Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville

Michael Streissguth

Jun 2013 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

A “compulsively readable” history of how Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson redefined country music (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Outlaw delves into the country music scene of the late ’60s and early ’70s, when three rebels—Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson found themselves in Music City writing songs and vying for record deals. Channeling the unrest of the times, all three Country Music Hall of Famers resisted the music business’s unwritten rules and emerged as leaders of the outlaw movement that ultimately changed the recording industry. This account offers a broad portrait of the outlaw movement in Nashville that includes a diverse secondary cast of characters, such as Johnny Cash, Rodney Crowell, Kinky Friedman, and Billy Joe Shaver, among others.

With archival photographs throughout, Outlaw is a comprehensive examination of a fascinating shift in country music, and the three unbelievably talented musicians who forged the way.

“[An] engaging cultural history . . . a fascinating chronicle.” —The Washington Post

“Riveting.” —The Wall Street Journal

Ratings and reviews

All the drugs sex & hard times they did a lot for music

Kris is a MIC psy-op. Read Dave McGowan. These guys are agents.

About the author

Michael Streissguth is the author of eight books, including Johnny Cash: The Biography. A professor in the Department of Communication and Film Studies at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, he has written for Mojo, the Journal of Country Music, Bluegrass Unlimited, and many other publications. He has written and produced two documentary films, Record Paradise and Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison. He lives in Syracuse with his wife and family.