Lonesome, On'ry and Mean: A Tribute to Waylon Jennings (Dualtone, 2003)
Various Artists
Reviewed by Jon Johnson
As is usually the case with these affairs, the songs veer wildly between near-perfect copies of the original versions and imaginative recastings of the material. Of the former category, the one-two punch of John Doe's "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line" and Junior Brown's "Nashville Rebel" (which practically sounds like an alternate take of Waylon's original recording) are perhaps best described as reverential, faithful versions which will please those who prefer to hear Waylon Jennings songs sound like Waylon Jennings songs. Ditto Radney Foster's "Luckenbach, Texas."
As for those who take chances with the material, 2002 It Girl Norah Jones turns "Wurlitzer Prize" into a jazzy torch song that wouldn't have sounded out of place on an early Tom Waits album.
Most fascinating, though, is Robert Earl Keen's version of "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"; all power chords and tribal drums. Don't know about Hank, but you can be pretty sure Waylon didn't do it this way.
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