Various Artists "The Very Best of Outlaw Country" (Legacy)

It's always been a bit ironic that "outlaw," the mark of individuality and rebellion against the constraints of Nashville's industry machine, became such a potent marketing device. Initially applied retroactively to a collection of works from Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser, "outlaw" grew to include anyone who wanted to position themselves (or, more often, have their record companies position them) as outsiders. Legacy's 20-track collection stretches the definition to include hippies (The Allman Brothers), rebels (Johnny Cash, The Marshall Tucker Band, Lynynrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Gretchen Wilson), iconoclasts (Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver), malcontents (Johnny Paycheck, David Allan Coe), problem children (Tanya Tucker), new traditionalists (Travis Tritt), and Hank Williams Jr., who fits easily with the rebels, iconoclasts, problem children and malcontents. Whether all of these artists are outlaws, in the sense originally applied to Jennings, is debatable, but for the most part, there is an outside, rebel spirit to these great tracks that does provide a theme. When the buck originally stopped with Jennings, he was forcing RCA's hand in a contract renewal, wresting away their overbearing control of songs, studios, producers and players. Freeing himself to record what he wanted, where he wanted, and with whom he wanted to play, Jennings’ career blossomed into superstar success on his own terms. Opening this disc, Jennings' "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way" gives Nashville one additional twist of the knife, chiding Music Row for its focus on flash and sizzle, while laying out his country ethos with forceful, quiet reserve.

Two of Jennings outlaw compatriots are also featured here, including Willie Nelson's well-known live take of "Whiskey River," and Jessi Colter's cover of Mickey Newbury's "Why You Been Gone So Long." The latter is full of twang and vocal fire, and was recorded two years before Jennings’ “Ladies Love Outlaws” (from whence the tag was drawn), and six years before RCA pulled the tag out of their hat for the compilation “Wanted: The Outlaws.” Marketing was apparently late to the outlaw party. Also featured here are Jennings and Nelson on the hit live version of their co-written "Good Hearted Woman."

Among the artists not originally marketed under RCA's outlaw banner, the renegade spirit of Billie Joe Shaver, Steve Earle and David Allan Coe fit most easily. Shaver's rough-and-tumble, autobiographical "I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train," has rightly become a classic, and Earle's "Copperhead Road," flush with rock energy and Celtic influences, was simply too eclectic and original for the Nashville mainstream. Coe sings Steve Goodman's "perfect" country and western song, "You Never Even Called me By My Name," name-checking Jennings and Coe himself before running through the hastily added last verse of mama, trains, trucks, prison and getting drunk. Coe’s hit by way of Johnny Paycheck “Take This Job and Shove It” is also here.

The collection's southern rock tracks might feel more like outlaw to those raised in hippie hating states below the Mason-Dixon; coastal natives probably won't remember the Allman Brothers as rebels. Lynyrd Skynrd, on the other hand, managed to give pause to Southerners with their long hair, and to everyone above the Mason-Dixon with their songs of southern pride. Charlie Daniels wasn't quite as in-your-face with their roots, but "The South's Gonna Do It Again" certainly brags on its place (albeit with a more traditional western swing sound).

Of the set's recent tracks, Gretchen Wilson's redneck celebration "Here for the Party" might feel more calculated if Wilson didn't always seem to be the bona fide party girl of her lyrics. Shooter Jennings "4th of July" is more rock than country, and while it's refreshing to hear he's not simply aping his father's work, it's not clear why he's considered "outlaw." The same could be said for the Georgia Satellites "Keep You Hands to Yourself," which is a fine song, but doesn't seem particularly rebellious, and Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster" sounds more like prog-rock or heavy metal than outlaw country. The album closes with Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues," sung live at Folsom Prison, a true rebel singing for an audience of social outsiders.

This is a nice selection of tracks (albeit confined by the expense of inter-label catalog licensing), and though the title takes a bit of liberty with the "outlaw" label, the rebel spirit of country's original outlaws can be heard in most of the songs. [©2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com]