I've Always Been Crazy
I've Always Been Crazy | ||||
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Studio album by Waylon Jennings | ||||
Released | July 1978 (1978-07) | |||
Recorded | March 13–May 1978 | |||
Genre | Outlaw country | |||
Length | 36:55 | |||
Label | RCA Victor | |||
Producer |
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Waylon Jennings chronology | ||||
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Singles from I've Always Been Crazy | ||||
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I've Always Been Crazy is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1978.
Background
By 1978, Jennings was getting burned out on the outlaw country movement. Despite enormous critical and commercial success, including a run of three #1 studio albums, a #1 live album, a #1 duet album (with Willie Nelson), and ten Top 10 solo singles (including five chart toppers), he was irritated at the hype surrounding his music and resented how Nashville had co-opted what had started out as a musical rebellion against Music Row in the name of artistic freedom. Far more concerning, however, was Jennings' spiral into cocaine addiction. By his own admission, his appetite for the drug was monstrous:
I wasn't just doing a little drugs. I was doing them constantly...I'd do them until I collapsed, then I'd get up and start right doing them again. I was killing myself. I'd definitely hit bottom with it. I would never sleep. I'd stay up six or seven days or nights at a time, and I wouldn't go home. My health was bad, I had dizzy spells where I could hardly drive, I had cars strewed all over this town, because I'd get somewhere, and I'd have to leave 'em and have somebody else take me home.[1]
On August 23, 1977, Jennings was busted by federal drug enforcement officers at American Sound Studios, where he was laying down harmony vocals on "Storms Never Last" during a session for a Hank Williams, Jr. album that he was co-producing. The officials had traced a package that had been sent there from his manager Neil Reshen's office in New York City. The package did indeed contain cocaine, but drummer Richie Albright managed to flush the drug down a commode before the officers could find it. They charged Jennings anyway but the singer was never convicted of the crime due to critical faults in the legal process against him. Still, Jennings was shaken by the bust, remarking in the audio version of his autobiography, "When you see yourself spread across the front pages - 'Waylon Jennings Arrested for Possession of Cocaine!' - it gets to you a little bit...It was a media feeding frenzy, like sharks smelling blood in the water. I couldn't go anywhere without a cluster of reporters swarmin' around me." Jennings added that the case cost him about $100,000 in legal fees, but his cocaine use continued unabated as he began to further isolate himself. The publicity did not hurt his sales, however, with author Michael Striessguth noting, "Waylon's public cocaine troubles only fueled his record sales. His five solo singles after the arrest rushed to the top five, and his albums sailed just as swiftly. On the surface, his two solo albums released after the bust - I've Always Been Crazy and What Goes Around Comes Around - communicated defiance."[2]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [4] |
At the time of its release, Nick Toches stated that I've Always Been Crazy tolled Waylon's "farewell to outlawry."[5] Thom Jurek of AllMusic insists that the LP "smokes... In all, I've Always Been Crazy is a solid recording, still possessing the piss and vinegar of Jennings' best work with a deeper lyrical edge on most tracks...this is necessary for any fan of outlaw country in general and Jennings in particular."[3]
Track listing
- "I've Always Been Crazy" (Waylon Jennings) – 4:12
- "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand" (Jennings) – 3:00
- "Billy" (Tony Joe White) – 4:18
- "A Long Time Ago" (Jennings, Shel Silverstein) – 2:23
- "As the 'Billy World Turns" (Jennings) – 3:00
- Medley of Buddy Holly Hits: (Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, Joe B. Mauldin, Norman Petty) – 6:04
- "Well All Right"
- "It's So Easy"
- "Maybe Baby"
- "Peggy Sue"
- "I Walk the Line" (Johnny Cash) – 3:31
- "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" (Merle Haggard) – 3:31
- "Girl I Can Tell (You're Trying to Work It Out)" (Fred Carter, Jennings) – 2:40
- "Whistlers and Jugglers" (Shel Silverstein) – 4:34
- "Medley of Buddy Holly Hits" produced by Duane Eddy
Chart performance
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 1 |
U.S. Billboard 200 | 48 |
Canadian RPM Country Albums | 1 |
Canadian RPM Top Albums | 71 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States (RIAA)[6] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Jennings & Kaye 1996.
- ^ Streissguth 2013, p. 190.
- ^ a b "I've Always Been Crazy Review by Thom Jurek". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 366.
- ^ Streissguth 2013, p. 232.
- ^ "American album certifications – Waylon Jennings – I've Always Been Crazy". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
Bibliography
- Jennings, Waylon; Kaye, Lenny (1996). Waylon: An Autobiography. Warner Brooks. ISBN 978-0-446-51865-9.
- Streissguth, Michael (2013). Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0062038180.
- v
- t
- e
- Waylon at JD's
- Folk-Country
- Leavin' Town
- Nashville Rebel
- Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan
- Love of the Common People
- The One and Only
- Hangin' On
- Only the Greatest
- Jewels
- Just to Satisfy You
- Waylon
- Singer of Sad Songs
- The Taker/Tulsa
- Cedartown, Georgia
- Good Hearted Woman
- Ladies Love Outlaws
- Lonesome, On'ry and Mean
- Honky Tonk Heroes
- This Time
- The Ramblin' Man
- Dreaming My Dreams
- Are You Ready for the Country
- Ol' Waylon
- I've Always Been Crazy
- What Goes Around Comes Around
- Music Man
- Black on Black
- It's Only Rock + Roll
- Waylon and Company
- Never Could Toe the Mark
- Turn the Page
- Sweet Mother Texas
- Will the Wolf Survive
- Hangin' Tough
- A Man Called Hoss
- Full Circle
- The Eagle
- Too Dumb for New York City, Too Ugly for L.A.
- Ol' Waylon Sings Ol' Hank
- Cowboys, Sisters, Rascals & Dirt
- Waymore's Blues (Part II)
- Right for the Time
- Closing In on the Fire
- Waylon Forever
- Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings
- Waylon Live
- Never Say Die: Live
- Live from Austin, TX
- Never Say Die: The Final Concert
- "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)"
- "The Chokin' Kind"
- "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line"
- "The Days of Sand and Shovels"
- "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"
- "Under Your Spell Again" with Jessi Colter
- "Good Hearted Woman"
- "Sweet Dream Woman"
- "You Can Have Her"
- "We Had It All"
- "You Ask Me To"
- "This Time"
- "I'm a Ramblin' Man"
- "Rainy Day Woman"
- "Dreaming My Dreams with You"
- "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way"
- "Bob Wills Is Still the King"
- "Can't You See"
- "Are You Ready for the Country"
- "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)"
- "I've Always Been Crazy"
- "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand"
- "Amanda"
- "Come With Me"
- "I Ain't Living Long Like This"
- "Clyde"
- "Good Ol' Boys"
- "Shine"
- "Just to Satisfy You" with Willie Nelson
- "Women Do Know How to Carry On"
- "Lucille (You Won't Do Your Daddy's Will)"
- "Hold On, I'm Comin'" with Jerry Reed
- "The Conversation" with Hank Williams Jr.
- "I May Be Used (But Baby I Ain't Used Up)"
- "Never Could Toe the Mark"
- "America"
- "Waltz Me to Heaven"
- "Drinkin' and Dreamin'"
- "Working Without a Net"
- "Will the Wolf Survive"
- "What You'll Do When I'm Gone"
- "The Broken Promise Land"
- "Rose in Paradise"
- "My Rough and Rowdy Days"
- "If Ole Hank Could Only See Us Now"
- "How Much Is It Worth to Live in L.A."
- "Which Way Do I Go (Now That I'm Gone)"
- "Wrong"
- "Where Corn Don't Grow"
- "The Eagle"
Waylon & Willie | |
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Other collaborations | |
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Collaboration singles | |
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- The Best of Waylon Jennings
- Don't Think Twice
- Heartaches by the Number
- Greatest Hits
- Waylon's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2
- The Best of Waylon
- 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Waylon Jennings
- RCA Country Legends
- Ultimate Waylon Jennings
- 16 Biggest Hits
- Nashville Rebel