Outlaws Super Hits

Performer: Various Artists
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Producers: Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Chips Moman (track 1); Richie Albright, Bob Montgomery (track 2); Don Law, Frank Jones (track 3); Ron Bledsoe (track 4); John Boylan (track 5); Chips Moman (track 6); Willie Nelson (track 7); Bob Johnston (track 8); Billy Sherrill (track 9); Merle Haggard, Lewis Talley (track 10). Personnel: David Allan Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson (vocals). Photographers: Will Van Overbeek; Alan Messer. Unknown Contributor Role: Blake Morgan . As long as you don't pay full price for this no-frills, ten-song, 32-minute compilation, you are getting a good deal. The various members of the Highwaymen -- Willie, Waylon, Kris, Cash, as they are billed on the "Highwayman" song included here -- and a bunch of fellow outlaws, including Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe, and Charlie Daniels, contribute some of their better songs, including "Pancho and Lefty," "Ring of Fire," "Long Haired Redneck," "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," "Folsom Prison Blues," and "Take This Job and Shove It." It's an abbreviated sampler of the genre, but a well-chosen one. ~ William Ruhlmann Outlaws -- Super Hits is a budget-line collection that does an adequate job with summing up the attitude, if not the actual sound, of late-'70s outlaw country. Part of the problem is that the album concentrates solely on artists who recorded for Columbia and its affiliated labels. Therefore, a few major outlaw artists -- including Billy Joe Shaver and Tompall Glaser -- aren't included at all, while others, like Waylon Jennings, have misrepresentative tracks. Furthermore, several artists who have only a tangential relationship with outlaw -- such as Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, who were more responsible for inspiring the movement than actually being part of it -- are given numerous tracks. Still, Outlaws -- Super Hits is enjoyable for what its is -- a brief, cheap ten-track sampler with a few good songs. Certain songs are stone-cold outlaw classics -- such as Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," David Allan Coe's "Long Haired Redneck," and Haggard & Nelson's duet, "Pancho and Lefty" -- while others are just classics (Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It," Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues"). And that just means that although Outlaws -- Super Hits isn't a definitive outlaw compilation, it's still an enjoyable listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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