle let me down
Tonight the bottle let me down
Waylon Jennings's song "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down" tells the story of a man who has always relied on alcohol to numb his emotional pain after a night at the bar. However, on this particular night, despite his efforts to drink enough to forget about his lost love, he finds himself consumed by her memory. The lyrics "Each night I leave the barroom when it's over not feeling any pain at closin' time, but tonight your mem'ry found me much too sober. I couldn't drink enough to get you off my mind" highlight the singer's struggle to move on from the past and be able to forget his lover.
The song is not only reflective of the singer's state of mind but also serves as a metaphor for the wider human condition. Most of us have experienced the pain of letting go of someone we love, and often that pain can only be numbed temporarily by some external activity or substance. However, at some point, we need to face our emotions and confront the past to truly move on. The singer's experiences with the bottle, in this case, are a metaphor for our own personal crutches that we use to avoid confronting our emotions.
Overall, "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down" is an honest and heartfelt exploration of the struggles of love and loss that many of us can relate to. It's a testament to Waylon Jennings's unique ability to capture the complexities of human emotion through his music.
Line by Line Meaning
Each night I leave the barroom when it's over not feeling any pain at closin' time
I often leave the bar without thinking about the consequences and I'm not bothered by it at the end of the night.
But tonight your mem'ry found me much too sober
But tonight, I was in a sober state and your memories haunted me.
I couldn't drink enough to get you off my mind
I was unable to drink enough alcohol to forget about you
Tonight the bottle let me down let your memory come around
Tonight, even the bottle did not help me forget you and your memory came back.
The one true friend that I thought I'd found tonight the bottle let me down
I thought that alcohol was my only true friend but tonight it has let me down in forgetting about you.
I've always had a bottle I could turn to lately I've been turning every day
I have always had alcohol to rely on but lately, I've been drinking every day to forget about you.
But the booze don't take effect the way it used to
However, alcohol doesn't work the way it used to work for me.
I keep a hurtin' in an old familiar way
I am still hurting just like I used to, nothing has changed.
Tonight the bottle let me down
Tonight even my favorite bartender, alcohol, has let me down.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Merle Haggard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind