Country great Waylon Jennings dies

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - Despite the black cowboy hat and bad-guy image, country star Waylon Jennings was known as a stand-up guy. But when it came to his songs, it was a different story. <br> <br> ``You start messin&#39; with my music, and I get mean,&#39;&#39; he told The Associated Press in 1992. ``As long as you are honest and upfront with me, I will be the same with you. But I still do things my way.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Jennings died peacefully Wednesday at his Arizona home after a long battle with diabetes-related health problems, said spokeswoman Schatzie Hageman. He was 64. <br> <br> ``Waylon Jennings was an American archetype, the bad guy with a big heart,&#39;&#39; said Kris Kristofferson, who sang with Jennings in the Highwaymen along with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. <br> <br> Jennings&#39; list of hits spans four decades and includes country music standards like ``Good-Hearted Woman&#39;&#39; and ``Mammas Don&#39;t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,&#39;&#39; both duets with Nelson. <br> <br> He made 60 albums and had 16 country singles that reached No. 1. His ``Greatest Hits&#39;&#39; album in 1979 sold 4 million - a rare accomplishment in country music for that era. <br> <br> Jennings won two Grammy awards and four Country Music Association awards. Other hits include ``I&#39;m a Ramblin&#39; Man,&#39;&#39; ``Amanda,&#39;&#39; ``Lucille,&#39;&#39; ``I&#39;ve Always Been Crazy&#39;&#39; and ``Rose in Paradise.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Singer George Jones called it a ``great loss for country music.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Jennings&#39; deep, sonorous voice was unmistakable. He narrated the popular TV show ``The Dukes of Hazzard&#39;&#39; and sang its theme song, which was a million seller. <br> <br> Jennings ``had a voice and a way with a song like no one else,&#39;&#39; said country star Emmylou Harris, adding ``He was also a class act as an artist and a man.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Jennings had been plagued with health problems in recent years that made it difficult for him to walk. In December, his left foot was amputated. <br> <br> He traditionally wore a black cowboy hat and ebony attire that accented his black beard and mustache. Often reclusive when not on stage, he played earthy music with a spirited, hard edge. <br> <br> Some of Jennings&#39; album titles nourished his brash persona: ``Lonesome, On&#39;ry and Mean,&#39;&#39; ``I&#39;ve Always Been Crazy,&#39;&#39; ``Nashville Rebel,&#39;&#39; ``Ladies Love Outlaws&#39;&#39; and ``Wanted: The Outlaws.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He often refused to attend music awards shows on the grounds that performers shouldn&#39;t compete against each other. He didn&#39;t show up at his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame last year. <br> <br> ``Whenever country music got a little too impressed with itself, Waylon was there to let them know what the music&#39;s roots were. He was very uncompromising about that,&#39;&#39; said Lenny Kaye, a guitarist with the Patti Smith Group who helped Jennings write his 1996 autobiography. <br> <br> In 1992, Jennings told the AP: ``I&#39;ve never compromised, and people respect that.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He made occasional forays into TV movies, including ``Stagecoach&#39;&#39; and ``Oklahoma City Dolls,&#39;&#39; plus the Sesame Street movie ``Follow That Bird&#39;&#39; and the B-movie ``Nashville Rebel.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Born in Littlefield, Texas, Jennings became a radio disc jockey at 14 and formed his own band not long afterward. His hit records began in the mid-1960s and his heyday was the mid-1970s. <br> <br> In 1959, Jennings&#39; career was nearly cut short by tragedy soon after it began. <br> <br> He was scheduled to fly on the light plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. ``The Big Bopper&#39;&#39; Richardson. Jennings gave up his seat on the plane to Richardson, who was ill and wanted to fly rather than travel by bus with those left behind. <br> <br> When a plane crash killed seven members of singer Reba McEntire&#39;s band in 1991, Jennings was one of the first to call her. <br> <br> ``I told her there&#39;s one thing you&#39;re going to have to deal with. And that&#39;s thinking it was your fault,&#39;&#39; he told the AP in 1992. ``As a young man at that time, I thought it was my fault. I felt guilty and I couldn&#39;t get it out of my mind for years.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> For musician Rodney Crowell, that was typical Jennings. <br> <br> ``For all of Waylon&#39;s tough stuff, he had such a tender heart. He was such a sweet soul,&#39;&#39; Crowell said.