Outlaw Country=

Outlaw Country

  • nickname — music city Nashville

Waylon Jennings — “Are you sure Hank done it this way”

  • topped charts

  • mid to late 70-80s

  • crossing over to different chart than it was imagined for, eg. marketed and sold as country and crossed to pop charts

  • CMA male vocalist of the year and considered a significant song

  • specific reference to icon in the music industry, Hank Williams, someone who live a rock and hard life, questions the quality of life of a musician, name checking other artists, making reference to the others in the genre

  • change from commercialism, lost sense of focus and meaning, question at the center if the music industry has become this over type

  • he was from from Texas like many other Outlaw Singers. finding out an industry elsewhere

  • working as a musician since the 50s, took until the 70s to speak out against nashville industry, against the country politan sound =laden with strings or live orchestra refused to record with musicians domination Nashville sound of the time

  • personified idea of outlaw country movement or movement against the Nashville scene

  • asserted independence from a corporation or city

  • wanted to return to honky tonk infused with a rock edge

  • learned to guitar young

  • moved to texas and met Buddy Holly and The Comets and recorded songs. Buddy Holly dead in 1959 from plane crash . waylon jennings had given up his spot on the plane at the last minute and buddy holly had still got on.

  • 1965 went to Nashville following a contract with RCA Chet Alkins. Chet Alkins had association with outlaw sound

  • did song with johhny cash

  • chirs christopherson struggled in the 70s and Jennings recorded song by him, he was also from texas

  • 1972 album laid the movement for Outlaws country

“Good hearted women” Waylon Jennings, Willie Neslon

  • #1 in top charts

Countrypolitan Sound

  • no go area

  • laden with strings or live orchestra

  • production: move away from countries rural routes folk routes, embraces tech and slick studio production and smooth sounds, idea of a formula from pop music, strings from real orchestra, harmonized vocals, taking out some instrument eg. steel guitar

  • chet alkins, billy chirelle, and tammy wonette brought it to the forefront

  • synonymous with easy listening, pacifying easy sounds

  • CMA signals over the years were what was happening with country music

  • Olivia Newton John was in a movie Grease, promo as a country artist australian american woman and was upset to people and won a CMA award

  • John CMA win has similar effect

  • country pop sound celebrated in the country space

  • challenge narrow definitions of what is country

Freddy fender - example of outlaw

  • before the next tear drops — 1975

  • tejano singer song writer

  • producer he worked with convinced him to steer into country music an maintain his hispanic routes

  • country and use of spanish language

  • success in country and pop charts and became an overnight star

Dolly Parton

  • Dolly Parson is a standard, unlikely association with Outlaw

  • prolific as a Tennessee singer song writer

  • started recording in the 60s

  • worked with porter wagner from the 60s onwards in nashville TV

  • worked as a duo until 1975, had a working relationship but had significant tension

  • by early 70s she is a careful and savvy businesswomen and porter wagner was being overshadowed by her and that did not work for him

  • jolene and “ i will always love you” — Number 1 hit

  • story of the song “i will always love you” = its about her and wagner parting ways, she sang it in his office and they went professional ways but he produced it was the stipulation

  • emphasis on even though there is a over the top image in the 70s, it was about her having control and by 77 she had control, resisted corporate control of the music industry and fought for creative control

  • ideal are not always expressed obviously

  • challenging musical establishment

Merl Hagger

  • California sound

  • Dolly Parton covered song and steel guitar and sound is present

  • back beat of Dolly Parton

  • this song is a waltz, in a triple meter

Country Outlaws elements

  • men using platform for resisting norms (industry and commercialism)

  • double standards

  • proves popular, growth of county music

  • 1973 - 1983 ; number of country radios triple

The Highway men

  • jonhhy cash - only one not from Texas (man in black)

  • “the Gambler” 1978 for album gone girl

    • inspired many films