Walyon Jennings –like all artists in the 1960s-1970s– was releasing albums at a pace of 3-4 per year and as such, this recalled for the artist to record ‘cover’ tunes of songs from other genres or the hits of the not so recent past. Two albums from 1967 and 1968 (Love of the Common People & Hangin’ On) are included in this one disc deluxe re-issue (along with expert liner notes from Colin Escott).  The first of the albums,  Love of the Common People features Waylon’s version of the Beatles “you’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” and Sonny Curtis’ “Destiny’s Child.” Along with a 1966 recording of Mel Tillis’ classic “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town.”  The latter song’s inclusion is interesting because it didn’t become a hit for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition until 1969.  Waylon also has an old ‘almost-hit’ on this record as Frankie Miller had cut his own “Young Widow Brown” in 1958 but it never became a big hit and then George Jones promised to record the song as a single.  Unfortunately, he didn’t.  Still, Waylon records it here and it comes off as a great country tune.  A couple of other strong tracks on the 12-track Love of the Common People are the Harlan Howard/Freddie Hart-penned “If The Shoe Fits” and “Two Streaks of Steel.”

Hangin’ On starts off with a cover of Roy Orbison’s “The Crowd” and the title track was actually on the Love of the Common People album.  Bobby Bare’s “Woman, Don’t You Ever Laugh At Me” is a standout track as is Waylon’s version of John Hartford’s “Gentle On My Mind,” a song that went to the top of the charts in the hands of Glen Campbell.  Roger Miller’s “Lock, Stock and Teardrops,” a small hit for him in 1963 is on this record as well.  These songs all speak to Waylon’s ability to smell out a hit.  One of the biggest hits of Waylon’s early career was “The Chokin’ Kind,” and it was the second Top 10 hit of his career.  The song has since become an R&B staple that has been recorded by the likes of Joe Simon, and more recently, Joss Stone. 

These two albums, like Folk Country/Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan showoff a burgeoning singer/songwriter who was working as well as he could within the Nashville Studio system.  While he would ultimately lead ‘the outlaws’ in the 1970s outside of the system, Love of the Common People/Hangin’ On shows off a mighty talented artist in the early stages of his career.