Shooter Jennings debut country music album Put The O Back In Country (Universal South) has a lot to live up to. First of all, there’s Jennings own personal heritage. He’s the son of legendary country music outlaw Waylon Jennings and his lady Jessi Colter. Then there’s the fact that Shooter spent most of his adult life (so far) running away from his Nashville roots.
He left home as a young man for the bright lights of Los Angeles with a dream of becoming a rock and roll singer. He did form the rock and roll band Stargunn but they didn’t exactly catch fire. Now, after years on the west coast, Jennings has decided that the City of Angels isn’t exactly for him.
Just to solidify that fact, he’s countried up his album to death. In fact, the O in country might stand for “Oh, me! Oh, my! Stop working so hard to kiss up to Nashville!”
Everyone likes the story of a prodigal son returning to the family fold and I’m sure the country music world got a great deal of satisfaction at seeing Waylon and Jessi’s kid come home with his tail between his legs after getting kicked around by the rock world. The legendary George Jones even introduces the album, kicking off the title track “Put The O Back in Country”.
Musically, the song is a toe-tapper but when Jennings goes on to describe his formula for making a winning country song by listing every giant of the genre – it get’s to be a little much, especially when the litany ends with “a whole lot of Waylon”. The younger Jennings heart may be in the right place, but the sentiment doesn’t seem quite genuine.
Shooter Jennings does better with songs that ride that fine line between rock and western. “Busted in Baylor County” is one of those tunes about good old boys running afoul of the law. This one, about a group of guys,pulled over for speeding only to have the officer catch them puffing away on weed, is probably autobiographical. “Steady At The Wheel” is another one of those “guy” songs about men who are obsessively in love with their big old set of wheels.
The scruffy singer/songwriter pleads for a little Nashville love again on the track “Solid Country Gold” which explains (again) his decision to turn his back on rock and cozy up to his family’s guitar-picking ways. Lyrically and musically, it’s the strongest song on the album, but it hit’s on a theme that has already been covered.
Perhaps what most people were waiting for finally happens on the song “Southern Comfort”. With Waylon Jennings having passed away in 2002, country music fans will be over the moon to hear Jessi Colter singing along with their son on this one. The song may not be the best on the album, but Colter’s vocals definitely raise it up a knotch.
Shooter Jennings has the right DNA to really make it in the music business. Only time will tell if country music is really his thing. Wherever his journey leads him though, be it Los Angeles, Nashville or somewhere else entirely, Jennings will probably succeed as long as he stops apologizing to everyone for the choices he’s made.
If Willie Nelson can experiment with reggae than Shooter Jennings is entitled to find his own way as well – even if it doesn’t always please his parents’ old pals.
Reference:
- Put The O Back In Country CD
