CONFEDERATE TALES -2020 WHITE MANSIONS  and THE JESSE JAMES STORY 2cd.

It was Waylon Jennings’ “Let’s All Help The Cowboys Sing The Blues,” and it changed his life. Two years later he would release one of country music’s most compelling, yet most overlooked concept albums with none other than Waylon Jennings himself in a lead role. Waylon’s wife Jessi Colter, along Waylon Jennings  members of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Bearnie Leadon of the Eagles and Eric Clapton contributed the guitar work also came along for the ride, telling the story of the South during the Civil War through the perspective of four white Southerners.

White Mansions couldn’t be made today. That’s one of many reasons it’s so remarkable and such a country music treasure.

This pair of concept albums was the late-1970s work of an Englishman named Paul Kennerley. Captivated by the voice of Waylon Jennings, Kennerley grew obsessed with images of the American South in the Civil War. He wrote the Civil War song cycle “White Mansions” and leveraged a friendship with Rolling Stones producer Glyn Johns to pull together an incredible cast to bring it to life .The voices of Levon Helm as Jesse, Johnny Cash as Frank James, Charlie Daniels as Cole Younger and Emmylou Harris as Jesse’s wife Zee Mimms.

TOO OLD