The Birth of Outlaw Country

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I posted a link to this in the Misc Shit thread but it clearly deserves a thread of it's own. Click on the cover of Texas Monthly below to link to the article.

[cortez the killer]

Thanks a lot Kudzu. I can't wait to read this! I first looked for the article in the "Watershed" thread, but somehow I couldn't find it. Odd.

Edited to add - That is easily one of the best articles ever linked to this site. Fantastic, informative read that filled in many blanks for me. Thanks again for posting KG.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

No problem, I'm glad they lifted the subscription fee for this issue. I don't laugh out loud when reading articles very much but I did that several times while reading this one. With very few exceptions, I'd also say that the Austin scene in the 70's was pretty much ground zero for me when it came to discovering "country rock", "progressive country" or whatever you want to call it and definitely helped lay the groundwork for me getting into cowpunk in the 80s and alt.country in the 90's. It was very cool to be reminded of that by the very people that were there.

[Hud]

GREAT article, thanks for the post K. I've always been a fan, yet never knew how it all fit together.

[bovine knievel]

Loved this Kudzu, thanks for the heads up.

This cracked me up...

JERRY JEFF WALKER - The sound engineers wanted to bring in this souped-up equipment. I said no. This needed to be like one of those nature shows: [He whispers in an affected English accent] “This is the first time we’ve ever seen the birthing of a Tibetan tiger baby.” I figured if somebody could sneak up on a tiger, we could be recorded where we’re comfortable.

[Tequila Cowboy]

Thanks for sharing this. Fantastic piece.

[oxfordcrowe]

Great read.

Loved the part about Billy Joe tripping on the Dead's acid for two years. Good stuff there.

[bovine knievel]

B U M P

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

[Tequila Cowboy]

B U M P

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

Could not agree more.

[cortez the killer]

B U M P

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

Could not agree more.

"Watershed" moment?

[Clams]

It is printed and in the queue (it wasted a lot of paper, by the way)

[4sooner]

Great find kudzu! thanks for posting. Brings back incredible memories.
I've already mentioned some of my recollections of RWH and JJW. Norman/OKC was a regular stop for those Austin Outlaws in the 70's. I started going out to see shows in '73/'74 or somewhere thereabouts. I was able to catch RWH, JJW, Michael Murphy-Geronimo's cadillac was one of the original records that turned me on to this genre-, Willis Alan Ramsey,Asleep At The Wheel, Bobby Bare, Tom T. Hall Jessie Colter, Leon Russell all in Clubs or relatively small venues. A few of them even came to our small town of 8,000 to the then legendary Circle W Ballroom. Bobby Bare & Tom T. Hall & Asleep At The Wheel in particular came thru quite a bit. Willie & Waylon both played there, separately, before they became "Waylon & Willie". Jerry Lee Lewis as well. Those were before I was old enough to get in there underage.
I did see 3 or 4 shows on the 'Wanted-Outlaws" tour, and all those guys individually in larger arenas. All this happened before 1978. though I never saw any of the shows at Armadillo, Continental, Rubiyat, or the other Austin clubs back then, I'm glad I'm able to say I saw most of those guys back in the heyday written about in this fantastic article.
one regret I have is that, to this day, I haven't seen Billy Joe Shaver. I was scheduled to mix sound for a show he was doing in Norman back in the late 90's but it got canceled for some reason. Still looking to change that.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I still haven't seen Jerry Jeff. I've managed to see Billy Joe Shaver at least three times over the years, all in Austin. The first was at Antone's during a benefit for a local musician (who's name escapes me). That was the one and only time I ever saw Billy Joe with Eddy. Every time Eddy would take a solo, Billy Joe would duck and run off to the side of the stage. It was also louder than fuck. Eddy had his guitar turned up so far past 11 that my brother and I were referring to him as "Eddy Van Shaver" that night. Ear blisteringly loud or not, I'm just glad I got to see him.

Reading that article reminded me of my days at a small AM country station back in the 80's, specifically "Geronimo's Cadillac". I was recently telling one of my old college radio buddies about the time I played that tune on the air while my boss was at some car dealership doing a remote broadcast. Off the air he was giving me shit about playing it (he had no idea who it was even though several other songs by Michael Murphey were also in the rotation such as "Carolina In the Pines"). I thought for sure when he got back to the station that I would catch another earful about it but thankfully he'd forgotten about it by then. In those days I would sneak in stuff by R.E.M. ("Rockville"), the Stones ("Faraway Eyes") and Pure Prairie League ("Amie"). This was during the time period Steve Earle likes to call "The Great Roots Rock Credibility Scare of the Late 80's" so I didn't feel too bad about it, especially since we were already playing Earle, Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam, Lone Justice, the Lonesome Strangers, the Wagoneers and other artists that were a far cry from Eddy Arnold and some of the other stuff the station played so much back in those days.

[dime in the gutter]

most excellent read. thanks for posting.

[lajakesdad]

Thanks so much for this link. Awesome article.

[cortez the killer]

(Click picture to download)
1. Desperadoes Waiting For a Train (Intro)/Guy Clark
2. Desperadoes Waiting For a Train/Guy Clark
3. Clay Pigeons/Blaze Foley
4. Tecumseh Valley/Townes Van Zandt
5. Backsliders Wine/Michael Martin Murphey
6. Me and Paul/Willie Nelson
7. Mobile Blue/Mickey Newbury
8. Spanish Pipedream/John Prine
9. Black Rose/Billy Joe Shaver
10. Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand/Waylon Jennings
11. Border Lord/Kris Kristofferson
12. Ohoopee River Bottomland/Larry Jon Wilson
13. Leavin' Texas/Jerry Jeff Walker
14. Rock Salt and Nails/Joe Ely
15. Amarillo Highway/Terry Allen
16. Tonight I'm Gonna Go Downtown/The Flatlanders
17. Geraldine and the Honeybee/Willis Alan Ramsey
18. Catch Me in the Morning/Doug Sahm with CCR
19. My Maria/B.W. Stevenson
20. I Still Sing the Old Songs/David Allan Coe
21. Corpus Christi Bay/Robert Earl Keen
22. Mercenary Song/Steve Earle
23. Screw You, We're From Texas/Ray Wylie Hubbard

[beantownbubba]

Thanks Cortez.

"Czech dance halls"? Is that serious?

[Tequila Cowboy]

Thanks Cortez.

"Czech dance halls"? Is that serious?

Lots of Czech communities in Texas.

http://www.texasczechs.com/

[beantownbubba]

Definitely in the "learn something new every day" category.

[Iowan]

B U M P

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

Agreed. This was incredible.

[Iowan]

Thanks Cortez.

"Czech dance halls"? Is that serious?

Absolutely. Shiner is a Czech brewery. When we went down to College Station (halfway between Houston and Austin) for an ISU/Aggie game a few years back, every tailgate was grilling Czech sausages and wrapping them up in Czech pastry. It was fucking delicious. Lots of Czechs in Texas.

[Clams]

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

Carried this article around for a week and finally finished it today (it felt like a 3dd homework assignment from Bovine, Cortez and Kudzu - you must read this...)

Some great quotes and stories, and it certainly shed some light on one of my favorite genres. I especially enjoyed the part about Gary Nunn's London Homesick Blues which has always been one of my favorite country songs - and one that I had never thought of as "outlaw country." i also never knew that JJW was a part of this scene. Good stuff all around.

And thanks for the download, Cortez - a great companion to be sure.

[bovine knievel]

This should be mandatory reading for the board.

Carried this article around for a week and finally finished it today (it felt like a 3dd homework assignment from Bovine, Cortez and Kudzu - you must read this...)

Some great quotes and stories, and it certainly shed some light on one of my favorite genres. I especially enjoyed the part about Gary Nunn's London Homesick Blues which has always been one of my favorite country songs - and one that I had never thought of as "outlaw country." i also never knew that JJW was a part of this scene. Good stuff all around.

And thanks for the download, Cortez - a great companion to be sure.

welcome to the club

[dogstar]

Does anyone have a copy of this they could let me have as the article seems to have disappeared behind a paywall?

[bovine knievel]

Does anyone have a copy of this they could let me have as the article seems to have disappeared behind a paywall?

Check your PMs

[Clams]

Seems to me that none of these guys were actual "outlaws" (except for maybe Waylon in the latter half of the 70's). And the songs don't strike me much as "outlaw" either. A better moniker for the genre would've been Badass Country, because the artists were definitely badass and so were the songs.

[bovine knievel]

Seems to me that none of these guys were actual "outlaws" (except for maybe Waylon in the latter half of the 70's). And the songs don't strike me much as "outlaw" either. A better moniker for the genre would've been Badass Country, because the artists were definitely badass and so were the songs.

Not so sure Waylon was a real "outlaw". Merle Haggard was an "outlaw", that is for certain.

RCA came up with that "outlaw" term out of the clear blue sky. But Neil Reshen ran like a dog with it, even though Waylon was so far from being an outlaw. What he was, was a good-hearted, good ol' boy who just happened to do drugs. When I met him, it was pills every day until he jaundiced out and wound up in the hospital. Once he got his color back, he went to Hollywood and got turned on to coke, and then he was off and running. He started to buy into the outlaw thing, began thinking he was that guy.

[cortez the killer]

I can't access the article anymore, but if I'm not mistaken, it talks about the music be called "Outlaw" more so because it was music made in direct opposition to the way the establishment (Nashville) was making records. They weren't 'outlaws' in the non-law-abidding citizen sense. They were folk and country artists applying more of a rock and roll aesthetic to writing, recording, and performing. Of course, once the movement started to gain momentum and popularity, the establishment stepped in, gave it a name ("Outlaw"), and commercialized a lot of it. On the strength of Honky Honk Heroes alone, Waylon Jennings is most definitely an "Outlaw."

[Kudzu Guillotine]

[cortez the killer]

The "Movement" lost a founding member. R.I.P. Susanna.