Waylon Jennings’ Lost 1970s Recordings Surface on Posthumous Album ‘Diamonds’

Shooter Jennings is once again opening his father’s vault. A new posthumous album of previously unheard Waylon Jennings recordings, titled Diamonds, is set for release this November, the younger Jennings announced Sunday on CBS Sunday Morning.

The 12-track collection features songs originally recorded between 1973 and 1984, curated by Shooter from tapes his father left behind.

Physical copies and digital downloads of Diamonds arrive November 13 via Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers, with streaming platforms following on December 11. The album is the second installment in a planned series of archival Waylon Jennings releases, following last year’s acclaimed Songbird.

Glen Campbell’s Hidden Guitar Work

“This track eluded me. I kept finding it across three different sessions while I was going through my father’s work,” Shooter told Rolling Stone. “At first, I was very confused because of the sound of the guitar as to what it was. Suddenly, upon listening to the whole thing, I realized Glen Campbell had stopped by the studio and they recorded this little gem on a late December night in 1978.”

The title track, ‘Diamonds,’ features the late Glen Campbell on guitar — a discovery that took Shooter Jennings by surprise. The album also includes renditions of the Bee Gees’ ‘Words’ and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Saturday Night Special,’ alongside songs written by Leon Russell, Hank Williams Jr., and others.

Waylon’s widow, Jessi Colter, appears on the J.J. Cale-penned ‘Same Old Blues.’

Preserving Waylon’s Legacy

For Shooter, the project is about correcting the public’s memory of his father. “When somebody is gone, there tends to be…the public remembrance of them can be distorted.

People can remember the outlaw part of this or fantasize what he was like, but he’s not here to represent himself,” he said.

“But what I felt was so important was you saw how much he loved music… He connected with those songs. All he cared about was music — it wasn’t about image, it wasn’t about money, or anything beyond wanting to be great at music and play music.”

More than 24 years after his death, Waylon Jennings continues to deliver new material. Diamonds marks the fourth posthumous studio album of fresh material from the outlaw country icon, and his second in as many years.

The project was first teased in April via billboards across California featuring an image of Jennings smoking a cigarette.

With Diamonds, Shooter Jennings bridges the gap between 1970s outlaw country and 2026 nostalgia, ensuring his father’s legacy remains rooted in the music itself.