John Lennon was a Waylon Jennings Fan

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I mentioned to a few people that if John Lennon were still living on the upper west side, I would have invited him to the earbender meet up, to help pump up the Waylon Jennings vibe.  Someone (thankfully) asked me what the connection between the Beatle and the outlaw country icon was, and I explained that I read about it in Waylon: An Autobiography.  In the book, co-written written with Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye, a few letters from John Lennon are re-printed (right).   

Waylon Jennings was a member of Buddy Holly‘s band The Crickets, so it’s easy to see why Lennon would have been very tuned in to his solo career in the 70s.  The name “The Beatles” was inspired by The Crickets (along with most everything else about their early music).  Paul McCartney reminds us in a recent Rolling Stone article that the first recording he George and John made was of a Buddy Holly song (“That’ll Be the Day”).

John Lennon met him backstage in New York, as described in the letter (courtesy Amazon’s “look inside” page).  There are a million great stories in Waylon, An Autobiography, and I recommend it heartily.  As Waylon said about a harrowing episode in which he and the Waylors dug their RV out of the snow in Montana, with the spinning drive axle inches from his head, “at least we were in show business”!

The first earbender meet up will take place on Tuesday January 27th at the Emerald Inn on 69th and Columbus Ave. New York City, between 7 and 10pm.  We will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Waylon’s debut as “Balladeer” on The Dukes of Hazzard television program and newsman/blogger Dan Patterson‘s 29th with prizes courtesy of SonyBMG Legacy.