“THEY CALLED IT NOTHING — BUT IT BECAME HIS FIRST NO.1.”Waylon Jennings wrote that song during a rough stretch in his life, the kind of days when nothing feels steady. His producer brushed it off and left the tape sitting on a shelf, like it didn’t matter. Years later, inside the dim corners of Hillbilly Central, Waylon found the tape again. His first instinct was to toss it. But Richie Albright stopped him, and Willie Nelson stood in the control room, listening quietly. They cut the song in one take — no fuss, no shine. And the track everyone once called “no good” became Waylon’s first No.1. Funny how the world changes its mind.

About the Song

Waylon Jennings had been with RCA Victor for nine years before he finally earned his first official Billboard number-one hit with “This Time.”
Interestingly, his very first recording contract wasn’t with RCA at all—it was with Herb Alpert’s A&M Records in 1963. That partnership produced only a single album and failed to gain national traction. Alpert envisioned Jennings as a pop-style vocalist similar to Al Martino, a creative mismatch that ultimately held them back.

Waylon’s career took a turn when Bobby Bare caught his performance at JD’s Club in Phoenix, Arizona. Bare encouraged Chet Atkins to sign Jennings to RCA, and although Waylon joined the label in 1965, progress came slowly. His debut single, “That’s the Chance I’ll Have to Take,” peaked modestly at #49. It wasn’t until his fifth RCA release, “(That’s What You Get) For Lovin’ Me,” that he finally broke into the Billboard Top Ten.

Over the following years, Jennings secured a dozen more Top Ten singles. One standout moment came in 1968 when “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line” held the #2 spot for five weeks. Unfortunately for Waylon, classics like Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” and Jeannie C. Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA” climbed above him, preventing a #1 victory. Even so, Jennings earned a Grammy in 1970 for his collaboration with The Kimberlys on “MacArthur Park,” though its pop-leaning style only reached #23 on the country chart.

During his early RCA years, Waylon worked mainly under Chet Atkins’ production style, but he frequently voiced frustration with Nashville’s traditional recording methods. Everything changed in November 1972 when attorney Neil Reshen found a loophole in Jennings’ contract. This allowed Waylon not only greater financial leverage but also creative control over his music. Once Jennings began producing his own work, his artistic freedom paved the way for his long-awaited first number-one single.

Nineteen months after gaining creative control, Waylon finally achieved that milestone with “This Time,” a song he had actually written five years earlier. Most of the album was co-produced by Jennings and Willie Nelson, though Nelson did not participate in the recording of the title track.

Interestingly, “This Time” almost never made it onto the album at all. During the recording session, Waylon casually said, “Hey, let me try this one,” and began working on the song. However, he stopped partway through, frustrated with its tricky rhythm. “Aw, this ain’t no good,” he said, ready to toss it aside. At that moment, drummer Richie Albright stepped in and urged him to try again: “No, do it one more time. I think it’ll work.” Waylon gave it another shot—and the final result became his first chart-topping hit.

On June 22, 1974, “This Time” reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart, marking a major turning point in Jennings’ career.

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