Waylon Jennings, Nor The Writers Of “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),” Had Ever Even Been There

He had me fooled…

Of course, Waylon scored a huge hit with his 1977 song that features Willie Nelson called “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),” which they put out at the height of outlaw country movement. From his hit album Ol’ Waylon, “Luckenbach, Texas” was written by Chips Moman and Bobby Emmons. Emmons proposed the song to Jennings because his “name’s in it,” and I guess that was enough for him to say yes…

On this date in 1977, the song spent its sixth week at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It was just the third (and final) six-week #1 song of the 1970s, and would be the last song to spend as long atop the charts for 20 years, until 1997 when Tim McGraw and Faith Hill released “It’s Your Love.”

In his 1996 book Waylon: An Autobiography, he noted:

“I knew it was a hit song, even though I didn’t like it, and still don’t.”

Though, he did say he understood why it became such a big hit:

“Every state has a Luckenbach; a place to get away from things.”

His drummer Richie Albright recalls Waylon talking about it in a later recording session, which is honestly my favorite part of the whole song and story of how it came to be:

“Just remind me when I’m picking singles from now on that I got to sing that mother****** every night.”

It’s not hard to imagine he probably just got tired of singing it so much, or got tired of saying his own name in the song, but it’s kind of funny to think that a song he didn’t really even want to record in the first place became one of his biggest hits and fan-favorite songs.

The entire ‘Ol Waylon album was a huge success too, becoming the first country album to ship Gold (meaning it had advanced sales of 500,000 units before it was even released), and has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA. Ol’ Waylon debuted at #1 on Billboard’s country album chart, where it remained for 13 weeks.

And recently, I stumbled upon this vintage interview with Waylon where he talks about the fact that he, nor either of the writers, had ever even been to Luckenbach… it just goes to show that even for the greatest country artists and writers, not every single song is the 100% truth. Sometimes, a word or theme is just a catchy idea, and they run with it… and sometimes, it winds up being a big ‘ol hit:

“I’ve never been to Luckenbach, Texas in my life. I thought maybe I might have gone through there one time. And funnier than that, the guy who wrote it had never been there, either. Either one of them. And I know some people from there, but I’ve never been there.”

Seeing as Waylon was born and raised in Texas you just kind of figured that he’d been there, but he certainly sold it quite well considering he didn’t even like the song, and had no real personal connection to it whatsoever.

I think fans might be surprised to learn that because of how massive and influential it was in the ’70s, and I think it’s just a testament to how good he was and how a truly great song can transcend everything, and if it’s destined to be a hit, then a hit it will be.

This video gave me a good laugh today, that’s for sure:

@johnnycashnation Waylon Jennings admits he’s never been to Luckenbach #waylonjennings #country #countrymusic #outlaw #outlawcountry #outlawcountrymusic #luckenbachtexas #luckenbach ♬ Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love) (feat. Willie Nelson) – Waylon Jennings

Turn it up…

“Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)”

The post Waylon Jennings, Nor The Writers Of “Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love),” Had Ever Even Been There first appeared on Whiskey Riff.