Even though Waylon Jennings virtually disowned this album as a hoodwink job by RCA brass and some of these tracks were unfinished and others mere demos, Ladies Love Outlaws nonetheless has some very fine moments, including Jennings' version of "Delta Dawn," a fine emotionally wrought read of Hoyt Axton's "Never Been to Spain" (which Jennings claimed was never intended for release), and Mickey Newbury's "Frisco Depot" (one of the few tracks the singer considered complete). In addition, there's Ralph Mooney's (who plays pedal steel in this band) classic honky tonk anthem "Crazy Arms" and one of the reclusive Lee Clayton's best songs in the title track. Listeners also get a solid, moving duet version of "Under Your Spell Again," with Jessi Colter. These performances offer Jennings in deeply expressive terrain as a vocalist. He wrings emotion from songs rather than merely projecting them into a microphone, and his band, which includes bassist Norbert Putnam and drummer Kenny Butrey as well as guitarist Dave Kirby and pianist Hargus Robbins, turns the volume up a point or two and lends a slippery greasy hand to the entire proceeding. Ladies Love Outlaws is not a perfect Waylon album, but it's worth owning for the fact that while Jennings may have disliked the finished result, he proves to be no judge of his own work. In essence, this is the outlaw primer, and the beginning of the opening of the field.
WAYLON JENNINGS
LADIES LOVE OUTLAWS
RCA Victor LSP-4751September/1972
Produced by Ronny Light
Fred Carter, Dave Kirby, Billy Sanford - guitarBilly Reynolds, Buck Wilkin, Chip Young, Bobby Thompson - rh.guitar
Ralph Mooney - steel
Bobby Dyson, Henry Strzelecki, Norbert Putman - bass
Hargus Pig Robbins, Jim Pierce - piano
Kenneth Buttrey, Buddy Harman, Willie Ackerman, Ralph Gallant - drums
Andy McMahon - organ
Rick Powell - moog
Vocals:
Joe Babcock, Dolores Edgin, June Page, Hurshel Wiginton,
Lea Jane Bernati, Ginger Holladay, Mary Holladay, Temple Riser
Recorded:
1971-1972, RCA Victor Studio, Nashville
1.
LADIES LOVE OUTLAWS
(Lee Clayton) « © '72 Resaca Music, BMI »Bessie was a lovely child from west Tennessee
Leroy was an outlaw wild as a mink
One day she saw him starin' and it chilled her to the bone
And she knew she had to see that look on a child of her own
Cause ladies love outlaws like babies love stray dogs
Ladies touch babies like a banker touches gold
And outlaws touch the ladies somewhere deep down in their soul
Linda was a lady blonde and built to last
Benny was a no good guitar picker runnin' from his past
She heard all of his songs tellin' nothin' but bad news
But she made her mind up to try to get him win or lose
Ladies love outlaws...
Jessi like the Cadillacs and diamonds on her hands
Waymore had a reputation as a ladie's man
Late one night a light of love finally gave a sign
Jessi parked her Cadillac and took her place in line
Cause ladies love outlaws...
Ladies love outlaws...
**********
2.
NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN
(Hoyt Axton) « © '72 Irving Music, BMI »Well I've never been to Spain but I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there and they sure know how to use it
They don't abuse it they'll never ever ever lose it
Well I've never been to England but I kinda like the Beatles
Aw I headed for Las Vegas I only made it out to Needles
But can't you feel it you must believe it cause it feels so good
Well I've never been to heaven but I've been to Oklahoma
Yeah they tell me I was born there Lord I really don't remember
In Oklahoma or in a coma what does it matter
[ steel ] Well I've never been to Spain...
**********
3.
SURE DIDN'T TAKE HIM LONG
(Waylon Jennings) « © '72 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »My long and lean and hungry looks really used to turn her on
Till she found two hundred pounds or true love muscle and bone
I made up my mind to keep what was mine he made up mind I was wrong
To take my Ann took a hell of a man but it sure didn't take him too long
It sure didn't take him long changing her mind
Sure didn't take her long to leave me behind
She had breakfast with me met him at three by suppertime she was gone
To take my Ann took a hell of a man but it sure didn't take him too long
[ steel ] Now Ann never was a righteous girl but you really couldn't call her bad
I'd have to say as long as she stayed Lord she gave it all that she had
One look at them two looks at him I knew I'd be a living alone
To take my Ann took a hell of a man but it sure didn't take him too long
It sure didn't take him long changing her mind....
**********
4.
CRAZY ARMS
(Ralph Mooney - Chuck Seals) « © '56 Tree Publishing, BMI / Songs Of Universal, BMI »Now blue ain't the word for the way that I feel
And the storm's brewing in this heart of mine
This ain't no crazy dream I know that it's real
You're someone else's love now you're not mine
Crazy arms that reach to hold somebody new
While my yearning heart keeps saying you're not mine
My troubled mind knows soon to another you'll be wed
But for now I'm just lonesome all the time
[ steel ] So take all the treasured dreams I had for you and me
And take all the love I thought was mine
Someday these crazy arms may hold somebody new
But for I'm just lonesome all the time
Crazy arms that reach to hold...
But for now I'm just lonesome all the time
**********
5.
REVELATION
(Bobby Braddock) « © '70 Tree Publishing, BMI »Somewhere in VietNam a 19-year-old soldier walked out of a barroom
And he said I must be seeing things that bourbon hit me like a baseball bat
In Bellfast Ireland a little lady dropped her shovel in her garden
She raced across the yard and ask her neighbor Mrs Clancy what was that
In Memphis Tennessee a teacher raised the window closest the river
And the children in her classroom swore they'd heard a choir singing down the street
In Washington DC a private secretary's lips began to quiver
And the President just put aside his papers and rose quickly to his feet
I lay in a cheap motel in the arms of someone else's woman
When a loud explosion rocked the room and turned the morning into night
I jumped out of bed and ran into the street with hardly any clothes on
As the sky lit up my heart stood still and I could feel my face was turnin' white
All at once the clouds rolled back and there stood Jesus Christ in all his glory
And I realized the sadded eyes I'd ever seen were looking straight at me
I guess I was awakened by the penetrating sounds of my own screaming
And it didn't take me long to stumble out of bed and fall down on my knees
As tears rolled down my face I cried dear God I'm thankful I was only dreaming
And if I never go to hell Lord it'll be because you scared it out of me
**********
6.
DELTA DAWN
(Alex Harvey - Larry Collins) « © '72 April Music, ASCAP / U Catalog, ASCAP »In her younger days they called her Delta Dawn
Prettiest woman you ever had laid eyes on
But a man of low degree stood by her side
Promised her he'd take her for his bride but he lied
Delta Dawn what's that flower you have on
Could it be a faded rose of days gone by
Did I hear you say he was meetin' you here today
To take you to his mansion in the sky
[ guitar ] She's forty-one and her daddy still calls her baby
All the folks around Brownsville say she's crazy
Cause she walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand
Looking for a mysterious dark haired man
Delta Dawn what's that flower...
Delta Dawn what's that flower...
Delta Dawn what's that flower...
Delta Dawn what's that flower...
**********
7.
FRISCO DEPOT
(Mickey Newbury) « © '71 Acuff-Rose Music, BMI »Frisco's a mile long away you can afford to fly
But it might as well be the moon Lord when you're as broke as I
Here I sit with my head in my hands watching the trains roll by
Lord the Helping Hand Mission man warned me that the nights here got cold
When you're cold there's nothing as welcome as sunshine
When you're dry there's nothing as welcome as rain
When you're alone there's nothing as slow as passin' time
When you're afoot Lord there's nothing as fast as a train
[ steel ] Old Frisco's a mighty rich city now that ain't no lie
Well they have some buildings that reach nearly a mile in the sky
Everyone's so busy they can't tell me the reason why
Here's a world full of people so damn many people alone
When you're alone life just don't seem worth living
While you're alive gotta learn to live with the pain
You've been grown for so long there's no one left who'll forgive
You find yourself searching your mind for the links to the chain
When you're cold there's nothing...
**********
8.
THANKS
(Bill Martin - Phil Coulter) « © '75 Marvy Songs, BMI »Sunday morning in the valley we would gather for the service
Emmily Jane would run to meet me she'd smile at papa kinda nervous
All the people came from miles around I can still hear the sound
As they sang thanks to the Lord for the sun up in the sky
For the corn that's growing high and for the child that didn't die
Thanks to the Lord for the crops and for the farm
For the satrenght in my right arm and for keepin' us from harm
Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks to the Lord for a girl like Emmily Jane
[ac.guitar ] Came the day that we were married all our folks from the congregation
Emmily Jane was like an angel the sweetest thing in all creation
Papa hugged me and my mama cried everybody smiled with pride
As they sang thanks to the Lord...
**********
9.
I THINK IT'S TIME SHE LEARNED
(Waylon Jennings - Miriam Eddy) « © '72 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »How many times must I tell her how many times must I say
I won't be around to pick her up again
From now on she'll have to find her own way
How many years have I loved her while she stood by so unconcerned
But the things she don't know I'll teach her when I go
She's been wrong and I think it's time she learned
I think it's time she learned love can't live when love is not returned
She thought that I would always stand by
But she's been wrong and I think it's time she learned
[ steel ] I think it's time she learned...
She's been wrong and I think it's time she learned
**********
10.
UNDER YOUR SPELL AGAIN
(Buck Owens - Dusty Rhodes) « © '59 Central Songs, BMI »[ with Jessi Colter ] I swore the last time that you let me down
That I wouldn't see you if you came around
I can't tell my heart what's right or wrong
And I've been so lonely since you've been gone
You've got me under your spell again saying those things again
Making me believe that you're just mine
Dreaming those dreams again scheming those schemes again
I've gotta take you back just one more time
[ steel ] Everybody tells me that I'm a fool
That I never should have put my faith in you
Way down deep inside I guess I know it's true
No one else can make me feel the way you do
You've got me under your spell again...
I've gotta take you back just one more time
I've gotta take you back just one more time
I've gotta take you back just one more time
**********
