Black Vest – Badge of the Outlaw
Frequent readers here already know that what makes a country music Outlaw is not image, quite the contrary. It is an independent spirit that is unwilling to bend to popular trends or Nashville’s money-centric methods. However recently I spied a trend, a fashion trend if you insist, that spans the time line of the Outlaws that I think is interesting to note. There are exceptions to this rule like Willie Nelson and Billy Joe Shaver, but generally speaking, the Outlaws have always sported the clothing accessory known as the “vest,” and usually that vest is black, and of the leather persuasion. Check it out:
The original Outlaw Bobby Bare:
You forgot about Tompall Glaser, didn’t you? But from the perspective of the front office, there was never a more important and influential Outlaw:
Along with Tompall and Bobby, Kris Kristofferson helped open up new themes that before had been considered taboo in country music.
Waylon Watashin Waymore Jennings:
Ladies can be Outlaws too. Miss Jessi Coulter was known as the lace to Waylon’s leather, but she can sport the Outlaw badge as well:
Johnny Paycheck. Nuff said:
He’s known more in the public as a children’s poet, but Shel Silverstein was three times the Outlaw Josh Thompson, Eric Church, and Gretchen Wilson will ever be.
Top tier Outlaws: Willie, Waylon, and David Allan Coe:
Alright ladies stop drooling, Dale Watson is spoken for.
Apparently Shooter Jennings thinks he looks better in a leather vest than the mascara and a mauve scarf of his Stargunn days.
Recently singed to Bloodshot Records and releasing an album that includes a song about when Billy Joe Shaver shot a man written by Dale Watson, Whitey Morgan is settling in nicely as a new school Outlaw with old school style.
Bob Wayne, the underground’s best kept secret, is about to get out. But it’ll be on his terms, with his Outlaw roots firmly in place.
Ruby Jane is rising fast with the independent Outlaw spirit at her back. If you’re worried the pop world will gobble up this amazing talent, she wants you to know she only wants to be her own girl.
Not black, not leather, but acting as a community bulletin board for the new school Outlaw country movement, Hank Williams III’s vest deserves honorable mention:
September 9, 2010 @ 11:14 am
I’ve noticed that before. Thanks for the good article and the pictures you put up. I’ve always wanted ta see what’s on the back of Hank III’s vest. I’m always curious what he wears.
August 6, 2022 @ 11:16 am
I was on the road with a country artist in the late 70’s-early 80’s. We played with Johnny Paycheck, Glen Campbell (not an outlaw), Don Williams, Ricky Nelsen, Larry Mahan and others. Back then there was a tradition of outlaw country players giving their vests to other musicians they respected. I think Waylon might have started it. I was a recipient of a vest from a player I didn’t know in 1977. He came up to the stage after a show and said he loved my playing and was giving me his vest. I took it as a high honor.
September 9, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
Oh fabulous Triggerman! Now every pop country wanna-be outlaw is gonna be sporting a vest!
Which prompts me to declare: You can vest a wanna-be, but you can’t outlaw the vest! Ha!
The vest is also very synonomous with bikers!
Great blog Triggerman.
September 9, 2010 @ 4:31 pm
Trust me darlin’, they aren’t reading this website. They’re reading focus group data that’s telling them to get highlights in their hair and custom skinny jeans. We’re just fine.
September 10, 2010 @ 5:17 am
Well dang it Triggerman. I swear if I see one highlighted skinny jean psuedo-outlaw wearin’ a vest, I’m blamin’ you!
It is important what an artist wears as far as the image they extend. Alot of people look at that as “the whole package” and can even start new trends and whatknot. Maybe you should have a new section called Saving Country Music’s Closet Watch. Yes??? Ok. I know. It’s not happening.
I did love the pics too though.
September 9, 2010 @ 9:26 pm
the vest handles road rash better than i would….
will we be seeing you in Louisville Denise?
September 10, 2010 @ 5:10 am
I wish I could make it Miss Cathy. I am hoping to be screaming my head off and flying through the air instead! Maybe I’ll throw on my vest while I’m at it! Have a great time
September 9, 2010 @ 12:39 pm
While we’re on the subject of outlaws. Did you write a review of Those Poor Bastards’ “Gospel Haunted” ?
September 9, 2010 @ 4:30 pm
Are Those Poor Bastards Outlaws? I’d say they’re more in their own sort of goth-country subgenre.
Oh here we go with splitting hairs over genres again.
And no, haven’t written a review yet. My first few listens did not go well and it got shelved for higher priorities. I will hopefully get back to it soon.
September 9, 2010 @ 8:35 pm
Higher priorities like telling us about your attraction to men in black vests?!!
September 9, 2010 @ 9:58 pm
I take nothing more seriously than writing a review. On average my reviews take about 5 hours to write. And they drain my life force. I only have the energy and time to write maybe two a week. And then barely anybody reads them. They are my least trafficked articles by far.
Specifically to the TPB, I didn’t feel inspired by the album. But I hope to give it more listens in the future, and do a review.
As for this article, this was a self-indulgent frap-fest that took me maybe an hour. And judging from the comments, was misunderstood and misguided. Screw it, it happens. I write the next one and forget about it.
There were a couple of women in those vests too. But if enjoying a badass photo of Shel Silverstein, or Bob Wayne tuning up III’s guitar, or Tompall outside of his renegade studio that brought Nashville to its knees makes me a fag, then hell, paint a rainbow on my ass.
September 10, 2010 @ 11:34 am
Lighten the fuck up man… I was just giving you a suggestion. It seemed like you were running out of news to talk about, and resorting to “Natioinal Inquirer” tactics. I’m just trying to be helpful and tell you that you’re stepping in dog shit… Ther’s no sence taking this fight outside ……………………………………………………………
…………….. And if you want get a rainbow tattooed on your ass, that’s your own business.
September 14, 2010 @ 7:05 pm
Whoa! Somebody’s getting their knickers in a knot here 😉 Pillsbury, I think all of us commenting here are pretty hardcore country music fans and I read all of The Triggerman’s reviews and also enjoy his lighthearted piss-takes about the fluffy and frivolous like this. I find it also helpful to keep in mind that he’s not being paid to run this site, write those reviews and generally keep me abreast of music I can’t read about anywhere else. As for the immature and derogatory gay comments – I would suggest you Pillsbury are the one stepping in dog shit there.
September 9, 2010 @ 1:33 pm
I’ve noticed the black leather vest before, even tried it on myself, but it didn’t feel like me, so I’m not wearing it. I also appreciate it when an artist thinks about what to wear when they go onstage, it’s about image and someone who (thinks he) is an outlaw may associate himself with the image of the ultimate outlaw, the Hell’s Angel. Steve Earle once said:”if you’re a baseball-player, you want to be a Yankee, if you’re a biker, you want to be Hell’s Angel”. But the vest is only part of the package, you’ve got to bring more than the looks to actually BE the outlaw. Ruby Jane is a brilliant fiddle-player, she’s not an outlaw-country-artist (if that’s what she wants to be, she’s already got a vest). The real outlaw is in the music, in the songs. It’s Saving Country Music, not Saving Country Fashion or Style.
September 9, 2010 @ 4:27 pm
OK so is it important what an artist wears on stage, or is it not? And can I make a casual observance, esp. when the first sentence of the article is “Frequent readers here already know that what makes a country music Outlaw is not image, quite the contrary. ” without completely changing the direction of this whole website?
I don’t think the Hell’s Angel is the ultimate Outlaw, esp. when you’re talking about a country music Outlaw. And I also think that Steve Earle religiously makes no sense and lives in a cloistered arrogant reality tunnel that makes him an ignorant bigot that ruins what otherwise would be great music. Steve Earle is not a country Outlaw either, he’s alt-country. Except for his early stuff, which is just awful.
And yes, I do think that Ruby Jane embodies the Outlaw spirit of country music. Whether she’s a country music Outlaw, time will tell.
Really this blog had nothing to do with vests. Vests were an excuse to hopefully continue to retrench just what a country music Outlaw is after it has been bastardized by Nashville marketing gurus.
September 9, 2010 @ 9:20 pm
gag me…more like steve hurl
September 14, 2010 @ 7:22 pm
Yeah, I think it’s important what an artist wears on stage. Call me shallow, hey that’s fine! I certainly wouldn’t judge someone’s music on what they wear on stage or in music videos but it can definitely lend itself to added appeal. You and I talked about this at SXSW as we debated Justin Towne Earles’ rather loud outfit – I thought it was creative, brave and pretty awesome. You, errrrm not so much! I live in a place where the black vest means something else entirely. It means you’re a bogan or a metaller: you live in West Auckland, listen to AC/DC and Metallica and team your black vest with said t-shirt, black jeans, black boots, a mullet and a can of ‘Woodstock’. Actually, they look alot like this (it’s only 30 seconds out of your life):
http://adland.tv/commercials/woodstock-bourbon-mum-2009-30-new-zealand
I just watched the MTV Music Video Awards and just about applauded out loud as Lady Gaga took to the stage three times to collect her awards in avant garde costumes she could barely move in. Her last dress was a faux meat dress with matching meat purse. Music is entertainment and I think it’s fantastic when artists (regardless of the genre) shock, provoke, and challenge with things like fashion. Hey why not? It should be fun right?
September 9, 2010 @ 5:00 pm
Funny shit Triggerman, even Ruby Jane is getting into the vest action! I guess I’m guilty, I have a leather vest, but at least it’s brown.
September 9, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
If Ruby Jane is an outlaw, she’s the sweetest and prettiest one I’ve ever known of. I don’t know how to classify Ruby exactly, maybe we shouldn’t try to. She’s just Ruby, and there is no one else like her.
September 9, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
I don’t know that I would define Ruby Jane as a country music Outlaw, but I do think she has some of those elements in her approach and music. Definitions can restrict and pidgeon hole artists, but they can also be easy ways to define music to someone in a simple manner.
I’ve written many times about what makes a country music Outlaw, trying to fight two main things:
1. A recent trend in Nashville to use an “Outlaw” persona to attempt to capitalize off growing anti-Nashville sentiment.
2. A negative stereotype that Outlaws are all about illegal things, hard music, whiskey and guns, etc.
The best way I know how to put it was from the article I referenced above:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/once-and-for-all-what-makes-an-outlaw
“Being a country music Outlaw has nothing to do with having tattoos. It has nothing to do with motorcycles, or how much you cuss in your music or reference drugs. It has nothing to do with rock influences in your music, nothing to do with if you “party” a lot or live an “Outlaw” lifestyle. Being an Outlaw has very little to do with the music itself. You can play traditional country, neo-traditional country, country-rock. There is NO definable Outlaw country sound. As long as it is country music, it can be Outlaw music.
“Outlaw” is a business term more than anything. Yes, all the above can be and have been elements of the overall Outlaw culture, but neither Willie, Waylon, or Kris had tattoos, rode motorcycles, and none of them were big drinkers. What they had in common with Outlaws that WERE big drinkers like Johnny Paycheck, or that rode motorcycles and had tattoos like David Allan Coe, was that they had all fought for creative control of their music from the country music establishment, and won it. THAT is what makes a country music artist an Outlaw. “
When you look at Ruby Jane and her insistence on making REAL music instead of what might help further her career because it would be “popular,” I see the Outlaw spirit in that. That new song I referenced “I Only Want to Be My Own Girl,” really exemplifies the Outlaw spirit as much as any.
I don’t want to pidgeon hole Ruby, but I do think she belongs on this list…because hey, she wore a black vest! But more so because she is clearly independent minded.
When you follow a formula, it may be easy to gain acceptance, but there’s a ceiling to that. When you follow your heart, the sky’s the limit. That’s why the “Wanted-The Outlaws” album was the first million-selling album in country music history, because there was no formula.
And isn’t it fitting that Ruby is an understudy of Willie, and was born in Texas, just like Willie, Waylon, and Kris.
OK I’ll stop writing now.
September 10, 2010 @ 4:24 pm
I know what you mean, but Ruby is so unique (in my opinion), it’s hard to know where she’s going to end up, except that she’s so talented and is such an electrifying onstage performer she’s GOT to end up in the upper stratosphere. Just don’t know exactly where the destination will finally be. Maybe they wil have to invent a new category just for her!
September 9, 2010 @ 7:39 pm
What about Zakk Wylde and the Black Label Society. I know it isn’t really country or underground anymore, but it is definetly outlaw music. Plus look back about a decade and check out Zakk’s Pride and Glory disc.
September 9, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
Man I used to love that track Machinegun Man.
For me, I don’t hold much value on the term outlaw. To me, the thing that really gets me with this music is *artists* taking action and chasing their dream however they choose. It’s not giving a fuck about making lots of money or becoming famous. It’s the satisfaction of writing and playing the music that you want to hear and/or perform.
These times that we’re in, while I don’t think they’re as bad as the mainstream media may lead us to believe, I do think that they’re encouraging a change of lifestyle for the common man in that, it’s pretty much pointless to sit and expect handouts or wait for someone else to improve your life. It’s much more gratifying to get up, take action, chase your dream by doing whatever it is you want to do.
I’m a little drunk so I probably repeated the same idea a few times but, hopefully yall get what I’m sayin.
September 10, 2010 @ 12:29 am
drunk or not it makes sense to me. rock on
September 10, 2010 @ 5:07 am
So true Nlindsay. If you’re chasing your dream and not focusing on fame and money, then it’s a true dream and not a manufactured one. It definitely is a waste of time and a mistake thinking someone is going to hand it over for nothing. The price these country music sensations are paying is giving up their souls for the dollar. I respect the hardworking musician just the same as the hardworking men and women trying to make a living whether it’s slingin’ hash in a greasy spoon or standing on a production line and most especially putting on a uniform to defend the freedom that this country gives. I don’t care one iota about chart topping sales and shiny dustcatchers. I love the dedication and talent that comes out of the real country music. Music Row can’t buy that, no way, no how.
September 9, 2010 @ 7:41 pm
WELL THERE IS A MOTORCYCLE CLUB CALLED THE OUTLAWS THAT LITERALLY THINK THEY OWN THE WORD OUTLAW..THERE WAS A GREAT MUSICAL GROUP CALLED THE OUTLAWS..I OWN SOME STICKERS WITH THE OUTLAWS ON IT WITH A COW SKULL IN THE CENTER BUT IF I HAD THIS STICKER ON MY TRUCK MOST PEOPLE WOULD THINK I’M A OUTLAW OF THE MOTORCYCLE CLUB TYPE SINCE I’VE BEEN A BIKER MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE..I’VE OWNED SEVERAL HARLEY DAVIDSON BIKES AND NOT BEEN WITHOUT ONE SINCE I WAS 17 YRS.OLD..I’VE OWNED MANY MANY BLACK LEATHER VESTS,WORE SOME OUT AND STILL OWN SEVERAL..I’M NOT A M/C CLUB OUTLAW NOR A MUSICAL OUTLAW BUT AN OUTLAW IN MY OWN RITE BUT ITS ONLY A WORD..EVERY WOMAN HAS A PUSSY BUT IT DON’T MAKE THEM ALL WHORES NOR DOES A MANS DICK MAKE HIM A STUD..JUST SAYING!!!
September 10, 2010 @ 5:21 am
Damn straight Mr.B!
September 9, 2010 @ 7:43 pm
TRIGGERMAN,A GREAT BLOG WITH SOME GREAT PICS!!!
September 10, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
I’m glad your legs/feet are better and your able to get out there and do what you want to do!
September 9, 2010 @ 9:12 pm
“independent spirit that is unwilling to bend to popular trends or Nashville”™s money-centric methods” also describes most of your readers Triggerman.
and yep….we both have black vests, of the leather persuasion I might add.
Wayne’s fashion trend vest is older than you are
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30938272&id=1074772814&ref=fbx_album&fbid=1294839405800
September 9, 2010 @ 10:01 pm
Good picture Cathy! And yes, I think the black vest rule applies to fans as well. I was thinking of y’all, Bandana, and others while writing this.
September 10, 2010 @ 11:52 am
I can tell you why most of us wear them. The vest is where you put the money,guns and drugs. They sure wont fit in a tight pair of levi’s.
September 10, 2010 @ 1:03 pm
Don’t like the way this article is going.
At all.
April 6, 2015 @ 4:02 pm
I was on the original outlaw country music scene. There was a custom back then that if you really liked and respected the music and/or playing/singing of another person on the scene, you gave that person a personal article as a token of your esteem. The most common items given were vests and guitar straps. I want to think that Waylon started this custom, but it has been so long that my memory may be faulty. I was given a vest by a country musician while on tour in SE Colorado. The year was 1976, I’m sending a leather Fender Logo jacket to another musician today in memory of those days and to in remembrance of his referral which led to the best gig I caught in those days. I was given gifts by members of two top acts during that run. I hope young players will discover the history of this custom and bring it back to life.