Various Artists
(Legacy)
It should be noted from the outset that this compilation does not contain anything resembling a bad track. The problem is that it seems to be too generous in its assessment of what qualifies as “outlaw country.” Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” (1990) owes a significant debt to his musical forebears (and, yes, you can catch a glimpse in the documentary Heartworn Highways of the very young Earle hanging out with Townes Van Zandt — notable on this comp by his absence), but the outlaw-country movement is first and foremost about a specific historical moment, when Waylon and Willie and the boys were fed up with the Music Row establishment. They were outlaws because they made country records outside of the Nashville system — and they were successful with it. Later cuts by Georgia Satellites or Travis Tritt might be enjoyable enough, but these folks are not the ones who blazed the insurgent path, nor is their music cut from the same specific stylistic cloth.
Similarly, the Southern rock of Molly Hatchet, the Allman Brothers, Skynyrd, and the Marshall Tucker Band feels particularly out of place on a compilation celebrating outlaw country, given that these bands got the bulk of their airplay back in the day from AOR stations, have been packaged as Freedom Rock and today get decent airplay under the mantle of “classic rock.” In the right mood, I enjoy myself some Skynyrd or some Allmans — I just don’t call it “country” music. Along with Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson should have found a space on this collection. It’s a good comp; maybe the curator should have titled it more accurately: Some Songs I Like.
Standout tracks: “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?,” “Good-Hearted Woman” EDWARD BURCH
