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Waylon Jennings Research Paper

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Waylon Arnold Jennings was born on June 15, 1937 and died on February 13, 2002. Waylon Jennings, who claims to have both Cherokee and Comanche ancestry, was born and raised in Littlefield, Texas. His father worked a succession of jobs from cotton farming to truck driving, and the Jennings family had little extra cash. Waylon himself began to pick cotton while still a youngster, but his heart was in music. As a child he immersed himself in the works of such country greats as Ernest Tubb and Hank Williams, then he discovered pop music and its nascent rock & roll beat. A performer from an early age, he saw singing as the only escape from a life of drudgery in the cotton fields.Jennings began playing guitar at eight and began performing at 14 on KVOW radio. Jennings was a familiar sight in talent shows in his region, playing guitar and singing country or pop tunes. He dropped out of high school for a full-time job with the Littlefield radio station, where he spun discs and performed with his own band, the Texas Longhorns. In 1958 he took a job at a station in Lubbock, Texas, and there he met a young entertainer named Buddy Holly. Holly had already achieved national stardom with his country-rooted rock music, and before long Jennings was playing bass in …show more content…

For a time after the crash Jennings quit the music business and returned to radio announcing. Then, in the early 1960s, he moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and formed a new band. Waylon Jennings and the Waylors were soon regular performers at J.D.’s, a large club that drew an audience from every walk of life from cowboy to corporate attorney. Jennings met the challenge such an audience offered admirably, playing rock and pop with a country flavor as well as country in an up-tempo rock style. Before long his reputation transcended the bounds of Phoenix and drew talent scouts from Los Angeles and

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