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FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT KNOW
The roots of the outlaw movement can be traced to the 1950s. A major influence on the outlaw movement was Elvis Presley's bluesy covers of country standards. However, an even greater transition occurred after Waylon Jennings was able to secure his own recording rights, and began the trend of bucking the "Nashville Sound."David Allan Coe at the time was a patched member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, a notorious onepercenter motorcycle club. There were several instances where he was referred to as an outlaw while playing with Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Although Nashville publicly refutes claims that "outlaw country" was a term coined by Coe's involvement in the motorcycle underworld, those who thrive in the biker community both then and nowbelieve that it was Coe who gave the music its title.The 1960s was a decade of enormous change, and that change was also reflected in the music of the time. The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and manywho followed in their wake cast off the traditional role of therecording artist. They wrote their own material, they had creative input in their albums, and they refused to conform to what society required of its youth. At the same time, country music was declining 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 movementand that sound and style of recording was centered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Although Johnny Cash spent most of his time in Arkansas and Tennessee, he experienced a revival of his career with the outlaw movement, especially after his live albums At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin, both of whichwere recorded in prisons. Cash had working relationships with Nelson, Jennings and Kris Kristofferson in his later career. He had also been ongood terms with several folk counterculture figures, a fact that irked Nashville and television executives (Cash hosted a variety show from 1969 to 1971). Like the other outlaw singers, he eschewed the polished Nashville look with a somewhat ragged (especially in later years), all-black outfit that inspired Cash's nickname, the "Man in Black."
AND LETS NOT FORGET THE LADIES NOW
Although Outlaw country was mainly the domain of men, there were some women that pursued musical careers in Country Music that considered themselves "Outlaws" as well. There are really only four women that became major outlaw stars in country music: Tanya Tucker, Jessi Colter,Sammi Smith, and Emmylou Harris.
