The Essential Waylon Jennings [RCA Nashville/Legacy]

Disc 1
1	Big Mamou 2:27
2	That's the Chance I'll Have to Take 2:05
3	Stop the World (And Let Me Off) 2:03
4	Anita, You're Dreaming 2:26
5	(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me 2:27
6	The Chokin' Kind 2:30
7	Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line 2:22
8	Just to Satisfy You 2:18
9	Cedartown, Georgia 2:50
10	The Taker 2:23
11	Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) 3:03
12	Sweet Dream Woman 3:00
13	Ladies Love Outlaws 2:33
14	Lonesome, On'ry and Mean 3:40
15	Freedom to Stay 3:12
16	Pretend I Never Happened 3:02
17	You Can Have Her 2:41
18	We Had It All 2:46
19	Honky Tonk Heroes 3:37
20	You Ask Me To 2:31
Disc 2
1	This Time 2:26
2	It's Not Supposed to Be That Way 3:29
3	I'm a Ramblin' Man 2:48
4	Rainy Day Woman 2:31
5	Amanda 2:59
6	Bob Wills Is Still the King 3:01
7	Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way 2:56
8	Waymore's Blues 2:41
9	Dreaming My Dreams with You 2:26
10	Good Hearted Woman / Willie Nelson 3:01
11	Are You Ready for the Country 3:12
12	Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) 3:20
13	The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You) 2:09
14	Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys / Willie Nelson 2:33
15	I've Always Been Crazy 4:13
16	A Long Time Ago 2:25
17	Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got out of Hand 2:58
18	I Ain't Living Long Like This 4:47
19	Theme from the Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol' Boys) 2:08
20	Storms Never Last / Jessi Colter 3:05
21	Drinkin' and Dreamin' 3:01
22	Rose in Paradise 3:41

Barnes & Noble

For Waylon fans who passed on the grand four-CD retrospective from 2006, Nashville Rebel, the good folks at RCA Nashville/Legacy offer this truncated double disc of prime Waylon, spiced with but a tad of non-hit material in the midst of monuments from the quintessential outlaw's storied career. Of the 42 cuts here, only 2 are unavailable on Nashville Rebel -- those being a 1964 Cajun-flavored barnburner, "Big Mamou," from an early live date, and 1978's "A Long Time Ago," a terrific, low-key Jennings/Shel Silverstein-penned autobiographical reflection on a cowboy singer's trials and tribulations as he fights to make his own voice heard. Otherwise the discs chart a chronological journey through Waylon's outlaw artistry, from two thoughtful cuts from his terrific 1965 album, Folk-Country, to his 1987 chart-topper for MCA, "Rose in Paradise." In between are the expected beauties -- "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line"; Willie Nelson's devastating "Pretend I Never Happened"; Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes"; "Luckenbach, Texas"; and a host of Waylon's original masterpieces on the order of "This Time," "Bob Wills Is Still the King," "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," "I've Always Been Crazy," "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand," and of course the classic Waylon/Willie co-writes, "Good Hearted Woman" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys." The subtext here is Waylon often taking a dyspeptic look at himself and his fellow outlaws, further indication of the restless artist always looking to take his music in new directions. But that's another story; for a short course a how a dynamic, tradition-rooted vision of country music was fully realized, The Essential Waylon Jennings gets the job done, and then some. David McGee

All Music Guide

There have been plenty of Waylon Jennings compilations released over the years, most of them good but few capturing the full scope of his career. RCA/Legacy's 2007 double-disc set The Essential Waylon Jennings -- not to be confused with the single-disc comp of about a decade earlier -- comes the closest, just edging out the previous two-CD standard-bearer, RCA Country Legends (which itself replaced the excellent two-CD Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line), as the best concise overview on the market. This begins a bit earlier than RCA Country Legends, starting with "Big Mamou" and "That's the Chance I'll Have to Take," and wraps up a bit earlier, not digging as deep into the '80s recordings, which is no great loss. Essential runs two songs longer than Legends, but it has two big omissions in Billy Joe Shaver's "Black Rose" and Toy Caldwell's "Can't You See," but overall this 2007 set has is a stronger set from beginning to end, containing almost all the big hits -- from "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)" through "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" to "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," "Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)" and "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" -- and containing no fat, making this an excellent overview and introduction to Waylon's prime. Stephen Thomas Erlewine