I've Always Been Crazy
Studio album by
Waylon Jennings
ReleasedJuly 1978 (1978-07)
RecordedMarch 13–May 1978
GenreOutlaw country
Length36:55
LabelRCA Victor
Producer
  • Waylon Jennings
  • Richie Albright
  • Duane Eddy ["Medley of Buddy Holly Hits"]
Waylon Jennings chronology
Waylon & Willie
(1978)		 I've Always Been Crazy
(1978)		 Greatest Hits
(1979)
Singles from I've Always Been Crazy
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

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

At the time of its release, Nick Toches stated that I've Always Been Crazy tolled Waylon's "farewell to outlawry."[3] 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." Amazon.com: "As he so often did, Waylon delves into the joys as well as the bumps in the road he'd met in life on this 1978 LP. His honesty hit home, as this superb album spent nearly a year on the charts."

Track listing

  1. "I"ve Always Been Crazy" (Waylon Jennings) – 4:12
  2. "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand" (Jennings) – 3:00
  3. "Billy" (Tony Joe White) – 4:18
  4. "A Long Time Ago" (Jennings, Shel Silverstein) – 2:23
  5. "As the 'Billy World Turns" (Jennings) – 3:00
  6. 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"
  7. "I Walk the Line" (Johnny Cash) – 3:31
  8. "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down" (Merle Haggard) – 3:31
  9. "Girl I Can Tell (You're Trying to Work It Out)" (Fred Carter, Jennings) – 2:40
  10. "Whistlers and Jugglers" (Shel Silverstein) – 4:34
      • "Medley of Buddy Holly Hits" produced by Duane Eddy

Chart performance

Chart (1978) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums 1
U.S. Billboard 200 48
Canadian RPM Country Albums 1
Canadian RPM Top Albums 71

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Jennings & Kaye 1996.
  2. ↑ Streissguth 2013, p. 190.
  3. ↑ Streissguth 2013, p. 232.
  4. ↑ "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.
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