The Highwaymen

Always loved them and their music. Recently received a 3 CD + Dvd set of a concert they gave at the Nassau Coliseum in 1990. Only Willie Nelson left now!

Some good stuff on the CD's but not sure of a few things stuck in the middle. About "Jesus" or whatever. And then Johnny Cash going on about Old Ragged Glory, the American Flag. Something like, "yea, people have the right to burn it, just so long as I have the right to pick up a gun and shoot them if they do". So that's what being "saved" amounts to.

But really, no quibbles. You can think what you like I suppose.

But a great album, "American Outlaws" Some great tracks.

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dancingtongue · 80-89, M

YouTube has videos of many of their concerts, including the Nassau one and several of their Farm Aid ones, and a Las Vegas one. They were an interesting group: each very successful musicians/songwriters on their own, bonded together largely by personality . friendship, and Nashville's efforts to turn country-western music into some Disney pop genre. Their styles and voices did not lend themselves to harmony, which is why they mostly took turns backing up their solos and their signature song, The Highway Men, was designed to feature each of them in turn as solos. And their politics, religious views were quite different. Cash, once he achieved sobriety, wrapped himself in flag-waving, bible thumping conservativism; Waylon before and after sobriety, was a champion of unabashed populism challenging existing societal norms while echoing a similar level of conservativism; then you had Willie promoting marijuana and Kristofferson, an ex-West Point military officer, supporting the Sandinistas and criticising American foreign policy. And in what used to be a trademark of American culture, they found a way to all get along and focus on their common grounds rather than fingerpoint, label, and demonize each other.

LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79

@dancingtongue Thanks. Yes, I picked up on the Nassau concert when trawling through YouTube.

Kris Kristofferson's life looks ripe for a decent biography and now that he's dead we might just get one. Whether or not it hits the stands before my own demise is another matter.

Apparently (via Wiki) he wanted the first three lines of Leonard Cohen's "Bird On the Wire" on his headstone....

Like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

Maybe challenges what Spike Milligan said once that he wanted on his:-

"I Told You I Was Ill"

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@LesDawsonsPiano Yes, Khris's life story would make a great biopic. Growing up an Army brat, coerced into entering the Army by his family, a Rhodes Scholar, left the Army when they re-assigned him to West Point to teach English rather than a combat pilot assignment to Vietnam as he had requested, couch surfing his way through Nashville working as a janitor in a recording studio peddling his songs, landing his helicopter in Johnny Cash's yard to get his attention for the song Coming Down on a Sunday Morning, his affair with Janis Joplin, his marriage to Rita Coolidge, before finally setting into his final marriage, his support of liberal causes that ran counter to most conservative country-western stars and fans. Hollywood wouldn't touch the script if it weren't all true. His song Why Me, Jesus pretty much sums it up, as well as the story behind writing it. Guess he had the last laugh on his father -- who disowned him at one point -- from his ranches in Malibu and on the Island of Maui.

WindTherapy · 56-60, M

I always enjoyed catching some of the videos of them playing in concert. Also enjoyed the movie Stagecoach that they all were in together. Not the greatest acting but the one liners along the way were pretty funny.

LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79

@WindTherapy The DVD of the concert is great.

LesDawsonsPiano · 70-79

From the album...

[media=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D8NsoN4S7IE&list=PLE6CQ31RK9-pM2wfx1uR3zhNwTD06byG3&index=16&pp=iAQB8AUB]

Jimbo7 · M

Brilliant 👏

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