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Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson & Tompall Glaser
 
 

Wanted!: The Outlaws (contributed by Gary Eichten) This album is a testament to the power of marketing.  In the early 70s, having failed to succeed on the Nashville assembly line,  Waylon and Willie gave up and began recording and performing their own kind of music:  stripped down rock and blues-influenced country songs.   Fans, mostly young long hairs and rednecks, responded. Waylon's records started to sell  and RCA decided to capitalize by giving this new music a name (Outlaw Country) and releasing a  sampler for a wider audience.  It was wildly successful.  With country drowning in strings and rock drowning in excess, Wanted!:  The Outlaws, was an instant, crossover hit.  It was the first country album to sell a million copies and set the stage for a series of number one hit songs in the 70s.  As Waylon Jennings would later write, "There wasnít anything slick about the album.  It was loose-limbed and thatís what people were looking for.  They couldnít find it in rock and they damn sure couldnít find it in country.  We were the only alternative they had." Editor's Note: While Gary's note adequately covers the history and merits of the album, it doesn't do him justice in explaining why it' s here. When I first mentioned this list to him several years ago, along with the possibility of guest contributions, he didn't even take a second to consider it. This album saved his life, he explained. I don't know the details behind that statement, and I'm not sure I want to, but I sure as hell understand the sentiment behind it.