Waylon Jennings (right) played the central role in White Mansions. Photograph: AP
The latest in the semi-regular Catch of the Day series of great lost albums is quite possibly the first outlaw country rock concept album about the Civil War. White Mansions, released in 1978 on A&M, was a project by the English songwriter Paul Kennerley which tells the story of the Confederacy through the eyes of four central characters, played by the late, great Waylon Jennings (The Drifter), his real-life wife Jessi Colter (Poly Ann Stafford), John Dillon (Matthew J Fuller) and Steve Cash (Caleb Stone). Eric Clapton pops up playing slide guitar on several tracks too. But despite the stellar cast, the album never charted, even though it was released a matter of months after the number one country album Waylon And Willie, which remains one of biggest-selling albums in both Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson's careers.
Jennings plays the central role in White Mansions, narrating the story as it expounds the concept of Southern pride as seen by plantation owners, "white trash" and a chorus of slaves. The album was re-released in 1999 as a two-for-one CD under the name Confederate Tales, packaged with The Legend of Jesse James - another Kennerley. But to appreciate it in its full glory, you need to pick it up on vinyl, complete with a booklet of graphic photography of the Civil War and its aftermath. (A few stills can be found on this YouTube clip of album track The Union Mare and the Confederate Grey. You can probably guess which ones they are.)
As a footnote, now that the Johnny and June Carter Cash story is so well known it can be spoofed, any chance of Waylon and Jessi: The Movie? It's a tale that's every bit as good.
