If Waylon Jennings Didn’t Want to Be Outlaw Country, He Shouldn’t Have Released This No. 1 Hit

Having little to no control over how the world perceives you and your art is par for the course of being an internationally recognized musician, which is something Waylon Jennings was painfully aware of every time he had to hear himself be labeled as “outlaw country.” The figurehead of this alternative country movement in the 1970s famously disliked the concept, calling it a way to sell records and nothing more.

In fact, Jennings went so far as to call out people the world called outlaw country but who weren’t actually outlaws at all. One of them was Johnny Cash. The other was Jennings’ own wife, Jessi Colter. Yet, try as Jennings might to separate himself and his colleagues from this compartmentalization, it sold records. Thus, Jennings’ record label had no qualms with perpetuating the trope.

And frankly, Jennings’ music made it easy. Because if Jennings didn’t want to be called outlaw country, then he probably should have thought twice about releasing the bona fide outlaw country record, “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”.

Waylon Jennings Released This Outlaw Country Anthem in 1975

Waylon Jennings’ de facto outlaw country anthem first appeared on his 22nd studio album, Dreaming My Dreams, in June 1975. He released “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” as a single the following August. The song soared to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also achieved moderate crossover success at No. 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jennings’ song helped put words to the phenomenon the country world was witnessing as the countrypolitan artists separated from the long-haired, scruffy-necked, weed-smoking, pill-popping, rough-and-tumble outlaw country musical sect.

Countrypolitan artists blended traditional country elements with pop orchestration and aesthetics. Notable artists who would fall under this category include Glen Campbell, Conway Twitty, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton. Outlaw country, on the other hand, was grittier in both subject matter and production. These artists included Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and, even if it were to his chagrin, Waylon Jennings. Both country camps descended from early genre-defining artists like Hank Williams.

But in Jennings’ song, he challenges whether his countrypolitan counterparts were misinterpreting Williams’ influence. He admits to Nashville’s incredible star power while still holding it to task.

“Somebody told me when I came to Nashville / ‘Son, you finally got it made / Old Hank made it here, and we’re all sure that you will’ / But I don’t think Hank done it this way / I don’t think Hank done it this way.”

Photo by Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images