50th Anniversary of Outlaw Country

Listen to a chronological playlist of the Texas music that made Nashville shake in its Lucchese Boots

In terms of national influence, creative energy and a vibrant club circuit, no 365-day period in the Texas capital tops 1973, when Willie Nelson put on his first Fourth of July Picnic, Doug Sahm moved to Austin and wrote “Groover’s Paradise” about his new homebase, and the burgeoning progressive country scene had its own radio station with KOKE-FM. Austin even hit the national top ten with “My Maria” by B.W. Stevenson.

Michael Martin Murphey gave the hippie Texan scene a theme in early ’73 when he sang “I just want to be a cosmic cowboy,” but by year’s end the whole town was singing “I wanna go home with the armadillo.” The scene was too big for just one anthem.

Murphey’s Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir was followed in June ’73 by a pair of albums- Willie Nelson’s Shotgun Willie and Honky Tonk Heroes by Waylon Jennings- that are considered the opening blasts of the outlaw country movement. Then came the great Hill Country  party album Viva Terlingua by Jerry Jeff Walker and his compadres, recorded live at Luckenbach in August ’73. When it came to albums that define an era, Austin was holding four aces.

Flaunting a Lone Star State identity, Austin’s “Summer of Love” ditched the headband and sandals for a floppy straw cowboy hat and boots. (But kept the fringed vest.)

Invigorated by the lowering of the drinking age to 18 in 1973, the Austin club scene also grew up fast, transforming a Sixth Street of porno theaters, pawn shops and used furniture stores into an entertainment district overrun with college students having their first legal beer.

Further revitalizing the downtown music scene was the gas crisis of ’73- ’74, when an embargo by Arab oil-producing countries caused long lines, high prices, and empty dancehalls on the outskirts of town. Audiences wanted their clubs close, and being able to walk between venues was a plus. A trio of country music clubs in the Sixth Street district - Alliance Wagon Yard, River City Inn, and the Cotton Exchange - bonded to allow customers to barhop on only one cover charge. 

The 1,500-capacity Armadillo World Headquarters was king, booking the likes of Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, Bette Midler, Gram Parsons and Freddie King, but the Austin club scene, on any given night, might feature more intimate shows like Little Feat at Castle Creek, Freda and the Firedogs at Split Rail Inn, The Flatlanders at the One Knite, Steve Fromholz at the original Saxon Pub, and Bob Seger at Mother Earth.

The most prominent addition to the local club scene was Soap Creek Saloon, which opened in the wilds of West Lake Hills in March ’73. With a 250-capacity, and regular appearances from Doug Sahm and Marcia Ball, it was a cozier Armadillo in the middle of nowhere, up a dirt road with VW-swallowing potholes. But being isolated was one of the things that made “the Honky Tonk In the Hills” special. You had to want to be there, which made everyone feel safer with each other. Another thing that set Soap Creek apart was being that rare music venue at the time which served mixed drinks, after Texas began issuing mixed beverage permits for clubs in 1971.

Nineteen seventy-three was when favorite son Roky Erickson came home from two hellish years at Rusk State Hospital, and revived his 13^th Floor Elevators at a free concert- “Last Bash on the Hill.” Unbilled special guest Willie Nelson drove his Winnebago through a crowd of 15,000, and, duly inspired, put on his own festival four months later.

Seventy-three was when the world was finding out about Austin music, but only the musicians started moving there. That would soon change.

Originally published in a slightly different form by Texas Highways.