Outlaw movement

Under Outlaw -Country or outlaw country refers to the rebellion of some predominantly Texas Country musician against the Nashville establishment.

Pioneer

With his rebellious nature and his songs about prisons and gunslingers, Johnny Cash was one of the pioneers of the outlaw movement since the late 1960s.

Other "outlaws" are Waylon Jennings , Merle Haggard , Willie Nelson and David Allan Coe .

The situation in the early 1970s

The sixties are considered to be the weakest period in country music . Producers had taken over the direction in Nashville . You alone determined which songs appeared on an album, which session musicians were used and what the final mix should look like. Only the singers who lived outside Nashville, such as Merle Haggard or Buck Owens , could escape the dictates of the producers. The strategy of using a small group of highly qualified session musicians instead of the accompanying band of the stars initially worked. The quality of the songs rose to a level never before reached. The recordings were done routinely, quickly and thus inexpensively. A lot of money was made during this time. But over the years the Nashville productions lost more and more of their originality and liveliness. Country music was in a phase of stagnation.

The outlaw movement

It was Willie Nelson , who was not particularly successful at the time , who left Music City in 1971 after a few private problems and moved to Austin , Texas . Here he met a lively scene that welcomed him with open arms. Nelson was able to record his own songs with musicians he chose himself. The next notable musician to follow his example was Waylon Jennings . From his 1972 song Ladies Love Outlaws , written by Lee Clayton , the catchy name of the new movement was finally derived. Unlike Nelson, Jennings stayed in Nashville. Another outlaw center was set up around the Glaser Brothers' independent Hillbilly Central recording studio . Tompall Glaser became the third prominent protagonist of the new movement.

Outlaw music was much more oriented towards the classical roots of country music than the Nashville sound, which had drifted far into the pop camp . It was therefore no surprise that the fresh and lively music with its simple arrangements sold well. More and more interpreters joined them, including rough fellows like ex-convict David Allan Coe . Nashville eventually made its peace with the once undesirable and sometimes even feared outsiders. Basically, the upper floors of the big record companies were even happy to have overcome the long phase of stagnation and disorientation.

The movement reached its definitive climax in 1976 when the album Wanted! Composed of songs by Willie Nelson, Tompall Glaser, Waylon Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter was released . The Outlaws was released. For the first time in the history of country music, an LP was sold more than a million times.

In May 1985, the movement's most successful comrades-in-arms, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, joined forces with boyfriend and role model Johnny Cash to form The Highwaymen .

The main performers

Trailblazer:

Downtown:

Environment:

Newer epigones:

Albums

1973 - Old Fives And Dimers Like Me (Billy Joe Shaver)
1973 - Honky Tonk Heroes (Waylon Jennings)
1973 - Charlie (Tompall Glaser)
1974 - The Mysterious Rhinstone Cowboy (David Allan Coe)
1974 This Time (Waylon Jennings)
1975 - Red Headed Stranger (Willie Nelson)
1976 - Wanted! The Outlaws

Web links

1. Encyclopaedia Britannica, entry "Outlaw-Music" [1] , accessed on February 13, 2019

2. Tennessee Encyclopedia, entry "Nashville Recording Industry" [2] , accessed February 13, 2019

3. The Roughstock Network, History of Country Music, keyword "Outlaw" [www.roughstock.com/history/outlaw.html], accessed February 13, 2019

4. All Music, subgenre Outlaw Country [3] , accessed February 13, 2019