At their shared outlaw peak, Albright and Jennings performed on multiple classic releases for RCA, including the image-shaping Lonesome, On’ry and Mean (1973) and the album that helped expose songwriter Billy Joe Shaver to the masses, Honky Tonk Heroes (1973).
Later in Jennings’ career, the singer-songwriter recruited Albright for his deam team tour lineup, the Waymore Blues Band.
Albright’s also credited as a performer on albums by Johnny Rodriguez, fellow Waylor Gordon Payne and Jennings’ wife Jessi Colter.
He also shares songwriting credit with Jennings and Hank Williams Jr. for “The Conversation.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Albright still performed with Tommy Townsend in Waymore’s Outlaws, an outfit that often performed with Waylon and Jessi’s son, Shooter Jennings (full name Waylon Albright Jennings).
“When Richie wasn’t on the road it was impossible to keep him still — even in his last days,” reads the statement on his Facebook page. “His days were spent surveying land and weekends tending to his farm in Leiper’s Fork.”
Per Facebook, Albright is survived by his wife, Linda, his sons, Brian and Trey, his daughter, Richel, and his brother, Jerry. He is preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Margie Albright, and his oldest brother, Charles.