The Heartbreaking Waylon Jennings Ballad That Made Elvis Presley Throw Down His Mic Down and Yell in Frustration

A year after Waylon Jennings and his manager Neil Reshen negotiated the outlaw’s contract with RCA Records in 1972, which gave him creative control over his work, he released Lonesome, On’ry and Mean, then started working on Honky Tonk Heroes.

The latter album was another huge success for Jennings, reaching No. 14 on the Country chart with songs written by or co-written by Billy Joe Shaver, including their hit co-write, “You Ask Me To,” which went to No. 8.

Honky Tonk Heroes also closed with a ballad, and the only song not written by Shaver or Jennings, “We Had It All.”

Penned by Troy Seals and Donnie Fritts, the heartbreaking ballad read like a dialogue between two ex-lovers recalling happier times together.

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I can hear the wind blowing in my mind
Just the way it used to sound
Through the Georgia pines
And you were there to answer when I called
You and me we had it all
Remember how I used to touch your hair?
While reaching for the feeling
That was always there

You were the best thing in my life
I can recall you and me we had it all
I know that we can never live those times again
So I let my dreams take me back
To where we have been
Then I’ll stay with you girl, as long as I can
Oh, it was so good, oh it was so good
Oh, it was so good when I was your man

I’ll never stop believing in your smile
Even though you didn’t stay
It was all worthwhile
You were the best thing in my life
I can recall you and me we had it all
You and me we had it all

Once released, “We Had It All” became a top 40 Country hit for Jennings, peaking at No. 28, and continued to resurface with covers by the Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Rita Coolidge, Conway Twitty, and other artists.

[RELATED: The 3 Collaborations Between Bandmates Buddy Holly and Waylon Jennings]

When Elvis Dropped the Mic

Another artist who was set to cover the nostalgic ballad was Elvis Presley, who couldn’t get through singing the song during a session at Stax in Memphis in 1973. At the time, the lyrics cut too deep for Presley, who had recently finalized his divorce from wife Priscilla.

“Now Elvis was a very quick study; he could hear vocals and arrangements once or twice, grab the lyric sheet, and just kill it,” recalled Norbert Putnam, who played bass during the “We Had It All” sessions. “But on this particular night, we four, five, six takes, and he wasn’t getting it. I’d never seen him have problems like that before.”

Frustrated with the song, Putnam remembered Presley throwing down his microphone and yelling, “You can put that one out after I’ve been dead 20 years.”

At first, Putnam said they thought it was all a joke, but soon realized that Presley was really struggling to get through the recording. “Then [producer] Felton Jarvis said he just couldn’t get through the words because he was thinking about himself,” he added. “Another futile stab at the song the next day yielded nothing usable.”

Coincidentally, Presley did get through another Jennings track during that Stax session, “You Ask Me To,” which became the closing track on his 1975 album Promised Land and was released on his 40th birthday.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images