Love of the Common People

AMG Review of Love of the Common People

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Love of the Common People is where Waylon Jennings began to come into his own, delivering country, folk, pop, and ock in a distinct blend. To a certain extent, he's still searching here, overpowering on Beatles covers but effective on the title track. There's a certain tendency for country albums of this era to be uneven, and if that's the case on Love of the Common People, it isn't because of bad material but because Jennings is searching the entire time, testing things out, finding that some things work and others don't. It may not be a perfect album, but there are enough remarkable moments to make it nearly essential.