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

... there were three princes who were the dutiful sons of a king named Cash. When word reached King Cash that the village of Nashville had taken to such wickedness as to have lush full harmonies backing up the same lap steel guitar solo on every solo he was furious and shot his TV (all king's seem to do this at one time or another). Nashville was a special village to him and he writhed with anger and shouted, "You three princes, my sons, shall ride this very day, guitars in hand and save my beloved Music City."And ride they did, stomping over wasted tundra that had been poisoned by the village as far as the eye could see. And when they got to the village they were aghast. Every citizen was wearing polyester of colors the sons had never seen, peppered liberally with what they thought were diamonds but they soon found out were worthless things called "rhinestones". The three princes looked at one another -- dusty from their ride, their worn out jeans, shirts, and boots that had sprung open on the sides were worn as signs of respect and awe for the music that could be made and kept them humble in the eyes of their father, the king.*You'll have to read the book to find out how it ends* ;)I've been waiting for a book like this for many, many years. I played guitar and sang in bars for over a decade and these three princes' music were mainstays of my set lists. Especially Kristofferson since we have a very similar voice range. But Streissguth has done exhaustive research from many angles and directions and pulled it all together into a fine narrative that flows like good prose. So many times when authors try to do books like this they write it seems straight from their notes without thinking and you get every other paragraph starting "and then he... " Makes for tedious reading. But this book is done so well i flew thru it the first time and turned around to read it again immeidately. I can name only about five books I've ever done that with so perhaps that says the most concerning the quality of this book as assessed by this ol' bibliophile.My only regret is that i wasn't there .........

If you're interested in Nashville in the 60's, particularly the role it played in the offshoot "Outlaw" movement, this is an excellent read. I knew that Willie and Waylon made their best records in the early 70's, but I had no idea that Kris Kristofferson had first come to Nashville in 1965, having graduated from West Point a few years earlier. I never knew that Nashville had a hippie scene in the 60's or that many (not all) country musicians were already smoking dope. This is the only book I've seen that distills many of the major elements that contributed to the creation of the Outlaw movement in such a concise fashion. It even has a few pages on Robert Altman coming to town to film "Nashville" and a section on the predictably negative reaction to the film of the Nashville old guard. As far as the criticism that the book does not go into enough depth about Willie or Waylon, I didn't feel a need to know more than what suited the aims of this book. And I was glad to learn more about other musicians in and around Nashville at this time like Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark. This is easily the best book I've read on Nashville in the 60's and early 70's.

The book provides a fascinating perspective on a group of creative, talented and determined musicians through off the constraints of formulistic style country music and pioneered a wider audience for some of the best written and best played music ever. The book introduces us to many of the less well known interacting characters in country music that were part of a new and usually wild and rowdy culture in the Nashville music scene during the 1970s and 1980s.The concept of "outlaw" music went beyond the behavior of the musicians to their rebellion against studio control of the type of music that the Nashville music establishment would record. Willie, Waylon, Kris and Johnny Cash wrote and performed much of the best country music we will ever hear. This books provides an interesting and well written perspective on the difficulties they had in getting their best music before the public. The music establishment of Nashville, led by Chet Adkins, did not appreciate the talent they had. Some of the clash with the music establishment related to efforts to control the type of music they thought would sell and some was because some of the best creative talent was heavily strung out on drugs at the same time they were creating their best music. Yet it was their rebellious behavior so often captured in heir songs that created a new style of music, more complicated, more interesting and more emotionally resonant.

Reading this book I was continually flipping back trying to figure out who the author's sources were and how they were related to the book's primary focus, Willie, Waylon, and Kris Kristofferson. Lots of peripheral information, but lacking the depth I would normally associate with a book project. It felt to me more like an extended magazing piece, something that Rolling Stone might publish, citing lots of people on the periphery of this story, but not much input from the main characters themselves, or the true behind the scenes movers and shakers in Nashville and Texas. As a musician myself and a huge Willie Nelson fan, I've read lots of biographies of musicians, including Waylon, Willie, and many others. I enjoyed reading the anecdotes related in this book, and got some new context as to how these guys rose to prominence, but felt the author never really presented an insider's view of the rift between the Nashville establishment and the upstart Texas Outlaw scene from as intimate a perspective as I would have liked, or illustrated with the depth I would have liked how these unique artists pursued their own vision against the prevailing conventional wisdom of the recording industry.

I’m a great at fan to this day of Outlaw Country and this book is excellent. Learned a lot.

Good book, bought "new" but the spine was cracked and had the appearance of being used. It's not a big deal but for new price was unexpected.

Husband thought it was a good story.

Great book, interesting information.

Great book

If you like these singers music...you will really enjoy the read.......really interesting backgrounds into these three artists. Highly recommend the book.

This is a well written and researched book about the rise (and fall) of outlaw country and the impact it had on country music and the way it is recorded. Country music and Nashville was very conservative. Artists such as Willie, Waylon and Tompall had an impact in ensuring artists could use their own producers and have more influence over the music they wanted to record. The book makes many interesting and insightful comments. This was a major and significant change in country music and for anyone interested in country music history, this is well worth reading. It is a very good read.