Songbird (Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers, 2025)

Psychologist Barry Schwartz has been quoted as saying "The secret to happiness is low expectations."

It is also the secret to enjoying posthumously released records from artists you admire. So, don't get excited when you see that this collection was compiled by Waylon's son Shooter. Or that it is the first of three planned such collections, and this first one culls material from 1973 to 1984, arguably Ol' Waylon's most creatively productive years. Even when you see that Tony Joe White and Elizabeth Cook are here to lend a hand, keep an eye on your hopes. Don't let them get too high. Remember Jenning has been gone for more than two decades now, and his people haven't released anything since 2012's "Goin' Down Rockin': the Last Recordings." If it takes 13 years to dig up something worth negating the subtitle of that CD, the pickings must be slim indeed.

All right, with expectations low and hopes under control, you can actually listen to the music. And hey, a lot of it is not too bad. The Johnny Rodriguez co-penned "Cowboy" (Small Texas Town)" just missed making the cut on 1978's "I've Always Been Crazy," but with a little more polish would have made a fine addition to that album. "I Hate To Go Searchin' Them Bars Again" could have been an outlaw classic if the movement lasted long enough for its members to get tired of all the good timin' and settle down with a good-hearted woman.

Many of the songs here are covers, and some of them, including the title track, are questionable choices. "Songbird" just may be the song most people forget when they try to name all the tracks on Fleetwood Mac's classic "Rumours" album. Jennings sounds more like he's in his comfort zone with the covers of Crystal Gayle's "Wrong Road Again" and Hank Williams, Jr's "(I Don't Have) Any More Love Songs," but other than fixing the spelling (Bocephus had it as "Anymore Love Songs"), Jennings does little to make the songs his own.

"After the Ball," a Johnny Cash cover, feels particularly raw and unfinished, probably because somebody realized early on that most country fans, at least back then, were more likely to attend a barn dance than a ball. But J.J. Cales's "I'd Like to Love You Baby" is catchy and certainly one of the more honest songs about adultery ("I'd like to love you, baby / And keep my other baby too").

And if you chose to ignore Professor Schwartz's advice, your high hopes will be rewarded by the tracks where Jennings's widow, Jessi Colter, joins in. Even if they're not full-fledged duets, it is good to hear Jennings and Colter's voices together.