I love this song but it is a little out of kilter in a couple of ways. As far as the road life and drug use, yes Hank did do it that way. He suffered from partial spina bifida so he was in pain most of his waking hours. He self-medicated just to keep playing music and it ultimately cost him his life. From what I have read of Waylon and the other seminal Outlaw Country artists is that what they didn't like was the "Nashville Sound" and the Nashville system. The powers that be in Music City in the 60's and 70's were ashamed of their hillbilly roots and did everything they could to make Country Music palatable to more sophisticated tastes. If that meant adding strings and horns and stripping away the soul of a song, so be it. There was also the studio system. Very few band members were heard on their own albums. There was of course the "A Team" and many other notable studio musicians who stood in for road bands in the studio. So, Waylon had his criticisms of Music City but he didn't exactly voice them in this song. By the way, I grew up in Nashville, born in 1954, and I am a musician.
I love this song but it is a little out of kilter in a couple of ways. As far as the road life and drug use, yes Hank did do it that way. He suffered from partial spina bifida so he was in pain most of his waking hours. He self-medicated just to keep playing music and it ultimately cost him his life. From what I have read of Waylon and the other seminal Outlaw Country artists is that what they didn't like was the "Nashville Sound" and the Nashville system. The powers that be in Music City in the 60's and 70's were ashamed of their hillbilly roots and did everything they could to make Country Music palatable to more sophisticated tastes. If that meant adding strings and horns and stripping away the soul of a song, so be it. There was also the studio system. Very few band members were heard on their own albums. There was of course the "A Team" and many other notable studio musicians who stood in for road bands in the studio. So, Waylon had his criticisms of Music City but he didn't exactly voice them in this song. By the way, I grew up in Nashville, born in 1954, and I am a musician.