On August 23, 1977, Waylon Jennings as well as his secretary, Lori Evans, were arrested in, Nashville, Tennessee, at American Sound Studio for conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. The raid happened after Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents had tracked down a package of 27 grams of cocaine that Jennings was gifted even though unsolicited from a business associate, which was flown in from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Braniff Airlines, Flight 119.

Clipping from August 1977 in The Tennessean detailing the arrest.

Background

In 1977, Jennings agreed to a gift of cocaine but the shipment was intercepted by the DEA.[1][2]

Jennings’ secretary Lori Evans intercepted the package at an airport in Nashville which had just flown in from the John F. Kennedy International Airport on Braniff Airlines, Flight 119 and brought it to Jennings in the American Sound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was recording. At the time of the session Richie Albright who was Jennings's drummer since the 1960s, was producing the session when DEA Special Agent Bernie Redd and other agents barged in the door.[3][4] Albright pushed his hand on the talkback button as they were questioning him and Jennings was thus able to hear what they said. Albright convinced the agents to let them finish the expensive session, and he went into the booth with Jennings to "adjust his microphone" as he told the agents. Jennings kicked the cocaine behind a baseboard. Chips Moman, the studio owner, barged in to argue with the agents, and while they were distracted Albright flushed the cocaine down a toilet.[5]

During the argument with the studio owner and the DEA agents, Jennings inspected the warrant they had, had for his arrest and noticed they had him incorrectly listed as the studio owner, as the actual owner of the studio was producer and songwriter Chips Moman, and that it only allowed them to search his office. Subsequently, Jennings demanded they go get a correct search warrant. While they waited on the search warrant one agent directly asked Jennings "where is it?" to which Jennings replied "if it ever was here, it ain’t here no more", the DEA agent then sarcastically responded "I’ll bet it ain’t".[6]

Jennings as well as secretary Lori Evans were eventually both arrested on charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine but subsequently in court were both found not guilty due to not only a lack of evidence but more importantly the faulty search warrant. Before getting arrested Jennings immediately called wife Jessi Colter telling her to flush any and all drugs that was on or in his belongings or anything else that looked suspicious at all.[7]

Aftermath

Immediately after the bust Jennings was released from jail and wrote the latter part to what would later become one of his biggest hit songs, Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand. Lawyers during his trial for the bust were trying to convince Jennings not to record the song and get rid of all evidence of its existence as it was very obviously self-incriminating but he had proof he had already wrote most of the song beforehand therefore it was not able to be used as substantial evidence in court.[8][9] The song would peak at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles Charts in 1978.

Hank Williams Jr. revealed in an interview on March 3, 1978, that there was recorded audio of the entire raid still in existence as the tape never stopped rolling during any part of the raid. He revealed that it was in possession of country music and disc jockey legend Hugh Cherry, and that he and others had listened to it but even to this day the tape has never been released to the public.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "The Night Waylon Jennings Frantically Flushed Pills & Cocaine But The DEA Arrested Him Anyway". Country Music Family. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Remember When Waylon Jennings Was Arrested During a Recording Session?". Taste of Country. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Waylon Jennings Busted". KUTX 98.9. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Notes on People - August 25, 1977". The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Cocaine Bust: How Richie Albright Saved Waylon Jennings from Prison". Saving Country Music. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Waylon Jennings: Sex, Drugs, & Rockabilly-Part 6/The End". No Depression. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  7. ↑ "How Flushing Cocaine During A DEA Raid Inspired Waylon Jennings' "Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand"". Whiskey Riff. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Waylon Jennings "Outlaw Bit" The story behind the song". YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Waylon Jennings 'Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out of Hand' Lyrics & Story Behind the Song". Outsider. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Hank Williams, Jr. talks about Waylon's Drug Bust (03/08/1978)". YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2023.
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