Highwaymen Part 2

Disc 1
1. "Highwayman" (J.Webb)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
2. "Silver Stallion" (L.Clayton)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
3. "The Greatest Cowboy Of Them All Johnny Cash" (Cash)
Cash & Waylon
4. "Take It To The Limit" (Meisner,Henley,Frey)
Willie & Waylon
5. "Help Me Make It Through The Night" (Kris)
Willie Nelson
6. "The Taker" (Kris,S.Silverstein)
Waylon Jennings
7. "Just To Satisfy You" (Bowman, Jennings)
Waylon & Willie
8. "Moment Of Forever" (Kris,D.Timms)
Willie Nelson
9. "Eye Of The Storm" (Kris)
Willie & Kris
10. "The Pilgrim: Chapter 33" (Kris)
Kris Kristofferson
11. "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down" (Kris)
Johnny Cash
12. "Casey's Last Ride" (Kris)
Kris & Willie
13. "Born And Raised In Black And White" (D.Cook,J.Jarvis)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
14. "The Devil's Right Hand The Highwaymen" (S.Earle)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
15. "There Ain't No Good Chain Gang" (H.Bynum,D.Kirby)
Cash & Waylon
16. "The Road Goes On Forever" (R.E.Keen)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
17. "I Wish I Was Crazy Again" (B.Mcdill)
Cash & Waylon
18. "Desperado's Waiting For A Train" (G.Clark)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris

Disc 2
1. "Good Hearted Woman" (Waylon,Nelson)
Waylon & Willie
2. "A Backstage Pass" (Cash)
Johnny Cash
3. "How Do You Feel About Fooling' Around" (Kris,S.Bruton,M.Utley)
Willie & Kris
4. "Luckenbach, Texas" (B.Emmons,C.Moman)
Waylon & Willie
5. "The Night Hank Williams Came To Town" (B.Braddock,C.Williams)
Cash & Waylon
6. "If You Don't Like Hank Williams" (Kris)
Kris Kristofferson
7. "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" (Jennings)
Waylon Jennings
8. "Big River" (Cash)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
9. "Deportee" (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) (Guthrie)
Cash, Nelson, Rodriguez
10. "Me And Bobby McGee" (Kris,F.Foster)
Kris Kristofferson
11. "The Last Cowboy Song" (E.Bruce,R.Peterson)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
12. "Mamma's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"(E.Bruce,R.Peterson)
Waylon & Willie
13. "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" (R.Crowell)
Cash & Waylon
14. "Nowhere Road" (S.Earle,R.Kling)
Waylon & Willie
15. "It Is What It Is" (S.Burton,J.Fleming)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
16. "Living Legend" (Kris)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris
17. "Love Is The Way" (Kris)
Cash & Jennings
18. "Live Forever" (B.J.Shaver,E.Shaver)
Waylon, Willie, Cash, Kris

Welcome back, The Essential Highwaymen is the last album in the Highwaymen discography. It was released just this year, and is a two disc collection of 36 songs. When I first heard of this collection I assumed it would just be a deluxe version of Super Hits and therefore unneeded since I own the three Highwayman albums. At glance of the track listings though instantly changed my unenthusiasm for this project. Thankfully Columbia was not simply repackaging the Highwaymen tracks (Combining the three albums there are only 31 Highwayman tracks, combining the one bonus track and the demos from The Road Goes On Forever re-release would bring the number up to 37), instead they were expanding the Highwaymen's legacy beyond their three albums. On The Essential Highwaymen, we get a greater understanding of the group: their heroes, their separate journeys, their previous collaborations, and their incredible respect for each other. Columbia did a fine job here (I obviously went out and bought this album) combining obvious tracks we've all heard a million times (still great though), deep cuts, and a few tracks that I have never ever heard before. Let's take a deeper look at this collection.


Highwayman Tracks
There are 12 Highwayman tracks on this collection, 11 of which have all four members singing together. The other is Willie and Cash singing "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" with Johnny Rodriguez.
5 tracks come from Highwayman
3 tracks come from Highwayman 2
4 tracks come from The Road Goes On Forever
The first album (easily the most successful) gets the most love here, and all four tracks from that album that feature all four men appear. Their last album gets the second most appearances, undoubtedly because of the amazing quartet moments that album contains.



Duets
One of the cool things about this collection is the duets on it outside of the Highwayman discs. These guys were all friends and collaborate dozens of times before forming a group. Here is a break down of the duet match ups:
Willie: w/Waylon(6) w/Cash (1) w/Kris (3) overall(10)
Waylon: w/Willie (6) w/Cash (6) w/Kris (0) overall(12)
Cash: w/Willie (1) w/Waylon (6) w/Kris (0) overall(7)
Kris: w/Willie (3) w/Waylon (0) w/Cash (0) overall(3)
As you can see Waylon wins the duet crown, beating out a close Willie Nelson by two. Though oddly not first in the duet department, Willie does have the distinction on this disc of being the only Highwayman to duet a song with each of the other three members.
Cash pulls in a decent seven, dueting almost completely with Waylon, it might of been a good idea to include another Willie/Cash duet; perhaps "Like A Soldier" an excellent song from Johnny's unearthed box set (though it being on another label might have squashed it's chances). Sadly Kris Kristofferson only pulls in three duets, all with Willie Nelson. It would have been nice to see some duets with Kris and Waylon, or Cash, but in the limited research I conducted, none were easily found.

Solo
Outside of quartets and duets, the album also features several solo numbers by each of the Highwaymen.
Willie: 2
Waylon: 2
Cash: 2
Kris: 3
Kris gets a little edge in the solo department, but otherwise it's pretty evenly split. Willie is the only Highwayman not to sing one of his own compositions (both solo songs he sings were written by Kris), but he is only Highwayman to appear on a track recorded in this century; "Moment of Forever" from Willie's 2007 album of the same name. Waylon and Cash each sing one of their own songs, and one by Kris, while Kris wrote all three of his own solo performances. Probably could have cut one of these Kris songs. Johnny has a really fun solo on the compilation with "Live Pass". It's Cash's impression of the many different characters backstage at a Willie Nelson concert, and he name checks all the Highwaymen (and David Allan Coe).

Overall
He's the break down for each Highwayman's vocal appearance on this compilation.
Willie: 23
Waylon: 25
Cash: 20
Kris: 17
Waylon narrowly edges out Willie for the top spot again, and Kris is the only member to vocally appear on less than half of the album (maybe we should leave that third solo song in).

For Hank
Willie, Waylon, Johnny, and Kris have always given respect and admiration to the artist that came before them. On Disc 2 we see some of that respect with three songs giving respect to perhaps the greatest Country Music star of all time, Hank Williams. Waylon sings his epic "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" and than duets with Johnny on "The Night Hank Williams Came To Town." Kris offers goes solo on "If You Don't Like Hank Williams", a song that additionally pays respects to his fellow Highwaymen as well as Dylan, John Prine, and Jerry Jeff Walker. Willie is the only member absent from this tribute, but he definitely does love the music of Hank Williams; at his concert last week he covered three Hank Williams' songs. Hank Williams is also mentioned in the chorus to "Luckenbach Texas" a duet by Waylon and Willie.

Songwriting
18 of the 36 tracks included on this album were written by one or more of the Highwaymen, giving a wonderful overall balance of half songs brought to the table by members themselves and half written by outside writers. The Highwaymen were not like other groups, they did not all get together and write any songs, instead they picked through great songs by other artist and offered up a few of there own. The songwriting credits to each member on this compilation breaks down to:
Willie- 1
Waylon- 3
Cash- 2
Kris- 12
To many, Kris is often viewed as the weakest member of the Highwaymen and it is true that he has had the least commercially successful singing career. That being said, only a fool would think Kris is unworthy of this group, and though he showed some short numbers in previous catagories here Mr. Kristofferson really flexes his muscle. In song writing credits, Kris quadruples the numbers put up by second place Waylon Jennings. Adding to his impressive 12 writing credits, Kris also wrote at least one song for every singer combination this collection offers. He wrote all three of his own solo contributions, he wrote both of Willie's, and one for both Waylon and Johnny. He also wrote all three duets he does with Willie, one of the Johnny and Waylon duets, as well as one of the Highwayman songs featuring all four singers. Kris might not have the tall status or standout vocals of his fellow legends, but he is undoubtedly the lead songwriter in the bunch. Cash is the only other Highwayman to have all four men sing on one of his songs on this compilation, and sadly Willie's only writing contribution comes from co-writing "Good Hearted Woman" with Waylon.



Overall this is a great CD well worth your money even if you do own the three Highwaymen albums. I never get tired of hearing the amazing tunes these legends cranked out over their amazing careers (sadly Waylon and Johnny are no longer with us).