Country Outlaws And Outlaw Country

• Mojo Nixon (The Loon In The Afternoon)

• Dallas Wayne (The Rig Rocker)

• Elizabeth Cook (Elizabeth Cook's Apron Strings)

• Meredith and Chris T.

• "Cowboy"Jack Clement (The Cowboy Jack Show)

• Steve Earle (Hardcore Troubadore Radio)

• Hillbilly Jim (Hillbilly Jim's Moonshine Matinee)

• Fred Imus (Fred's Trailer Park Bash) (Don Imus' brother)

• Shooter Jennings (Electric Rodeo) (Waylon's son)

• Don Was (The Motor City Hayride)

• Johnny Knoxville & Roger Alan Wade

Johnny Cash (February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003) is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century and one of several artists that helped increase the popularity of Outlaw Country. His songs spanned music from rockabilly to rock-n-roll. Cash's music embodied emotional expression from the sorrowful to the humorous. Johnny Cash was not just a country music star. He also performed on television and in movies.

His deep, bass-baritone voice made him recognizable by his voice alone. Wearing dark clothing earned him the nickname, The Man In Black. Another trademark of his was opening every concert saying, "Hello. I'm Johnny Cash".

Johnny Cash had a tumultuous early career. He drank heavily and was addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. He had numerous clashes with the law, but never served a jail sentence. He was sued by the US government because his truck started a forest fire in Los Padres National Forest in 1965. He settled out of court and paid $82,001. He said he was the only person to be sued by the US government for starting a forest fire.

On a more positive note, Johnny Cash was the youngest living inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980. He was 48. However, Cash's popularity sunk to an all-time low after this. His career was rejuvenated in 1993 when he recorded "The Wanderer" with U2 for their album, "Zooropa".

Johnny was also a devout Christian. He wrote an autobiographical novel titled, Man In White and made a spoken word recording reciting the entire New King James Version of the New Testament.

Reference: Wikipedia

Born Willie Hugh Nelson on April 30,1933, Willie is known as a singer-songwriter, activist, and actor. Willie reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s. He remains an icon today and is still touring and performing in concerts and for fundraisers. His most famous activist success was Farm Aid in the 1980s to help American Farmers. He has also partnered to form "Willie Nelson Bio-diesel", a company that is marketing a bio-diesel fuel made from vegetable oil that can be burned in diesel engines without modification. Willie has also worked for years for marijuana legalization and is co=chair of "National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws" (NORML advisory board.

Willie wrote his first song at age 7. In 1956 Nelson sold his song, "Family Bible" for $100. Claude Gray recorded it in 1960 and it is considered a gospel classic. Willie moved to Nashville in 1960 and received a publishing contract with Pamper Music. Ray Price recorded Willie's song, "Night Life". He joine and toured with Price's band as a bass player. During this time, he wrote songs that were recorded by some of the greatest music stars of the times. The song, "Crazy", recorded by Patsy Cline is the most famous. "Hello, Walls" was recorded by Faron Young and "Pretty Paper" by Roy Orbison. His singing career had yet to take off.

Willie's friendship with Waylon Jennings helped boost his singing career. Jennings encouraged him to record "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" and this song became his first number one hit. In 1978, Willie released 2 platinum albums. One of them was "Waylon and Willie" and included the hit "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys". Wiilie has also had an illustrious acting career. He has appeared or starred in 12 movies and made cameo appearances in numerous TV shows.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

American country music singer and musician, Waylon Jennings, was a self-taught guitar player. He became known after becoming a bass player for Buddy Holly. Jennings was supposed to be on the ill-fated plane that crashed, killing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper". Waylon lost the eat on the plane in a coin toss.

Waylon became associated with the "outlaws" by the 1970s. He recorded a series of duet albums with Willie Nelson in 1978 and their best selling song was "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys". Jennings is also known for recording the theme song to the popular TV show, The Dukes of Hazzard and was the narrator (The Balladeer) for all seven seasons.

Like so many other "outlaws", Jennings had a tumultuous career. His cocaine addiction led to financial ruin and bankruptcy. Waylon vowed he would repay all his debt and performed additional concerts until his debt was satisfied. Jennings attributed his "staying clean" from cocaine to his son, Shooter. He had originally stated when coming out of rehab that he was going to go back to cocaine, but under more controlled conditions. Shooter knew this couldn't happen and kept his dad "clean".

Photo from Wikipedia.

Kris Kristofferson is an enigma in the "outlaw" world. His father was in the US military. As it is with "military brats", he moved frequently during his childhood. After graduating high school, Kris attended Ponoma College. He graduated summa cum laude in 1958 with a BA in Literature. Kris earned a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford and attended Merton College. He began writing songs here and recorded under the name of Kris Carson. These early years were not successful. After graduating from Oxford, Kris maintained the family tradition of joining the military. He joined the US Army. Kris achieved the rank of Captain, was a helicopter pilot, and completed Ranger School. He was offered a position as an Englis Literature professor at West Point, but decided to pursue songwriting.

Kris moved to Nashville and slowly earned recognition as a songwriter and recording artist. His songs were recorded by the likes of Ray Price (For The Good Times), Waylon Jennings (The Taker), Bobby Bare (Come Sundown), Johnny Cash (Sunday Morning Coming Down), and Sammi Smith (Help Me Make It Through The Night).

Kris has also starred in movies. His greatest role was in "A Star Is Born" with Barbara Streisand and won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. He has partnered with many other recording artists throughout his career. The most notable and successful of these being The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings.

Photo credit to Wikipedia.

The Highwaymen was a Country music supergroup comprised of these four Country music artists. They were well known for their pioneering influence on the outlaw country genre. The group was active for 10 years (1985-1995) and recorded 3 major albums; Highwayman, Highwayman 2, and The Road Goes On Forever.

Waylon Jennings had worked collaboratively with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson previously. Kris Kristofferson was included because of his popularity in the Austin music scene and his contributions to the others in the group. Johnny and Waylon had great success recording Kris's songs.

Photo credit to Wikipedia.

David Allan Coe is probably among the first names you think of when someone mentions "outlaw" style music. He was an outlaw in life as well as in music. Coe was in and out of reform schools and prisons from the age of 9. His publicity campaigns claim he spent time on death row for killing an inmate who demanded oral sex. Proson officials do not back up these claims.

David Allan Coe's music is generally humorous and include lyrics about his associations with other Country "outlaws". My favorite David Allan Coe songs are Darlin, Darlin! and You Never Even Called Me By My Name. His best known songs are Take This Job And Shove It (Johnny Paycheck) and Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone) (Tanya Tucker). Both of these were #1 hits.

Photo Credit to Leahtwosaints under Creative Commons License 2.0

Hank Williams, Jr. is an award winning Country artist and songwriter. His music blends Southern Rock, blues, and traditional country. Originally, his music imitated his father, Hank Williams, but a near fatal fall from the side of a mountain changed his style. He challenged the country music establishment with his new music. Hank's musical skills include guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, steel guitar, banjo, Dobro, keyboards, piano, harmonica, fiddle, and drums. Hank's father nicknamed him Bocephus after a Grand Ole Opry 's ventriloquist's dummy.

Like so many other Country "outlaws", Hank Jr turned to alcohol and drugs and even attempted suicide. As his career was starting to revive, he suffered a 442 foot fall off Ajax Mountain in Montana. His injuries included a split skull and crushed face requiring numerous plastic and reconstructive surgeries. His recovery lasted 2 years and he had to relearn how to peak and sing. His career took off upon his return.

Hank's best known hit is A Country Boy Can Survive. He is also well known for his performance of the theme for "Monday Night Football". Hank has too many accolades to list here, however, he announced in 2008 that he would run for the US Senate in 2012 challenging incumbent Senator Bob Corker.

Photo credit to Wikipedia.

Merle Haggard is known as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and instrumentalist. In conjunction with Buck Owens, Haggard created the Bakersfield Sound that was rougher, involved harmonies, and the unique twang of the Fender Telecaster guitars. Merle became involved with the outlaw movement by the 1970s. He has continued to release successful albums even into the 2000s. Although he had surgery to remove lung cancer in 2008, Haggard is planning to continue touring and recording.

Haggard's voice and guitar work lend a rough edge to his recordings. He has been outspoken about his dislike of modern country music, yet has praised newer stars like George Straight, Toby Keith, and Alan Jackson.

Merle's trouble with the law began at the age of 13. In 1957 he robbed a local tavern and was sentenced to 3 years at San Quentin. During this time he attended 3 of Johnny Cash's concerts. These concerts led Merle to decide to straighten up and pursue his music career. And the rest, they say, is history!

Photo from Wikipedia.

Charlie Daniels is well known for his contributions to country and Southern rock music. He is best known for his hit The Devil Went Down To Georgia. His hits with the Charlie Daniels Band include The South's Gonna Do It Again and Long Haired Country Boy.

Charlie's prowess as a fiddler is showcased in "Devil" and it by far his most popular work. As recently as this year, Charlie's fiddle work is featured in a TV commercial for GEICO auto insurance.

Photo from Wikipedia.