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Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who foug…
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Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for, and won, their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, David Allan Coe, J…
Outlaw country is a subgenre of American country music created by a small group of artists active in the 1970s and early 1980s, known collectively as the outlaw movement, who fought for, and won, their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment that dictated the sound of most country music of the era. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck and Jerry Jeff Walker were among the movement's most commercially successful members.
The music has its roots in earlier subgenres like Western, honky tonk, rockabilly, and progressive country, and is characterized by a blend of rock and folk rhythms, country instrumentation, and introspective lyrics. The movement began as a reaction to the slick production and limiting structures of the Nashville sound developed by Chet Atkins and other record producers.
Some country fans consider outlaw country a slightly harder-edged variant of progressive country. The outlaw sound has its roots in blues music, honky tonk music of the 1940s and 1950s, rockabilly of the 1950s, and the evolving genre of rock and roll. Early outlaws were particularly influenced by predecessors such as Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. A greater transition occurred after Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson secured their own recording rights, and began the trend of bucking the "Nashville sound". According to Michael Streissguth, author of Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville, Jennings and Nelson became outlaws when they "won the right" to record with the producers and studio musicians they preferred.
The 1960s was a decade of enormous change, a change reflected in the music of the time. The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and many who followed in their wake cast off the traditional role of the recording artist. They wrote their own material, had creative input in their albums, and refused to conform to what society required of its youth. One author states that the Beatnik movement, from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s, was a precursor to outlaw country. Participants in both movements emphasized that they felt "out of place" in mainstream society.
At the same time, country music had in many ways developed into a formulaic genre that appeared to offer the establishment what it wanted with artists such as Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton making the kind of music that was anathema to the growing counterculture. While Nashville continued to be the focus of mainstream country music, cities like Lubbock and Austin became the creative centers of outlaw country. Southern rock also had a strong influence on the outlaw country movement, and that sound and style of recording was centered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In the Western United States, the Bakersfield sound was providing a counterpoint to the traditional Nashville sound, and the counterculture was also giving rise to the fusion genre of country rock, with groups such as the Flying Burrito Brothers and The First National Band (whose lead singer Michael Nesmith had similar creative rebellion against the West Coast music establishment dating to his time with The Monkees).
The movement was named, at various points, "redneck rock", progressive country, or "armadillo country", after the animal which would become the movement's unofficial mascot, before it was termed "outlaw country". The origin of the outlaw label is debated. According to Jason Mellard, author of Progressive Country: How the 1970s Transformed the Texan in Popular Culture, the term "seems to have sedimented over time rather than exploding in the national consciousness all at once".
The term is often attributed to "Ladies Love Outlaws", a song by Lee Clayton and sung by Waylon Jennings on the 1972 album of the same name. Another plausible explanation is the use of the term a year later by publicist Hazel Smith of Glaser Sound Studios to describe the music of Jennings and Tompall Glaser. Art critic Dave Hickey, who wrote a 1974 profile in Country Music magazine, also used the term to describe artists who opposed the commercial control of the Nashville recording industry.
In 1976, the outlaw movement solidified the term with the release of Wanted! The Outlaws, a compilation album featuring songs sung by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. Wanted! The Outlaws became the first country album to be platinum-certified, reaching sales of one million.
As Southern rock flourished, veteran country artists incorporated rock into their music in this genre. Songwriters/guitarists such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Hank Williams, Jr. shed the formulaic Nashville sound, grew long hair, and replaced rhinestone-studded suits with leather jackets. Outlaw country artists spoke openly about smoking marijuana. Fiercely independent, the "outlaws" abandoned lush orchestrations, stripped the music to its country core, and added a rock sensibility to the sound. At the same time, outlaw country performers brought back older styles that had fallen into disuse, such as honky tonk songs and "cowboy ballads". As well, Nelson and Jennings incorporated more R&B and soul music into their country music by working with Memphis and Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section musicians.
The outlaw country artists aimed to resist the influence of the Nashville establishment, which had norms of sounds, styles, and even appearance and behavior through influential tastemaker shows such as Grand Ole Opry. The Grand Ole Opry, which was described as "staunchly conservative" in adhering to its established traditions, used its influence over Nashville's Music Row to control who could play and what types of songs they could perform. Jennings described his experience in that city's recording industry as like working on an assembly line, in which records were produced like "clockwork".
In 1973 Jennings produced Lonesome, On'ry and Mean. The theme song was written by Steve
Source: Outlaw country (CC BY-SA)
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