Lonesome, On'ry and Mean

If *Lonesome, On\'ry & Mean* cast Waylon Jennings as the father of \"outlaw country,\" he used his newfound freedom to craft a profoundly personal, powerful statement that injected rock rhythms and attitude into old-school C&W. An anthem of the outlaw movement if there ever was one, the galloping title track is the weary artist lashing out at the producer-controlled confines of Music Row. Welcome to Waylon\'s world, a place of pealed-back honky-tonk blues (\"Good Time Charlie\'s Got The Blues), where the underlying ache of \"Me And Bobby McGee\" becomes palpable when wrapped in that larger-than-life baritone, a tender letter to an ex is enough to make you want to curl up and cry (\"Sandy Sends Her Best\"), and a country-rock cover of Johnny Cash\'s \"Gone To Denver\" and sadder-bastard take on Willie Nelson\'s \"Pretend I Never Happened\" sound more vital than the originals. With one album, Waylon might have robbed Nashville of its formula, but he returned to it some soul.