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Home
Authors
Waylon Jennings
American
Musician
About the author
Chet loved artists. He did. But he was caught up in the system. He had two hats. He had to have 'em because he did two things: he was an artist, and he was an executive.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Artists
#Artist
You know, in the days when I started, if you had Chet Atkins' name on your record as a producer and it was on RCA, you could work the road. It didn't have to be a big hit record, it just had to have that on it.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Work
#Road
#Name
A lot of times they don't want to hear it. But you know, if some good is done to you, you should pass it on.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Want
And the whole thing is that you're treated like a step-child. Here it was down here, everything in the black, because they were stealing, basically. Stealing from us old country boys down here.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Country
#Old
#Boys
Because Ritchie Valens WAS the real deal. He was only starting, but in the time he spent in the business, he made big impact. I don't know if anybody could have made a bigger one.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Time
#Business
Besides that, I felt guilty. I thought for some reason... I was alive, and Buddy and those boys were dead, and I didn't know how, but somehow I'd caused it.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Reason
#Thought
#Boys
But Buddy was an upper. He was happy. He loved music, and he was really happy. I don't know... I don't believe in reincarnation at all, but if all that stuff is true, then he might have been on his last time around.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Time
#Music
#Reincarnation
We did an album one time called White Mansions, about the civil war, but it was written by a guy from England. His looking at it from over there and it not being a part of his history made it so he could be objective.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Time
#Being
#War
#History
#England
But you know, the system almost destroyed itself while it was goin' on trying to destroy us.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Trying
So I'm not very popular here with those inside the system, as you might guess. I never wanted to be.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Popular
Cuz I was never pretty anyway and never cared anything about that.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Pretty
Don't ever try and be like anybody else and don't be afraid to take risks.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
But ya know what, I am a part of something that happened. I'm a part of the music that happened. My voice is one more instrument, is what it is. So that's the way I feel about people who play on sessions.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#People
#Play
#Music
#Voice
Honesty is something you can't wear out.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Honesty
I mean, I think we're put here on earth to make your own destiny, to begin with. I don't think there's anything you can do this way or that way to change anything.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Earth
#Change
#Destiny
I never have any problem getting enthusiastic with a good song and a good band.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Song
I was king of the mountain for a long time, well, I don't want that no more. I like to perform every once in a while for people who want to see me, and cut albums of music that is what I'm really about.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Want
#Time
#People
#Music
It was all devastating. I'd never dealt with losing anyone close to me, and I didn't know where to put it in my life. I was very young then. Buddy taught me so much in such a short time.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Time
#Life
#Losing
You know, I feel sorry for the young artists.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Artists
I love Johnny Cash, and I respect Johnny Cash. He's the biggest. He's like an Elvis in this business, but no, he's never been the rebel.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Love
#Respect
#Business
I may be crazy, but it keeps me from going insane.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#May
I didn't aim at anything except good music.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Music
Jessi is a great person. She really is. She's been a friend to me all through all my bad times, and she's understood what I was doing. She came up with that one saying, which was great.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Saying
#Friend
Finally, my manager negotiated a deal where I got to produce my own records.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Manager
Mainly what I learned from Buddy... was an attitude. He loved music, and he taught me that it shouldn't have any barriers to it.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Music
#Attitude
Now, I don't know how they judge all that, but if anybody in the world deserves to be in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Ritchie Valens does.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Now
#World
#Fame
Now, I was on drugs, and that didn't help a whole lot. He hated that. That was part of where Chet and I had problems, so I take complete blame for that.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Now
#Problems
#Help
#Blame
#Drugs
One thing is that I wasn't getting booked that well, and they had control over who got the awards, they had control over who sold. And they really did not want Willie or me, either one, to have a hit record. They wanted the money, but they didn't want us to be the ones.
Waylon Jennings,
American
Musician
#Want
#Money
#Control
#Awards