Waylon Jennings-What Goes Around Comes Around (1979)
Artist: Waylon Jennings
Format: LP
Cat: AHL1-3493
Year of Release: 1979
Country and Year of Edition: US 1979
Date of Sale: 7/28/23
Sell Price: $3.91
Condition: VG+/VG bottom of cover unglued
Discogs Last Sold: 7/19/23 VG+/VG $5.99
Low: $1.99 VG/VG 5/22/23
Median: $4.54
Average: $5.73
High: $12.95 NM/NM
Current low price: $3.08 NM/VG+
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 136
Have/Want: 3184/136
Where Sold: Charleston, SC
Time It Took To Sell: 8 years
Where and When Bought: can't remember, dollar bin somewhere
Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+
Sad To See It Go: Yes
The cover of What Goes Around Comes Around is one of the most bizarre ever for a major artist. With the lasers and cut out square photo of Waylon plopped in the middle of it all, one gets the feeling they are probably in for a glitzy "countrypolitan" album along the lines of late 70's Dolly Parton. Except Waylon looks pasty faced, off kilter and drunk with a Prince Valliant haircut.
Yet another reason you can't judge a book by it's cover. Outlaw Waylon could do what he wanted. This album spent 14 weeks at #2 on Billboard's country album chart, kept out by Kenny Rogers crossover monster Kenny. On the Billboard 200 he peaked at #49 a couple weeks before Christmas 1979.
The album itself is predominantly covers of familiar writers like Rodney Crowell whose tracks open and close the record. The opener, "Ain't Living Long Like This" sets the tone with an extended instrumental workout. Instrumentation-wise perhaps only the bass sounds like the 70's the lasers on the cover imply. The closer, "Old Love, New Eyes" Crowell shares a credit with steel guitarist Hank DeVito. In this one he refrains "I don't feel nothing at all."
The lone Waylon song is a funny piano-waltz number called "It's The World's Gone Crazy (Cotillion)." Yes Virginia, it's a world where straight men want to be funny, the funny men want to be straight and you will dance alone. Santa Claus isn't even mentioned.
The second song, 'What Goes Around," written by recording artist Michael Sutherland sounds almost like a Bob Weir/Grateful Dead 70's arrangement. The producer was Richie Albright, Waylon's long time drummer, so it's doubtful there were any "foreign" elements in there on purpose. The second side opener, 'Ivory Tower" is written by Clifford Robinson who worked with Waylon's wife Jessi Colter a few years before.
Adam Mitchell contributes the pathos of "Out Among The Stars." You would've never thunk he would take a left turn into heavier fare writing the Kiss Creatures Of The Night makeup swan song.
Overall a solid record without a ton of typical commercial excess of the day.
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