Search - Waylon Jennings :: Dreaming My Dreams

Series of dreams

Jerome Clark | Canby, Minnesota | 02/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dreaming My Dreams is the best Waylon Jennings ever got. After that, while there were other good songs and records, superstardom and the abuse of substances took their toll, and many of the songs -- especially the hits -- got ever more cartoonish and self-referential in the Hank Williams, Jr., vein. But before Jennings lost his artist's grip, there was this, as well as the earlier Honky Tonk Heroes, his enduring tribute to Billy Joe Shaver's songwriting genius. Dreaming My Dreams, which manages to fuse honkytonk grit, rock'n'roll rhythm, and folk melodicism, sounds like no other country album ever made.Only Jack Clement's dopey "Let's All Help the Cowboys (Sing the Blues)" anticipates the inferior material to come. The rest is all stunning stuff, brought to life and breath via affectingly spare arrangements, with little to get in the way of the tightly wound vocals. The listener seems to be hearing the middle-of-the-night reflections of a man drifting in and out of consciousness, memories and dreams interwoven so that one can no longer be torn from the other, the effect enhanced by the somnambulant fade-out that concludes each song.Though nearly all of the songs are as good as songs get, the high point is Waylon and Curtis Buck's "Waymore's Blues." Here Jennings goes back to the roots of country music and beyond, to rewrite a 19th-Century American folk song known in its different but related versions as "Milwaukee Blues," "Jay Gould's Daughter," and even, in some variants, "Casey Jones." He even tosses in a couple of traditional verses and adds one so disingenuously sexually explicit that it may as well have been borrowed from an old-time downhome blues. "Waymore's Blues" is the masterpiece within the masterpiece."

Art.

Casey Newbold - Kerr | Melbourne, Australia. | 02/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Put simply, this album is better than anything else you'll hear. It is that good. The songs are heartfelt, honest, and raw. The writing is great, but Waylon's performance is what is really incredible. It's tough but tender, and you can listen and hear so many emotions expressed in his voice.Another nice thing is that all the lead guitar on this album was played by Waylon himself, as Jack Clement felt Waylon's voice and guitar worked very well of a package. I think he was right.If you want Nashville's McCountry, you'll hate this. If, on the other hand, you like music, then this is your album. It goes beyond country, beyond its rock and blues influences, too. It is one of those albums that is for fans of MUSIC, regardless of genre. It is a well-crafted piece of art by an artist who created a revolution within Nashville with music like this.This could be the finest country album ever put to tape. You will love it."

Dreaming my Dreams Title Track is divine longing

Hello Kitty Palm Beach | Palm Beach, FL USA | 09/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I grew up listening to Waylon and his buddies and all the crazy eclectic things my parents liked (Peter Paul & Mary, John Denver, Willie, Merle, Glen Campbell). This album is essential Waylon, IMHO; if you want to understand him in basics, this is it. It speaks to his roots, musical background, his influence on Nashville and Country Music [back when it was still Country and Western Music] and should be required listening.



The title track is one my favorite all time songs; Waylon's black hole deep baritone is hauntingly gorgous and painfully longing."