On Tuesday, September 1, 1998, I talked to the OLD DOGS (Waylon, Bobby Bare, Mel Tillis, and Jerry Reed) in country.com's chat auditorium. They had over 200 questions, so I was lucky to get one answer from three Old Dogs! Waylon said that he and Willie will be recording a new CD together, Mark Knopfler may produce. Jerry recorded a new CD called "Pickin'", it's half instrumental, and will be out soon. Waylon said he liked the Twisted Willie CD (a tribute to Nelson, he sang two songs on it), and the song he recorded with the group Ol' 97s will be on their next CD. When asked what they hadn't done that they would like to do, Waylon said record with B.B. King or some other blues great; Mel would like to pay for his theatre in Branson; Jerry Reed would like to catch a 7 lb. small mouth bass; Bare would like to get his first platinum CD, then go fishing. Asked what CD they'd take to a deserted island, Bare said Joe South, Tillis said Hank Williams, Reed said Chet Atkins, Waylon said Mike and the Mechanics (a joke I suspect). Bobby Bare said they'd rather be called Young Studs than Old Dogs but that ain't gonna happen, and said that anyone in the business who can help aspiring young singers and writers get started should do so. Mel has recorded a song with daughter Pam, stopped smoking cigars last year, and exercises alot. Asked about autobiographies, Bare and Reed said they don't want to write one, Waylon joked that he might write one about them all! Bobby says all the Dogs' wives think they are funny and laugh at their jokes; Tillis says his wife won't let him go out with the other three all at once; Waylon says Jessi is glad when he has somewhere to go other than home. When asked about the song they'd written or recorded that they were most proud of...Waylon said Dreaming my Dreams and I do Believe. Tillis said Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town and Life Turned Her That Way. Bare said Detroit City and Singing In The Kitchen. Reed said Eastbound and Down and Thing Called Love. Waylon said the most bizzare thing he'd ever seen was a comet, viewed from Arizona where "it looked like you could reach up and grab it, it was so big and close!" Here's the questions I asked that got answered; MS: Waylon, you still play pool? WJ: I haven't played for 10 years, but I once beat Minnesota Fats, got the tape to prove it. I asked him how he got his nickname, he said he beat two guys from Minnesota! MS: Bare, any good fishing with Waylon stories, other than the one where you caught his wife's wig? BB: That was the first and last time I ever fished with Waylon. We had spring lizards for bait, and when Waylon stuck his hand in the bucket, he thought they were snakes! MS: Reed, still good friends with Burt Reynolds, and gonna act with him again? JR: Yes and dont know. (Jerry does have a movie coming out next year with Adam Sandler). After the chat, the Old Dogs performed on Prime Time Country on TNN, and were great and nutty as always. Waylon was playing acoustic guitar! Good to see he's playing again. Order Old Dogs CDs at 1-800-258-7200 or 1-877-OLD DOGS.
On Friday, July 31, 1998, I talked to Waylon in his chatroom again. We had a good crowd of chatters. Waylon is feeling great, but still needs his cane occassionally. He said there wil probably be a video for "Old Dogs" that the "Old Dogs" guitar pull concert should be on TNN soon, that his favorite actors are Robert Duvall, Wesley Snipes, Morgan Freeman, and Gene Hackman; he said that Shooter (his son) influences his musical interests, that he enjoys Shooter's music, and that he didn't want Shooter getting into the music business at first, but decided that he should do whatever he felt his calling was, plus Waylon wants Shooter to take care of him in his old age. :-)>> Waylon and Shooter may record together someday. Waylon and Willie might record together again soon. Waylon said he rarely listens to his own music, but likes blues and any music done well. His favorite sports are boxing and football (Dallas Cowboys), he would like to have dinner with Andrew Jackson, and prefers LPs to CDs ("CDs are too hard").Waylon also told us that his name means "High Soaring Eagle", ain't it true! Here's some of my Q & A; MS:got any bad habits? WJ;talking to computers. MS; still play pinball? WJ; No. MS; if you hadn't been married while doing The Dukes of Hazzard, would you and Daisy have gotten together? WJ; you bet your sweet ass! MS; when were you trying to be sexy, and do you think you ever succeeded? (a reference to something he says on CLOSING IN) WJ; call your mother and ask her! MS; Will we know ahead of time when your episode of "Angry Beavers" will be on Nickelodeon? WJ; yes, I'll try to let you know. MS; did you inspire Metallica's song "Wasting My Hate"? WJ; yes I did. Thanks Waylon and Shooter!! The OLD DOGS (Waylon, Bobby Bare, Jerry Reed, & Mel Tillis) appeared on Prime Time Country on July 20th, and did a great show. Their 2 cd set is available for $25, plus S&H at 1-877-OLD-DOGS. Shel Silverstein wrote the album. It's Hilarious. Waylon's great new CD, "CLOSING IN ON THE FIRE" is out. see my review of it (link from main page). waylon.com is back up and looking great. Good work, Shooter! I talked to Shooter twice the week of July 6. He says "CLOSING IN ON THE FIRE" is selling well, Waylon is in PERFECT health, and Waylon will probably chat with us soon to celebrate the Grand Re-opening of waylon.com . On Saturday, May 2, 1998, I talked to Waylon and his son, Shooter in their chatroom again. Waylon told me that he feels much, much, much better; that "Old Dogs" will probably be out in late June (it has 21 songs!); "Closing in on the Fire" will definately be out June 16th.; and that he recently taped an episode of Nickelodeon's cartoon "Angry Beavers" (that should air in a few months). Here's some Q & A from that chat; MS; I hear Jessi's a good cook, what's your favorite meal she cooks? WJ; Jessi's a great cook! She makes sausage gravy and cheese eggs that are out of this world. MS; Many people wonder why you're selling the cars? (his General Lee and a cadillac) WJ; Classic cars need a lot of time and tinkering, I don't have the time to keep them from rusting away. MS; Do you do the typing on these chats? WJ; If I tried to type, I'd probably start World War 3. My partner in crime, Shooter, types for me. MS; Is your barbeque sauce still available? WJ; yes, on the west coast or by mail. (Waylon's West Texas Style Barbeque Sauce is great, and can be ordered at ; Waylon's Barbeque Sauce, San Juan Crate and Packing, PO Box 392, San Juan Bautista, CA. 95045. This is NOT a paid ad, just a personal endorsement! BIRTHDAYS...Shooter turns 20 on May 19. Waylon will be 61 on June 15. Some cool Waylon news...Waylon has "cameos" in two current movies...in Robert Duvall's "THE APOSTLE", two Waylon posters are seen on the wall of the radio station where Duvall's character works. And in "SPECIES 2", the alien clone, Eve loves to watch "Dukes of Hazzard", and we see a clip from the show with a Waylon quip about them Duke boys!!
On Feb. 11, 1998, I talked to Waylon and his son, Shooter on Waylon's
website chatroom (http://www.waylon.com) . He told me that he is doing
much better since his light stroke, is not retiring from recording or
performing, and is "On my way back, so the world had better watch out!"
The "Old Dogs" cd, with Bobby Bare, Mel Tillis, and Jerry Reed should
be out in April. Waylon's next solo cd "Closing in on Fire" is due on
June 16 (the day after Waylon's 61st. birthday!). some conversation
highlights...MS; do you have any advice for a wannabe songwriter? WJ:
write some songs! MS; still got your gold caddy? WJ: No. MS; if you
run for president, which party would you join? WJ: I'd join any PARTY!
MS: Has George Jones thrown anything at you lately? WJ: He don't
know where I live! MS;gonna do any more acting? WJ; not if I can help it.
Who's more modest, you or Hank jr.? WJ; Mike, who let you in here?
*
On March 25, I talked to Waylon on his chatroom again. He mentioned his
recent illness, thanked fans for our prayers and concern, and said that
he was nearly back to normal and would be completely better very soon.
He told me that he wrote 6 of the songs for "Closing in on the Fire",
that "Old Dogs" is mostly quartet performances, but includes some solo
songs from each of the four (Waylon, Bare, Tillis, Reed), and that Shel
Silverstein wrote all of "Old Dogs." Waylon said that his favorite new
hobby is the internet (especially talking to fans), that his favorite
recreation is chasing Jessi, that he ad-libbed alot of the stuff he said
on "The Dukes of Hazzard", he still has his General Lee car, would like to
record with Fats Domino and ZZ Top, that there will be a video accompanying
"Old Dogs", and that he will be promoting "Closing in..." on Leno,
Letterman, etc. Waylon hasn't ruled out anything, including touring,
tv appearances, and recording with Willie.
George Jones new CD, "It don't get any better than this" is very good.
The title cut includes guest vocals by WAYLON, Willie, Johnny Cash,
Merle Haggard, and Bobby Bare.
Mike's NEWS page links