February 2, 2016
This week on MaxCountry 70s: Music from Olivia Newton-john, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Eddie Rabbitt, Johnny Paycheck, Dolly Parton, Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell, Elvis Presley, TG Sheppard, Mel Tillis and more!
March 17, 2015
Live From our Washington, DC Studios it’s Sounds of the Seventies with Dan Varroney tonight at 7:00 pm ET at www.radiomaxmusic.com. This week it’s “Top Seventies Hits of Summer.” We’ll feature Suptertramp, Waylon Jennings, Van Halen, Meat Loaf, Blue Oyster Cult, The Grass Roots, Elton John, and much more. Join us at 7:00 pm!
June 9, 2013
Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937–February 13, 2002) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing guitar at 8 and began performing at 12 on KVOW radio. He formed a band, The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J. on KVOW, KDAV, KYTI, and KLLL. In 1958, Buddy Holly arranged Jennings’s first recording session, of “Jole Blon” and “When Sin Stops (Love Begins).” Holly hired him to play bass. During the “Winter Dance Party Tour,” in Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly chartered a plane to arrive at the next venue. Jennings gave up his seat in the plane to J. P. Richardson, who was suffering from a cold. The flight that carried Holly, Richardson, and Ritchie Valens crashed, on the day later known as The Day the Music Died. Following the accident, Jennings worked as a D.J. in Coolidge, Arizona, and Phoenix. He formed a rockabilly club band, The Waylors. He recorded for independent label Trend Records, A&M Records before succeeding with RCA Victor after achieving creative control of his records.
During the 1970s, Jennings joined the Outlaw movement. He released critically acclaimed albums Lonesome, On’ry and Mean and Honky Tonk Heroes, followed by hit albums Dreaming My Dreams and Are You Ready for the Country. In 1976 he released the album Wanted! The Outlaws with Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, the first platinum country music album. The success of the album was followed by Ol’ Waylon, and the hit song “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).” By the early 1980s, Jennings was struggling with a cocaine addiction, which he quit in 1984. Later he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen with Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Johnny Cash. During that period, Jennings released the successful album Will the Wolf Survive. He toured less after 1997, to spend more time with his family. Between 1999 and 2001, his appearances were limited by health problems. On February 13, 2002, Jennings died from complications of diabetes.
Jennings also appeared in movies and television series. He was the narrator for The Dukes of Hazzard; he also composed and sang the show’s theme song. In 2001 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, which he chose not to attend until later on. In 2007 he was posthumously awarded the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award by the Academy of Country Music. (Source: Wikipedia)
| 1 | Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) |
| 2 | Amanda |
| 3 | Good Hearted Woman |
| 4 | Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (with Willie Nelson) |
| 5 | Wrong |
| 6 | Take It to the Limit (with Willie Nelson) |
| 7 | Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard (Good Ol’ Boys) |
| 8 | I’m a Ramblin’ Man |
| 9 | Just to Satisfy You (with Willie Nelson) |
| 10 | Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way |
| 11 | Can’t You See |
| 12 | MacArthur Park |
| 13 | The Taker |
| 14 | Clyde |
| 15 | This Time |
| 16 | I’ve Always Been Crazy |
| 17 | Come with Me |
| 18 | I Ain’t Living Long Like This |
| 19 | Rose in Paradise |
| 20 | Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line |
| 21 | You Can Have Her |
| 22 | Brown Eyed Handsome Man |
| 23 | Lucille (You Won’t Do Your Daddy’s Will) |
| 24 | Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand |
| 25 | Shine |
| 26 | Pretend I Never Happened |
| 27 | I May Be Used (But Baby I Ain’t Used Up) |
| 28 | Never Could Toe the Mark |
| 29 | Sweet Dream Woman |
| 30 | Are You Ready for the Country |
| 31 | Women Do Know How to Carry On |
| 32 | Will the Wolf Survive |
| 33 | Working Without a Net |
| 34 | Dreaming My Dreams with You |
| 35 | Breakin’ Down |
| 36 | What You’ll Do When I’m Gone |
| 37 | You Asked Me To |
| 38 | Fallin’ Out |
| 39 | Mississippi Woman |
| 40 | Rainy Day Woman |
| 41 | The Devil’s on the Loose |
| 42 | Singer of Sad Songs |
| 43 | Cedartown, Georgia |
| 44 | Waltz Me to Heaven |
| 45 | Rough and Rowdy Days |
| 46 | Hold On, I’m Comin’ (with Jerry Reed) |
| 47 | The Conversation (with Hank Williams, Jr.) |
| 48 | Storms Never Last (with Jessi Colter) |
| 49 | Drinkin’ and Dreamin’ |
| 50 | We Had It All |
| 51 | (Don’t Let the Sun Set on You) Tulsa |
| 52 | America |
| 53 | Suspicious Minds (with Jessi Colter) |
| 54 | Under Your Spell Again (with Jessi Colter) |
| 55 | Put Another Log On The Fire |
| 56 | The Weight |
| 57 | Do It Again |
| 58 | There Ain’t No Good Chain Gang (with Johnny Cash) |
| 59 | Gonna Write A Letter |
| 60 | I’ll Be Alright |
April 30, 2013
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 30, 1933) is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Stardust (1978), made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed at the end of the 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana.
Born during the Great Depression, and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school, in 1950, he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. During this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote “Family Bible” and recorded the song “Lumberjack” in 1956.
In 1960, he signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price’s band as a bassist. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including “Funny How Time Slips Away“, “Hello Walls”, “Pretty Paper”, and “Crazy”. In 1962, he recorded his first album, And Then I Wrote. Due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas. The rise of the popularity of hippie music in Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.
In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to outlaw country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the critically acclaimed album, Red Headed Stranger. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser.
During the mid-1980s, while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like “On the Road Again”, “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before”, and “Pancho & Lefty”, he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
In 1990 Nelson’s assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed US $32,000,000. It was later discovered that his accountants, Price Waterhouse, did not pay Nelson’s taxes for years. The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1991, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories?; by 1993, the profits of the double album, destined to the IRS, and the auction of Nelson’s assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, and released albums every year. Reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk. Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television.
Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which is in favor of marijuana legalization. On the environmental front, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the Advisory Board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
| 1 | To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before (with Julio Iglesias) |
| 2 | Always on My Mind |
| 3 | On the Road Again |
| 4 | Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain |
| 5 | Good Hearted Woman (with Waylon Jennings) |
| 6 | Let It Be Me |
| 7 | Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys |
| 8 | Everything’s Beautiful (In Its Own Way) (with Dolly Parton) |
| 9 | City of New Orleans |
| 10 | Blue Skies |
| 11 | Georgia on My Mind |
| 12 | Take It to the Limit (with Waylon Jennings) |
| 13 | Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) (with Waylon Jennings) |
| 14 | Beer for My Horses (with Toby Keith) |
| 15 | Just to Satisfy You (with Waylon Jennings) |
| 16 | Spanish Eyes (with Julio Iglesias) |
| 17 | Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground |
| 18 | Help Me Make It Through the Night |
| 19 | Sweet Memories |
| 20 | All of Me |
| 21 | (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay (with Waylon Jennings) |
| 22 | They All Went to Mexico (with Carlos Santana) |
| 23 | Crazy Arms (with Ray Price) |
| 24 | Bring Me Sunshine |
| 25 | Fire and Rain |
| 26 | Touch Me |
| 27 | Mendocino County Line (with Lee Ann Womack) |
| 28 | Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me) |
| 29 | The Scientist |
| 30 | I Wish I Didn’t Love You So |
February 6, 2013
Sammy Johns’ song about a chance encounter with a girl sat on the shelves of a record company for nearly two years before it was released in 1975.
That song, “Chevy Van,” went on to sell 3 million copies and was called “The Song of the Seventies” by Rolling Stone magazine. It reached No. 5 on the charts in the United States and Canada.
Johns, who was born in Charlotte but spent most of his life in Gaston County, died Friday January 4, 2013 at Gaston Memorial Hospital. He was 66.
