Dreaming My Dreams
As Jennings introduces the live take of "Bob Willsis Still the King" that closes this otherwise studio-bound album, one rowdy audience member yells a drunken affirmation. Or maybe something else, given that Jennings breaks off mid-sentence, seemingly ready to leap into the crowd and open a Texas-size can of whup-ass on the guy. That he doesn't--and gives a smoking read of the song instead--is emblematic of the success of 1975'sDreaming My Dreams. Not yet having succumbed to the overblown boasts of "I've Always Been Crazy" that sold millions of records later in the decade, he's content here to wryly look askance at the Nashville establishment and his reputation as an "outlaw" and sing a couple of sweet love songs, all while playing plenty of tasty rhythm guitar. A keeper, and one of the most welcome CD reissues in years. (The 2001 reissue adds two bonus tracks from the filmMackintosh & T.J..)--Rickey Wright