Tales from the Tour Bus - The Vickery Family

Waylon Jennings Part 2

Narrator: Now let's get back to the story of Waylon Jennings.

Billy Joe Shaver: When I first met Waylon, he was kind of in a transition. He was, like, a good-looking guy, like Gary Cooper or somebody, wearing them, uh, camel coats and things. Pretty sharp, but the wild side of him come out.

Narrator: Billy Joe Shaver's career will forever be linked with Waylon Jennings. The singer-songwriter started running with Waylon at the turning point of his life, when he became an outlaw in their home state of Texas.

Billy Joe Shaver: Waylon had an old school bus that he had painted black, all the windows and everything, with a paintbrush. And he kept dynamite back there in the back, just in case. I recall this one place that we went. It was like a barn. It was kind of out in the field. Waylon was playing it, and they were hanging from the rafters. I'm telling you, it was just it was packed. And it come time to get paid, and so we waited and waited, and Waylon's having a fit. Then all of a sudden, everybody started leaving 'cause they knew trouble was brewing. And everybody left. Wasn't nobody in the place. It was just empty. And Waylon said, "You know, we've waited long enough." so we get back in the bus, and we split and went right across the field Bump, bump, bump, that old bus. When we finally got to the pavement, all of a sudden, the whole ass end of that club blew up. I don't know how he'd made sure everybody was out or what. If there was a possum in there, I imagine he went flying. I said, "Waylon, did you see that?" And Waylon said, "I ain't seen a thing. I ain't seen nothing." The pills started in Arizona. On the road, you know, it's almost a necessity, but Waylon got so sick on pills, and I could see where it was really hurting his health, so I introduced him to coke. Mm, and the demon took over.

Narrator: It was 1973, right around the time Waylon got fed up with Nashville and donned the black hat.

Billy Ray Reynolds: Waylon made us all wear black Wear all black clothes, and we came on the stage looking like a Texas car club.

Narrator: Billy Ray Reynolds was a heavy equipment operator from Mississippi who moonlighted on rhythm guitar and joined the band after sitting in one night.

Billy Ray: We were playing one of Willie Nelson's festivals down in Texas. It was Dripping Springs, and then they called it something else. And Billy Joe was there, and Waylon heard this song that Billy Joe did called "Willie the Wandering Gypsy."

Billy Joe: Waylon, he says, "I'll do a whole album of them cowboy songs" if you'll bring 'em up there to Nashville." And at that time, he was kinda like me, pretty much cowboy, you know. He was a real sincere, real honest guy. And I went back to Nashville, because he told me he was gonna do the album. But he didn't He never showed up.

Richie: Billy Joe was a little impatient, and he wanted to know when the hell they was gonna cut his songs.

Narrator: Shaver finally tracked him down at RCA Studios, with the help of Captain Midnight, the radio DJ who had become Waylon's confidant.

Billy Joe: Roger Schutt was his real name, Captain Midnight, his radio name. And I went into the studio where he was recording 'cause Captain Midnight got me in there. And I guess somehow or another, Waylon got wind that I was there.

Richie: So Waylon said, "They're good songs, but this guy's driving me crazy."

Billy Joe: Waylon comes out. He said, "What the hell do you want, Hoss?" I said, "Look, Waylon, if you don't at least listen to these songs," "I'm gonna whip your ass right here in front of God and everybody. And I will do it." And I didn't know if he was gonna take a punch at me or what. He grabbed me by the arm, which I let him do. He says, uh, "Let's go in this room here." We went in the room, and he said, "I'm gonna do something with you." He said, "I've never got this before, "but I'm gonna let you play one of your songs "out of that batch you claim you got." If I like it, I'll let you play another." If I like that, I'll let you play another, "but if I get to a point where I don't like 'em you're gonna leave, and I ain't never gonna see you again." I said, "Hell, that's fair en." I did about six of them cowboy songs. When I got to "Honky Tonk Heroes," he actually slapped his leg, and he said, "Damn it." He said, I know what I gotta do.