''A Man Called Hoss'' is a concept album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

artist

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

, released on

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

Background

It is a quasi-autobiographical record which chronicles Jennings' life and experiences in ten "chapters", each of which corresponds to a single track on the album; the titles of these chapters are: "Childhood", "Texas", "First Love", "Lost Love", "

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

", "Crazies", "Drugs", "

Jessi Jessi may refer to: People * Jessi (musician) (born 1988), Korean-American rapper, singer, and songwriter * Gianluigi Jessi (born 1945), Italian basketball player * Jessi Alexander (born 1976), American country music artist * Jessi Colter (bo ...

", "Reflections" and "The Beginning". Each song was written in collaboration with Roger Murrah, who is given credit on the album's cover. "Rough and Rowdy Days" was Jennings' second-to-last top ten single, reaching #6 on the country charts. The album itself peaked at #22. He later recalled, "Somebody talked me into doing a narration between the cuts, and I've regretted that part of the album, though it remains one of my favourite records. If you have to tell somebody the story as you're singing it, you don't have faith in the power of the songs, and the songs didn't need any extra help." Jennings performed the album as a one-man show in California and at Duke University.

Track listing

All tracks written by Waylon Jennings and Roger Murrah. #"Prologue" – 3:36 #Chapter One – Childhood: "Littlefield" – 2:11 #Chapter Two – Texas: "You'll Never Take Texas Out of Me" – 2:58 #Chapter Three – First Love: "You Went Out with Rock and Roll" – 2:21 #Chapter Four – Lost Love: "A Love Song (I Can't Sing Anymore)" – 2:39 #Chapter Five – Nashville: " If Ole Hank Could Only See Us Now" – 2:53 #Chapter Six – Crazies: " Rough and Rowdy Days" – 2:35 #Chapter Seven – Drugs: "I'm Living Proof (There's Life After You)" – 3:17 #Chapter Eight – Jessi: "You Deserve the Stars in My Crown" – 2:44 #Chapter Nine – Reflections: "Turn It All Around" – 2:24 #Chapter Ten – The Beginning: "Where Do We Go from Here" – 4:51

Personnel

*Waylon Jennings - vocals, electric guitar, backing vocals *

Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), better known by the stage name Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listene ...

Eddie Bayers Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...

- drums *Jerry Bridges - bass guitar * John Jarvis,

Matt Rollings Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer. Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...

, Barry Walsh - piano *

Billy Joe Walker Jr. Billy Joe Walker Jr. (February 29, 1952 – July 25, 2017) was an American songwriter, record producer and recording artist. He composed singles for Eddie Rabbitt, including "I Wanna Dance with You", "That's Why I Fell in Love with You" and "B- ...

, Gary Scruggs - acoustic guitar *

Reggie Young Reggie Grimes Young Jr. (December 12, 1936 – January 17, 2019) was an American musician who was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studio house band, The Memphis Boys, and was a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with ...

, Gary Scruggs - electric guitar *Mike Lawler - synthesizer *Larrie Londin - percussion *

Ralph Mooney Ralph Mooney (September 16, 1928 – March 20, 2011) was an American steel guitar player and was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Haggard's band, the Strangers. A native of Duncan, Okl ...

- steel guitar *

Mark O'Connor Mark O'Connor (born August 5, 1961) is an American fiddle player and composer whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he has won six Country Music Association Musician Of The Year award ...

- fiddle, viola *

Jim Horn James Ronald Horn (born November 20, 1940) is an American saxophonist, woodwind player, and session musician. Biography Horn was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for ...

, George Tidwell - trumpet *Quitman Dennis - tenor saxophone *Jim Horn - baritone and alto saxophone *Dennis Good - trombone ;Technical *Producer:

Jimmy Bowen James Albert Bowen (born November 30, 1937) is an American record producer and former rockabilly singer. Bowen brought Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood together, and introduced Sinatra to Mel Tillis for their album, ''Mel & Nancy.'' Early l ...

, Waylon Jennings *Art direction: Simon Levy *Cover photography: Matt Barnes

Chart performance

References

;Sources * Waylon Jennings albums 1987 albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Jimmy Bowen {{1980s-country-album-stub