Hear a Rare Recording of Waylon Jennings at Age 18 – “Slippin’ and Slidin’” (Live Radio Show, 1956)
Long before he became the rugged voice of outlaw country, before the leather vest and the battle with Nashville’s establishment, an 18-year-old Waylon Jennings was already sharpening his craft on small-town radio. A rare 1956 live radio performance of “Slippin’ and Slidin’” offers a fascinating glimpse into the teenage musician who would one day help reshape country music.
In 1956, Waylon was working as a DJ and performer at KDAV in Lubbock, Texas — a station that also played a role in the early career of Buddy Holly. Lubbock at the time was a quiet but important pocket of early rock and country energy. It was here that young artists blended rockabilly rhythms with country storytelling, and Waylon was right in the middle of it.
“Slippin’ and Slidin’,” originally popularized by Little Richard in 1956, was a high-energy rock ’n’ roll number — not the kind of song most people associate with the later outlaw icon. But that’s what makes this recording so compelling. You hear an eager, confident young performer experimenting with style, leaning into rhythm, and clearly absorbing the influence of early rock music.
His voice at 18 is lighter than the deep baritone fans came to know decades later, but the attitude is already there. There’s a hint of swagger. A natural timing. A sense that he understands how to command attention, even through a simple radio microphone. The performance may not yet carry the gravel and gravity of his later years, but it carries hunger.
What makes this recording especially meaningful is knowing what would come next. Just a few years later, Waylon would briefly play bass for Buddy Holly. In 1959, he would give up his seat on the ill-fated plane that later crashed, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper — a moment that haunted him for the rest of his life.
Listening to this 1956 broadcast now feels almost intimate. It’s not the legend. It’s the beginning. A young man in West Texas, chasing sound, absorbing influences, finding his voice.
For longtime fans, the rare live version of “Slippin’ and Slidin’” isn’t just a curiosity. It’s a reminder that even the fiercest outlaws once started as teenagers with a microphone and a dream.