1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: Whaylon Jennings are insane. He gave up a seat on 3 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: a plane hours before it crashed and killed, among others, 4 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:30,159 Speaker 1: Buddy Hawley. He stashed his pills in the wall of 5 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: his apartment to hide them from his pill head roommate 6 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash. He did blow during halftime of an NFL 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: game with the Open Raiders, pulled a loaded gun in 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: the recording studio, and was arrested by the DEA after 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: a kilo of cocaine was sent to him in the 10 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: mail Waylon Jennings was a badass and a taker of 11 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: no shit, a major player in the formative days of 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: both rock and roll and outlaw country. And he made, 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: of course great music. Unlike that loop I played for 14 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,919 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my mellotron called John 16 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: Hughes Fever Dream MK Two. I played you that loop 17 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: because I can't afford the rights to best of My 18 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: Love by the Emotions, And why would I play you 19 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: that specific slice of whoa Woa Cheese? Could I afford it? 20 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: Because that was the number one song in America on 21 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: August twenty fourth, nineteen seventy seven, and that was the 22 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: day that federal agents rated a Nashville studio in the 23 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: middle of a recording session with a warrant for Waylon 24 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: Jennings's arrest. On this episode, a plane crash, pill stashes, 25 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: coked up open raiders, loaded guns, badasses, and Waylon Jennings. 26 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 2: I'm Jake Brennan, and this this disgrace Sland. 27 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: You know, when you have a great idea, maybe you've 28 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: finally figured out what the meaning of life is, or 29 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: you've got this idea for a great recipe for Thanksgiving 30 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: dinner where you stuff a chicken inside of a duck 31 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: stuffed inside of a turkey. 32 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 2: Whatever doesn't matter. 33 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: What matters is that you get this idea in your head, 34 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: something original, something unique, something genius, so genius that you're 35 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: convinced that no one else has ever thought of it, 36 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: but you want to make sure. 37 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 2: And we live at a time where you can make. 38 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: Sure with a few keystrokes, so you google it, and 39 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: guess what, turns out you're no genius. 40 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 2: After all, tens, hundreds. 41 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: Maybe thousands of people have already thought of that same 42 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: brilliant idea some seventy years ago. In the nineteen fifties, 43 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: there was no Google, so there was no quick way 44 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: to confirm if your idea was unique to you or not. 45 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: That said, I am confident that Elvis Presley wasn't the 46 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: only person on the face of the planet at that 47 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 1: time thinking about taking country music in the blues and 48 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: matching them together to create something new. He just happened 49 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: to be the first one to put that thought into action, 50 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: and that thought breaking with tradition, breaking down color barriers. 51 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: It was also on the minds of others like eight 52 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: hundred miles due west from Elvis from Memphis, all the 53 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: way over in West Texas, first in the small town 54 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: of Littlefield and then Lubbock, where young Whalon Jennings was 55 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: sharing that brilliant idea long before the Tupelo Kid told 56 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: his band to get real gone. And just like Elvis, 57 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: at least the Elvis before Colonel Tom Parker entered the picture, 58 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: and just like many of the strong, humble folk out 59 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: there in West Texas Waylon Jennings didn't do what he 60 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: didn't want to do. He didn't want to pick cotton 61 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 1: no more, so he quit. He didn't like school, so 62 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: he dropped out. What he did want was to sing 63 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: and play guitar and also play records on air at KADIEAV, 64 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: a small radio station in Lowock, Texas, where eighteen year 65 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: old Whalen Jennings meanly married worked as a DJ country 66 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: blues R and B. He loved it all, and he 67 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: played it all, especially Little Richard. Tooty Fruity sent his 68 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: listeners into a frenzy, but not necessarily for the reason 69 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: you'd think it was, because this is supposed to be 70 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: a country music radio show and here was Whalan spinning 71 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: R and B. The station manager, Whalen's boss, was so 72 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: pissed that he got into his car, drove all the 73 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: way over to the station, and tore Whaleen a new one. 74 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: But that didn't cramp Whalen's style. In fact, he doubled down. 75 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 2: The next night he played Little Richard. 76 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: And Ray Charles back to back. In that same night 77 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: he was fired. Didn't matter, because Waylon Jennings wasn't meant 78 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: to play other people's records on the air. He was 79 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: meant to make his own music. His good friend and 80 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: fellow Lubbock resident, Buddy Holly, was convinced that Whaling was 81 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: as talented as Texas was big, which is why Buddy 82 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 1: played guitar Whaleen's first single. 83 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 2: Joe Les Blown. 84 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: And then in December of nineteen fifty eight, Buddy Hawley, 85 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: at the time one of rock and roll's pioneers, a 86 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: twenty two year old megastar, came to his friend Waylon Jennings, 87 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: one of your buddies Junior, and handed him a bass guitar. 88 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: You got two weeks to learn that thing, Buddy told him, 89 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: and I'll see you in New. 90 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 2: York for the tour. Tour New York the bass. Whalen 91 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: didn't play bass, not that. 92 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: It was all that different from his instrument of choice, guitar, 93 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: but Buddy believed in him. 94 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 2: Whyalan was the guy for. 95 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: The job and a story He and another of Buddy's friend, 96 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 1: Tommy Alson, will be replacing Buddy's backing band, the Crickets, 97 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: after they walked following a contract dispute. So Whyalan got 98 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: to learning Buddy songs on a four string? Then he 99 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: took a red eye from Texas to the Big City 100 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: where the rest of his life was there waiting for him. 101 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: January nineteen fifty nine, Grand Central Station Waylon Jennings and 102 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: Buddy Hawley squeezed themselves into a photo booth and dropped 103 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: a coin in the slot. Whalan stuck a mental cigarette 104 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 1: in his mouth and lit it up. Buddy elbowed him, Whalem, 105 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: give me a Salem. Whalan passed one over and the 106 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: camera began to flash. Both of them with huge grins 107 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: on their faces. Whalen wearing dark shades, Buddy in his 108 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: trademark horner and glasses. To Waylon Jennings, Buddy Hawley wasn't 109 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: just a good friend. He was what he called an. 110 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 2: Upper as were the shows they were playing. 111 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: Uppers ballrooms packed with teenagers dancing along to the Big 112 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: Bobber singing Chantilly Lace, Ritchie Vallens doing lea Bamba before 113 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: finally pressing up tight against the stage when Buddy closed out. 114 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: Each night, the whole room feeding off that energy, Buddy 115 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: Hawley's energy. Whalen, for one, couldn't get enough of it. 116 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 2: He was addicted. Buddy Hawley was a drug. That drug. 117 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: It powered Whalen and the others through a grueling tour, 118 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: night after night, city after city, even in the Midwest 119 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: in February, in the dead of winter, forty below at 120 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: times forty below. 121 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 2: The tour bus was a. 122 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: Meat locker and everyone was getting sick. Buddy decided to 123 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: rest up during the next leg of the trip from 124 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: Iowa to North Dakota. 125 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 2: He chartered a plane. 126 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: He offered the two extra seats to his band, to 127 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: Whalen and Tommy Allson, But just hours before the flight, 128 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: the big Bobber hit hard with the flu asked Whalen 129 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: if he would consider giving up a seat. Whalen could 130 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: see that the Bobber in his current state, needed a 131 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: break from the bus more than he did. Whaling gladly 132 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: gave it up, and then Tommy also lost his seat 133 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: to a last minute coyed toss with Richie Allence. 134 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 2: Word gets the buddy. 135 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: Right before the plane took off, he found Whalen and 136 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: as all good friends do, really good friends anyways, he 137 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: gave whale and shit. 138 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 2: You're not going with me tonight? Huh? 139 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: But you chicking out? It's not like that. Whalen told 140 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: him the big boppers sick and it seemed like the 141 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: right thing to do. 142 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 2: Okay. 143 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: Then Buddy said, again with the shit talking, I hope 144 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: your damn buss freezes up well. Whalen responded, I hope 145 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:32,679 Speaker 1: your old plane crashes. 146 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 3: We interrupt this program for a special news bulleted bullet. 147 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 3: Three young singers who soared to the heights of show 148 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 3: business on the current rock and roller trades were killed 149 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 3: today in the crash of a light plane in an 150 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 3: iows no flurring. The singers were identify this Richie falland seventeen, 151 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 3: Bummy Holly twenty two and J. P. Richardson is known 152 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 3: professionally as the Big Bubber. They're small Chartet plane crashed 153 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 3: in the Lonely farmyard about fifteen miles dowd west of 154 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 3: Mason City. Cause of the crist was due to inclement 155 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 3: weather conditions. The tails up coming from Action Central. 156 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: New Buddy Hawley's death in nineteen fifty nine at just 157 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: twenty two years old, came as an incredible shock, not 158 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: least to his good buddy Waylon Jennings. Whalen was racked 159 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: with guilt, convinced that his last words ever spoken of 160 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: Buddy were the reason that he died. I hope your 161 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: old plane crashes. That line, those words that echoed in 162 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: his head, A telltale heart beating from beneath the floorboard 163 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: of the tour bus, which continued to rattle along for America. 164 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: The show must go on, and go on it did, 165 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: with aggrieving Waylon Jennings made to perform as his dead 166 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 1: friend for the next few shows before an impersonator was 167 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: hired to play Buddy Hawley. Let me repeat that Buddy 168 00:09:58,240 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: Hawley had just died. 169 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 2: Waylon Jennings was. 170 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: Made to perform posing as his dead friend Buddy Holly 171 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: for the next few shares before a Buddy Holly impersonator 172 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: was then hired. Whalen and Tommy also were promised money 173 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: and time off to fly to Buddy's funeral, but that 174 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:20,000 Speaker 1: never came to pass. A month later, whalan returned to 175 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,959 Speaker 1: where we started with little to show for it, back 176 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 1: at Grand Central Station, this time not goofing off in 177 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: a photo booth, but instead placing Buddy's base and amplifier 178 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: in a storage locker. He shut the door, locked it, 179 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: and mailed the key to Buddy's widow. Then he began 180 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: the long drive back to West Texas from New York City, 181 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: but without his upper his buddy, so Whalen needed something 182 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: else to help him make it through those long nights 183 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,199 Speaker 1: of white line fever. He managed to get by this time, 184 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,680 Speaker 1: not with a little help from his friends, but with 185 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: some pills he caught from a truck driver at a 186 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: rest stop, and the sound of the ran old up 187 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 1: crackling out of the car's radio Waylon Jennings had been 188 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: awake for days, clutching a fistful of pills while three 189 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: different women waited for him in three different rooms, on 190 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: three different floors of the same hotel. 191 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 2: They'd have to wait a little longer. 192 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: Right now, Whalen had to listen to his longtime drummer 193 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 1: Richie Albright speak his mind, Whalen where she said, you're 194 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: going to kill yourself. Whalen couldn't argue with that. He 195 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: never knew when enough was enough. That went for pills 196 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: and later cocaine, that went for women, and that went 197 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: for music too Waylon Jennings was also a man who 198 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: didn't do what he didn't want to do. Not Caughton, picking, 199 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: not school. He tried going back to the DJ booth, 200 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: back to a normal life in Loving, Texas, but that 201 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: upper the Buddy Holly upper, the thrill of the road. 202 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 2: And of performing. He couldn't shake it. 203 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: Buddy Hawley was the gateway drug, and it didn't take 204 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: long for Whalan's Cadillac to drive right through that gate 205 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: over to the other side, where those aforementioned pills were waiting. 206 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 1: White crosses, speckled birds, la turnarounds. In some parts of 207 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: the American South, one greets a stranger by asking what 208 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: y'all got in the smoker. In Nashville in the nineteen sixties, 209 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:48,120 Speaker 1: it was y'all got any pills. Pills were the gasoline 210 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: in the music city tank, a cultural currency second only 211 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: to the music. Nashville even had a popular physician on call, 212 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,320 Speaker 1: doctor Snapp, who wrote scripts on the regular above board 213 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: completely legal because this was a time when pills were 214 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: seen not so much as an addictive drug, but as 215 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: a necessary medicine to do your job. 216 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 2: And if that sounds. 217 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: Naive, well Waylon Jennings, like Johnny Cash and many others 218 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: making their way in Nashville at this time, was little 219 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: more than a naive kid from the country who didn't 220 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: know any better. And also, like Johnny Cash, Whalen was 221 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: a fiend for pills, so much so that when the 222 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 1: two of them were roommates in Nashville, they had to 223 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:30,480 Speaker 1: keep their respective stashes hidden. 224 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 2: From each other. 225 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: I'm going to find those goddamn pills hosts. Johnny Cash 226 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: was inside Whalen's car, on his back up front of 227 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: the floor, ripping apart the interior. He yanked the paneling down. 228 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: Nothing he knew they were here. What he didn't know 229 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: is that they were here yesterday. Whalen never used the 230 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: same hiding place twice. Stashing pills was a fluid game. 231 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: This week, Whalen had unscrewed a light switch panel in 232 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,680 Speaker 1: the wall of their shared apartment and dumped a big 233 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: bag of pills in the cavity boom. Cash was never 234 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 1: going to find him. 235 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 2: The only problem was. 236 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: When Whalen really needed them, he was going to have 237 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: to kick a hole in the drywall to get them out. 238 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: But hold up, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's back up. 239 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: Before Nashville and after Buddy Holly, there was Arizona, a 240 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: far cry from Whalen's West Texas roots, and a place 241 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: where from the jump, too much of everything was never 242 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: enough and everything Remember that's drugs, women, and music. 243 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 2: They went together. 244 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: In Phoenix, Whalen played every Tuesday through Saturday night at 245 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: a place called j D's, and he started fooling around 246 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: with a woman named Lynn Mitchell. Lynn Mitchell was not 247 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: Whalen's wife, not yet anyway, His wife at the time, 248 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,120 Speaker 1: Maxine was back in Texas with the kids for them now, 249 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: And as you can imagine, given the fact that Maxine 250 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: and Whalen were not living in the same state, the 251 00:14:58,440 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: writing was on the wall. 252 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 2: It was only a matter of time. 253 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: Before Lynn Mitchell here Phoenix Lynn Mitchell became the second 254 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: missus Jennings, and then only a matter of time after 255 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: that before Lynn joined Maxine as another ex collecting Whalen's calimony. 256 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 2: You see the pattern here. 257 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: But at the time, life was like a country song 258 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: for Waylon Jennings, the kind he played at jds where 259 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: he made his name, the kind he played out on 260 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: the road where he made his reputation, a reputation built 261 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 1: on nights like this one at a roadhouse club, more 262 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: like a huge barn in the middle of nowhere. The 263 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: show was over. Whalen was waiting to get paid, but 264 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 1: there would be no payment tonight. Tonight there was just 265 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: a shotgun, locked and loaded and the club owner's insistence 266 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: that Whalen get the fuck out. 267 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 2: Fine. 268 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,480 Speaker 1: Whalen wasn't about to put up a fight, not here. 269 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: He and his band, the Whalers, not like Bob Marley's band, 270 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: but the Whalers as in wayn as in way low. 271 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, you get anyway. 272 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: The Whalers, along with Whylan's songwriting friend Billy Joe Shaver, 273 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: piled into Whalan's bus and hit the road. Whalan drove 274 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: and the bus made its way up a dirt road 275 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: toward the highway. The club behind them were seeding in 276 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: the distance. Suddenly there was a huge explosion. Billy Joe 277 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: Shaver jumped in his seat and spun around. Out the 278 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: bus's window. He could see the back half of the 279 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: barn engulfed in flames. Holy shit, Whalen, did you see that? 280 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: Whalan kept his hands on the wheel and his. 281 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 2: Eyes on the road. I didn't see nothing. 282 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: Word traveled just like the smoke traveled up to the 283 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: heavens from that burning barn. One you did not fuck 284 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 1: with Whalon Jennings and two Waylon Jennings was the next 285 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: big thing in country music. 286 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 2: Nashville agreed to that second point. 287 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: Specifically, Chad Atkins aka the Country Gentleman aka one of 288 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: the architects of. 289 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 2: The then modern Nashville sound. 290 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: He signed Whalen to the RC Victor label and then 291 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: began to have him cut records that were more Chad 292 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: Atkins's vision than his own folk country Love of the 293 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 1: Common People, The Taker, Slash Tulsa. Some of these are 294 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,679 Speaker 1: great albums that Waylon Jennings made inside the Nashville system, 295 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: but none of them truly. 296 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 2: Captured who he really was. 297 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,200 Speaker 1: That would come later, and it didn't come without a fight. 298 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: The fight started with a twenty two magnum pistol Whyalan 299 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: brought with him to the studio one afternoon. All these 300 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: Nashville cats kept hitting those pickup notes on their instruments, 301 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: like the Pedal Steel Player doing it now. That's to say, 302 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,920 Speaker 1: playing notes during the intro of a song the Dovetail 303 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: and at the first full measure when the singer starts 304 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: the verse, totally unnecessary to Whyalan's ears, You're cluttering up 305 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: a good song with this bullshit. Whylan didn't want to 306 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: hear any pickup notes on his records anymore. The Pedal 307 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: Steel Player, though, he kept playing them until Whylan cocked 308 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: his gun. The next son of a bitch that hits 309 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: one of them goddamn pickup notes is going to get 310 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: his goddamn fingers blown off. Cooler heads soon prevailed, the 311 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: coolest belonging to Neil Rushan, who made his name doing 312 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 1: Miles Davis's taxes that was now managing Whalan. Neil Russian 313 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: was a big deal because he single handedly discovered that 314 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: RCA was screwing Whalen over RCA said Whalen owed them money, 315 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: but Neil Russian proved it was actually the other way around. 316 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 2: Furthermore, RCA had failed to comply with. 317 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: The renewal clause in Whalen's contract, which meant now Whalan 318 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: had the upper hand when it came to the negotiations 319 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two, Whalan and Neil Russian sat in Chad 320 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: Atkins's office, across the table from RCA executives. Whalan wanted 321 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: freedom to do what he wanted, and that freedom, in 322 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: Whalen's mind, should include an extra twenty five thousand dollars 323 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,719 Speaker 1: in his coffers. It wasn't just about the respect that 324 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: extra money provided. Whalan needed it. He had stacks of 325 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: unpaid bills, alimony to not one, not two, but now 326 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:57,640 Speaker 1: three ex wives. 327 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,440 Speaker 2: RCA wasn't sympathetic, and they weren't budging either. 328 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: Their final offer was on the table to Whyalon to 329 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: Neil the offer was still twenty five thousand dollars short. 330 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: Both sides sat at the table in silence. Fucked this, 331 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: Whyalan had to take a piss? He didn't say anything 332 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: about it, He just stood up and walked out. Minutes later, 333 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: his bladder relieved, he emerged from the bathroom to find 334 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: the meeting over and Neil Russian waiting for him in 335 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: the hallway. Whyalan, He said, you're a fucking genius walking 336 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: out of that meeting like that. 337 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,680 Speaker 2: That was the move we needed. What do you mean move? 338 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 2: I decided to take a piss? 339 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: The ol Russian smiled, well, that my friend was a 340 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 1: twenty five thousand dollars piss. When Whalan stood up and 341 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: left the negotiating table in silence, the suits at RCA 342 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: freaked out. They asked Neil what Whalan was doing, and Neil, 343 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: in all honesty, told him that he had no clue. 344 00:19:57,359 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: You know, Whalan, he's crazy. He'll do anything. Hell, maybe 345 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: he's walking away right now and never coming back. RCA's 346 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 1: hand was forced. Whalen got his money in his autonomy, 347 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: all of which then gave the world honky Tonk heroes 348 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: something like Whyalan's nineteenth studio album, but arguably the first 349 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: to present Whylon Jennings for real, the Nashville outlier, a 350 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: heat packing, burn burning outlaw who took twenty five thousand 351 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: dollars pisses in the RCA bathroom. The guy who mashed 352 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: together country and rock and roll like Elvis had done 353 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,640 Speaker 1: with country and blues all those years ago. Something new, 354 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: something different, something daring, just like Whalon himself. Now moving 355 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: from one thing to the next. First Buddy Hawley, then pills, 356 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,239 Speaker 1: and now to the big game where the stakes were 357 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: higher than the uppers were too. 358 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this word word word. 359 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: Waylon Jennings dumped the quarter ounce of cocaine into the blender, 360 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: followed by a gram of speed. In one kaylude, he 361 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: hit the button that read puree or chop or liquefied, 362 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: didn't matter, they all did the same thing. He then 363 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,120 Speaker 1: poured the blended concoction into an empty aspirin bottle, which 364 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: he tucked inside a cigarette pack and stuffed into the 365 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: top pocket of his vest, close enough to his face 366 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:32,160 Speaker 1: so that all he had to do when he wanted 367 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: a bump was to stick a straw down into the 368 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: pocket and the other end of said straw up his nose. 369 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: But when he came to cocaine, Waylon Jennings didn't do bumps. 370 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 1: As his son Terry wrote in his memoir, Whalen Jennings 371 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: did thumps, waking himself up from a dead sleep at 372 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 1: two three in the morning to do more. Buying it 373 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: at one hundred dollars a gram, fifteen hundred dollars a day. 374 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 2: You do the math. 375 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: He did enough blow in one afternoon for an entire 376 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:07,440 Speaker 1: football team, Oakland, California Raiders versus Chiefs. Halftime coach John 377 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: Madden hit the locker room and pounded an entire bottle 378 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: of Maylock's. His team, the Oakland Raiders, were down six nothing, 379 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,360 Speaker 1: His players are beat up. One of his defensive tackles, 380 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: a brick shitthouse of a man, was puking his guts out. 381 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: Madden began to draft the motivational pep talk in his head, 382 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: but the Raiders needed something stronger. 383 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 2: Than a pep talk. Thank God for Waylon. 384 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: Jennings here now in the locker room at halftime visiting 385 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: his friend Kenny the snake Stabler, the Raiders quarterback. Whalen 386 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,479 Speaker 1: had the remedy as did Whalen's buddy Deacon Proudfoot, Hell's Angel, 387 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: current head of Whalen's security detail. That remedy, so to speak, 388 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: was being doled out in the bathroom thumps of cocaine 389 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: that Whalen and Deacon were handing back and forth over 390 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: the stalls. One line, two lines, three to four shotgun style. 391 00:22:57,359 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: That's half a gram up, one nostril and one more 392 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,439 Speaker 1: of the other. Halftime was over in the Oakland Raiders, 393 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: high on Whalon Jennings's cocaine, went back out onto the 394 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: field at the Coliseum and proceeded to beat the ever 395 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: loving shit out of the Kansas City Chiefs. Whalen, like 396 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,919 Speaker 1: the Oakland Raiders in the second half, was untouchable, not 397 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: so much living outside the law as he was creating 398 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: his own law. The music was undeniable. Wanted the Outlaws, 399 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: a nineteen seventy six compilation album featuring songs by Whalon, 400 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: Whalen's pals Willie Nelson and Tompall Glazer, and Whalen's fourth 401 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,919 Speaker 1: and final wife, Jesse Colter, was the first country record 402 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: in history to sell a million copies. His next string 403 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: of albums, How Are You Ready for the Country Whalan 404 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,400 Speaker 1: Live Ol Whalan and Whalen and Willie all. 405 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 2: Hit number one on the country chart. 406 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: His success was hard fought, it was sweet, but when 407 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: it came to Whalen's finances, success wasn't enough to break 408 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,439 Speaker 1: even alimony, back taxes, all manner of delinquents putting a 409 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: strain on the payroll, the kind of situation that leads 410 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: to taking bigger chances and bigger risks. August twenty fourth, 411 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy seven, American Sound Recording Studio, Nashville, Little over 412 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 1: a week since the King himself, Elvis Presley, took his 413 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: last seat on a porcelain throne, Whalen was eager to 414 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,880 Speaker 1: finish laying down this harmony track on his wife Jesse's 415 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: new song. Equally eager to then dip into the stash 416 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: of cocaine sitting at his feet, one kilo he just 417 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,840 Speaker 1: had sent to him through the mail drugs via the 418 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: United States postal system, Just the sort of brass ball's 419 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: outlaw move that only Waylon Jennings could pull off. Or 420 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: so the thinking went. On the other side of the 421 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: double glass wall in the control room, where Whalen's drummer 422 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: Richie Albright was running the recording session. The outside door 423 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: flew open. Two men stepped inside, DEA agents who had 424 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: been tracking Willlam's package of cocaine. Richie was fast, He 425 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,720 Speaker 1: thought fast, acted fast. He leaned back against the recording 426 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: console and pressed his hand down on the talkback button. 427 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 1: Now this is an important detail. The American Sound Recording 428 00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: studio was equipped with a Harrison mixing console, which, unlike 429 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: most mixing consoles at the time, had a talkback button that, 430 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: when pressed, allowed both the control room where Richie was 431 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: in the studio room where whalan was to simultaneously talk 432 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: to and hear each other. Other consoles only allowed for 433 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: one way communication. So Richie Albright, without the DEA agents knowing, 434 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,119 Speaker 1: was allowing Whalen through the headphones he was wearing in 435 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,640 Speaker 1: the studio to hear this entire conversation with the FEDS 436 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: as it unfolded. So Richie says, can I help you boys? 437 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,800 Speaker 2: This is a closed session. Agent number one goes, what 438 00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 2: happened to that package that was just delivered? Richie goes, 439 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 2: do y'all have a warrant? 440 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,280 Speaker 1: Agent Number one says, we have a warrant for when 441 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: Jennings's arrest. Richie listen, boys, I'd love to help you, 442 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: but we're right in the middle of one last vocal take. 443 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:07,720 Speaker 2: This place is like two hundred bucks an hour. Who 444 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 2: just finished the take? And then Whalen is all yours. 445 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:12,880 Speaker 1: Agent number two looked at Agent number one and gave 446 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: a kurt nod of approval. Richie ran the tape from 447 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,320 Speaker 1: the top and Whalen began to sing again. Halfway through 448 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: the chorus, Richie stopped the tape and pressed on the 449 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 1: Harrison talked back button again. Whalen, I'm sorry, hass but 450 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: there's something wrong with your microphone. Let me come in 451 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,719 Speaker 1: there real quick and swap it out for another. The 452 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:37,360 Speaker 1: agents waited impatiently. Richie slipped into the studio room, replaced 453 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,400 Speaker 1: the mic, and then, very carefully, without anyone noticing, removed 454 00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 1: the bags of cocaine from the box at Whalen's feet 455 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: and slid them down the front of his jeans. Minutes later, 456 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: he was flushing the contents down the toilet in the 457 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,719 Speaker 1: studio bathroom while the DEA agents grilled Whalen. 458 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 2: Where I come from? 459 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: Whalen said, possession means got it, and you boys ain't it. 460 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: The DEA didn't have to have anything. They knew Whalen 461 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,400 Speaker 1: was dirty. They arrested him anyway, charging him with possession 462 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,479 Speaker 1: and conspiracy, and the case dragged on for months, months 463 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: in which Whalan's paranoia ran as high as his continuing 464 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,320 Speaker 1: drug and take. He checked every phone for bugs. He 465 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,760 Speaker 1: hired former FBI agents to sweep his house, but the 466 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,200 Speaker 1: case against him only made his reputation stronger. He was 467 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: a modern day Robin Hood or a Billy the Kid. 468 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: He used that rep to his advantage with his next single, 469 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:35,360 Speaker 1: Don't you Think the Outlaw Bits. 470 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:36,120 Speaker 2: Done get out of hand? 471 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: The song essentially confessed to the crime he was currently fighting, 472 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,120 Speaker 1: and it peaked at number five on the country chart. 473 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: That song the attention, None of it got Whyalon Jennings 474 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: what he really needed. Neither did his new role on 475 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,520 Speaker 1: the Dukes of Hazard as the balladeer singer of the 476 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: popular TV show's theme song. Whalen needed money, the kind 477 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,600 Speaker 1: of money that could support all those ex wives. The 478 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,360 Speaker 1: attack man a bloated payroll, and that wasn't all. When 479 00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: the government finally dropped the cocaine charges, Whalon it had 480 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: something like one hundred thousand dollars in legal fees his 481 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: bank account balance was at negative eight hundred and sixty grand. 482 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: I'm not even sure how that's possible. The bank froze everything. 483 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,560 Speaker 1: By the early nineteen eighties. The only thing higher than 484 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: Waylon Jennings was his impossibly tall mountain of debt. No 485 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: matter how dire his financial situation, Waylon Jennings surrounded himself 486 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,640 Speaker 1: with people who believed in him, just like Buddy Hawley 487 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 1: had believed in him all those years before. These days 488 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: it was the Hell's Angels motorcycle Club. The bikers saw 489 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: it in Whalon Jennings, a kindred spirit. They were drawn 490 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: to him, like so many others, who, let's be honest, 491 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: were part of the larger problem, at least when it 492 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: came to Whalen's bottom line. But the Angels were tough 493 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: guys reinforcing Whalen's air of toughness, like Deacon Proudfoot and 494 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 1: Boomer Baker. 495 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 2: Boomer had a mouthful of gold. 496 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: Teeth, and he walked with a cane that had a 497 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,680 Speaker 1: gold skull on top. He was there to protect and serve, 498 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: like on the night he stood watch outside Whalen's hotel room, 499 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:34,400 Speaker 1: armed to the teeth, guns, knives, a grenade, even on 500 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: account of the rumor going around that a rival motorcycle club, 501 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,959 Speaker 1: in their quest to become bigger and more powerful than 502 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: the Angels, had put a hit out on Whealan or 503 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: a member of his family, a family that Boomer took 504 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: care of, not least of which was Whalen's youngest son, Shooter, 505 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: now a great musician and producer in his own right, 506 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: but back in the day, a little toddler being raised 507 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: by outlaws, outlaws like Boomer Baker, outlaws like his father, 508 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: a father who is now watching as a son. Shooter, 509 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: just three years old, found one of Whalen's coke straws 510 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: and stuck it up his nose, doing like his daddy did. 511 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: That shook Whalen. Being a badass was one thing, being 512 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: a bad role model with something else entirely. 513 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 2: Whalen decided to rent a. 514 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: House in Arizona, not in Phoenix, where he first made 515 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: his bones as a performer, but way out in the 516 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 1: desert where he was at the mercy of the elements. 517 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: Zero distractions, no band members, no bikers, just Whalen and 518 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,280 Speaker 1: his wife Jesse. He had to clean up everything, his 519 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:40,240 Speaker 1: finances and also his habit. March nineteen eighty four, Whalen 520 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 1: climbed into his tour bus and did as much cocaine 521 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: as he could handle, one last hurrah. Then he exited 522 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,760 Speaker 1: the bus and walked into his rented house, leaving about 523 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: twenty grand worth of cocaine behind. Call it cold turkey 524 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: with a safety net, a little insurance in case what 525 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: he was about to do proved too difficult. 526 00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 2: And it was difficult. 527 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: As soon as that final I wore off, his bones 528 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: began to ache, his entire body shook violently. He was sick, 529 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: He couldn't sleep. He knew he could end this awful 530 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: feeling just by going back to the bus where piles 531 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,239 Speaker 1: of cocaine were waiting, but he didn't. He'd made up 532 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: his mind Whyalon Jennings didn't do what he didn't want 533 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: to do, Not picking cotton, not going to school, not 534 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: conforming to the Nashville machine, and not cocaine, not anymore. 535 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: A month later, Whalan stepped foot out of that rented home. 536 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 2: A new man. He told Jesse to get rid of 537 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 2: the drugs. 538 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: She dumped all twenty thousand dollars worth down the drain, 539 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,160 Speaker 1: yelling Hallelujah as she did it, Ecstatic to her husband. 540 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: Whylon Jennings was a survivor, a trailblazer, a total badass, 541 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: and he was no longer a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, 542 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 1: and this this Disgraceland. 543 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 4: All right, thank you for hanging out with me and 544 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 4: the one and only Waylan Jennings. 545 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 2: Apple Podcast listeners. 546 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: If you have not already, please turn on auto downloads 547 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:15,240 Speaker 1: so you don't. 548 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 2: Miss any of our episodes. 549 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 4: Listen. Waylon Jennings complete in total lunatic, known as one 550 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 4: of the outlaw country singers. But my question of the 551 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,480 Speaker 4: week for you, guys, is was Wayland Jennings the most 552 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 4: punk rock of the country singers? 553 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 2: If not, who was? 554 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,440 Speaker 4: Hit me up a lot of candidates six one seven 555 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,600 Speaker 4: nine oh six six six three eight. I want your answers. 556 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 4: You can leave a voicemail or a text. You can 557 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 4: also DM me at Disgrace lamp Pod. Email me Disgrace 558 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,880 Speaker 4: Lampod at gmail dot com. We'll play some of your 559 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:46,800 Speaker 4: answers on the upcoming after party episodes. All right, guys, 560 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 4: I gotta take off, got some credits coming. 561 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 2: Up right now. 562 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 563 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,000 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis credits for this episode can be 564 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page at disgracempod dot com. 565 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 566 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it, and 567 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,880 Speaker 1: if not, you can become a member right now by 568 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:14,560 Speaker 1: going to disgracelampod dot com Slash Membership. 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