Highwayman (song)
Highwayman is a song by the American singer-songwriter Jimmy Webb . It's about four incarnations of the same person in different places and times in history: as a highwayman (English: Highwayman ), sailor , working on a dam and spacemen . Webb first released the song in May 1977 on his album El Mirage . The following year Glen Campbell recorded a cover version of the piece, which appeared on his 1979 album Highwayman . In 1985, the song becoming named was Country - supergroup The Highwaymen , to which Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings , Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson merged. Their version of the song was a number one hit in the charts of the Billboard Hot Country Songs and won in 1986 a Grammy Award in the category Best Country Song . Since then, the song has been recorded by various other musicians.
Emergence
According to Jimmy Webb, he wrote the song in London while finalizing his album El Mirage . After a night of partying with his friend Harry Nilsson , he had an "incredibly vivid dream" in his sleep:
“I had an old brace of pistols in my belt and I was riding, hell-bent for leather, down these country roads, with sweat pouring off of my body. I was terrified because I was being pursued by police, who were on the verge of shooting me. It was very real. I sat up in bed, sweating through my pajamas. Without even thinking about it, I stumbled out of bed to the piano and started playing "Highwayman." Within a couple of hours, I had the first verse. "
“I wore a belt with old pistols and rode at tremendous speed and covered in sweat on country roads. I was scared because I was being followed by police officers who were about to shoot me. It was very real. I sat up in my bed with my pajamas soaked in sweat. Without thinking about it, I stumbled out of bed to the piano and started playing Highwayman . I had the first verse within a few hours. "
Nilsson criticized the linguistically awkward “I did ride” instead of “I rode”, but Webb found it a fitting old-fashioned way of speaking. Without knowing exactly where the song would lead him, Webb realized that the Highwayman character would not die, but would be reborn. From this idea three more stanzas developed. In the second stanza he becomes a seafarer, in the third the worker at a dam. The song refers to the construction of the Hoover Dam , in which numerous workers were killed. The fourth stanza is set in the future tense and describes how, as a spaceman, he will fly beyond the boundaries of the universe.
Jimmy Webb's versions
Webb's version of the song was released on his album El Mirage in May 1977 . In later years he recorded different versions of the piece: a new version on his album Ten Easy Pieces in 1996 , a live recording on Live and at Large in 2007 and a duet with Mark Knopfler on Just Across the River in 2010 .
Glen Campbell's version
Glen Campbell , a close friend of Webb, asked permission to record his song. He wanted to make it the first single release and the title track of his new album, but his record company Capitol Records turned it down because they wanted to order Campbell a different artistic direction in the style of the group The Knack . Campell fell out with his record label, which he left after working together for 17 years. Campbell finally released Highwayman in October 1979 on his album of the same name.
The Highwaymens version
In the early 1980s, Webb Highwayman offered Waylon Jennings , but he could not do anything with the title at the time. When Johnny Cash , Willie Nelson , Kris Kristofferson and Jennings met in November 1984 to shoot a CBS Christmas special in Montreux, Switzerland , the idea for a joint project soon arose. On their return to Nashville , however, joint recordings did not make good progress because the voices of the four singers turned out to be too different for duets. Finally, Carl Jackson, the longtime bassist of Glen Campbell, Marty Stuart suggested the song Highwayman again . Stuart immediately saw how well the song, and especially the last verse, would go with Cash. It also offered its own verse for each band member. The title of the song not only became the title of the first album of the newly formed supergroup, it also inspired their name The Highwaymen , in which all four band members recognized themselves because they spent a lot of time on highways on their tours and all four in the genre of country Music of the outlaw movement was named after the English word outlaw for outlaws .
In the Highwaymen version , each verse is interpreted by a different singer: First Nelson plays the highwayman, then Kristofferson the sailor, then Jennings the dam builder and finally Cash the spaceman. In the accompanying music video, actors re-enact the content of the song, including the death of the first three reincarnations. At the end of each stanza, the respective singer is briefly faded in in the sky. According to Michael Streissguth, the first and last verses stand out, while the middle ones only "keep the song going". Willie Nelson's simultaneously smooth and weathered voice call an authentic Western - Desperado forth while Cash's interpretation of the song mitgebe enough momentum for the final intergalactic incarnation. Laughing, Webb commented, "I don't know how they decided who did which verse, but Johnny ended up being like God singing your song."
The cover of Highwayman became the most successful song and the only number one hit of the Highwaymen . The song entered Billboard magazine's Hot Country Songs music chart on May 18, 1985 , peaked at number one on August 17, and stayed in the charts for a total of 20 weeks. At the 1985 Academy of Country Music Awards , the Highwaymen's version was named Single Of The Year . At the 1986 Grammy Awards she received the Grammy Award for Best Country Song .
Other versions
In addition, was Highwayman also recorded by several other artists. The Norwegian folk singer Finn Kalvik brought out a translation under the title Fredløs on his album Natt og dag in 1981 . The Irish folk musicians Makem and Clancy coverten the song on their album We've Come a Long Way from 1986. The Finnish rock musician Pate Mustajärvi played in 2000 a Finnish version on his album Ukkometso one. The band Arbouretum covered the song on their album The Gathering from 2011. The Canadian band Walk off the Earth interpreted the song on their album Vol 1 in 2012 . Jake Smith aka The White Buffalo covered the song in 2013. The heavy metal band Iced Earth sang the song on their 2014 album Plagues of Babylon, modeled on the Highwaymen, also with four different interpreters. British guitarist and singer Albert Lee regularly plays the song live as a piano ballad. It can be found on several of his live albums (e.g. Live at the Iridium , 2014).
In 2019 a group of female country and folk musicians ( Brandi Carlile , Amanda Shires , Natalie Hemby , Maren Morris ) recorded the song from a female perspective. Central topics are here u. a. the contra war , the witch hunt in Salem and the Freedom Ride . The band name The Highwomen is also based on the name of the group The Highwaymen .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Lydia Hutchinson: Jimmy Webb's Story Behind The Highwayman . In: Performing Songwriter , August 15, 2012.
- ↑ Joseph Hudak: Flashback: See the Highwaymen Perform Their Signature Hit . In: Rolling Stone of March 3, 2015.
- ↑ Chris Gray: Jimmy Webb Sheds New Light on "Galveston" and Other Classics . In: Houston Press, April 29, 2016.
- ↑ Bob More: Glen Campbell: Casting Rhinestones . In magnet .
- ^ Hawkeye Hurst: Waylon and Johnny Walk the Straight and Narrow Together . In: Orlando Sentinel, July 21, 1985.
- ↑ a b Michael Streissguth: Johnny Cash. A Biography , Da Capo, Philadelphia 2006, ISBN 978-0-306-81591-1 , Chapter 15: Branson .
- ↑ Hawkeye Hurst: Marty Stuart Has Come A Long Way To Just Now Be Arriving . In: Orlando Sentinel June 15, 1986.
- ^ Mary Campbell / Associated Press: Country Outlaws The Highwaymen Cash, Nelson, Jennings And Kristofferson Are On The Road Again . In: The Spokesman Review of June 7, 1995.
- ^ Highwayman on Johnny Cash's YouTube channel.
- ^ Highwayman in the Hot Country Songs on Billboard .
- ↑ 28th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1985) at the Grammy Awards .