As the son of outlaw country icons Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings has enjoyed his own music industry success during the past three decades. Recently, however, the two-time Grammy nominee shifted his focus backward. Last June, Shooter announced he had unearthed a “treasure trove” of unreleased recordings from his father. Today (Sunday, June 15), on what would have been the “Luckenbach, Texas” crooner’s 88th birthday, we finally know when those recordings will be ours.
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“Waylon Jennings Is Still the King”: Shooter Jennings Makes Huge Announcement
Fittingly, Shooter Jennings waited until Father’s Day to drop the news: A previously unheard Waylon Jennings album is coming Oct. 3.
The country-rocker announced the news by sharing a cover of Waylon covering Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird,” written by Christine McVie and appearing on the band’s seminal 1977 album Rumours. The “Hoss” version of the tune will appear as the title track on the first of three unreleased Waylon albums, out this fall. It features Waylon, Richie Albright, Ralph Mooney, Jerry Bridges, Barny Robertson, Gordon Payne, Ashley Monroe and Elizabeth Cook.
“I’ve been waiting so long to share this with you,” Shooter wrote in the caption. “It hasn’t been an easy road to get here, but it’s been one that has given me a new purpose in life. I dug through my dad’s old tapes and found a plethora of music by Waylon and the band at the peak of their abilities. For the stuff that wasn’t totally finished, I brought out four of the remaining original members of his band to put the finishing touches on it.”
Promising “lots more in store,” Shooter ended his post with a statement few would challenge: “Waylon Jennings is STILL THE KING!”
[RELATED: Shooter Jennings Teases Release of Archived Waylon Jennings’ Material]
“A True Gift”
Shooter Jennings’ announcement comes on both Father’s Day and what would have been Waylon Jennings’ 88th birthday. The Littlefield, Texas-born legend died Feb. 13, 2002, of complications from diabetes at age 64. Although several posthumous collections have been released, Waylon’s last record came in 1998 with Closing in on the Fire.
Unsurprisingly, Shooter’s Father’s Day announcement unearthed some deep-seated emotions in longtime Waylon fans. “Told you I was gonna cry,” one Instagram user wrote. “That’s music. That’s real. This is a true gift, Shooter. Thank you, brother. We need it.”
Featured image by Lehtikuva/Shutterstock
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