Southern rock unit
the Outlaws were formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1972 by singers/guitarists
Hughie Thomasson and
Henry Paul, bassist
Frank O'Keefe, and drummer
Monte Yoho. With the 1973 addition of guitarist Billy Jones, the lineup was complete, and after a year of intense touring the band became the first act signed to Arista under
Clive Davis;
the Outlaws' self-titled 1975 album spotlighted their
Eagles-influenced harmonies and
Allman Brothers-like guitar attack, yielding the Top 40 hit "There Goes Another Love Song."
In the wake of 1977's
Bill Szymczyk-produced
Hurry Sundown, both
Paul and
O'Keefe exited, with guitarist
Freddie Salem, bassist
Harvey Dalton Arnold, and second drummer
David Dix signing on for the 1978 concert set
Bring It Back Alive and the studio effort
Playin' to Win. The lineup shuffles continued when Arnold announced his departure following 1979's In the Eye of the Storm, with bassist
Rick Cua recruited for the next year's Ghost Riders in the Sky, which netted a Top 40 entry with its title track, a rendition of the
Vaughn Monroe favorite.
Yoho left to rejoin
Henry Paul soon after, and with the subsequent exit of Jones, only
Thomasson remained from the original
Outlaws roster -- not surprisingly, the group disbanded upon completing 1982's
Los Hombres Malo.
A year later,
Thomasson and
Paul formed a new
Outlaws lineup, adding guitarist
Chris Hicks, bassist Barry Borden, and drummer
Jeff Howell; after issuing 1986's
Soldiers of Fortune,
Paul again quit the band, with the remaining quartet returning in 1993 with Hittin' the Road. While
Paul resurfaced in 1994 in the chart-topping contemporary country band
BlackHawk,
Thomasson later toured with the re-formed
Lynyrd Skynyrd while continuing to lead
the Outlaws, releasing So Low in 2000.
Sadly, Jones and
O'Keefe died within three weeks of one another in early 1995. In 2005, original members
Thomasson,
Paul,
Yoho, and
David Dix reunited as
the Outlaws, rounding out the lineup with three members of
BlackHawk, guitarist Chris Anderson, bassist Randy Threet, and keyboardist Dave Robbins.
Paul and Robbins departed a year later to concentrate again on
BlackHawk, while
Thomasson, the only original member of
the Outlaws to make it through all of the band's configurations, kept things going, reportedly finishing a new studio album, Once an Outlaw, before his death from a heart attack in 2007.
In 2012, a new edition of
the Outlaws released a studio album, It's About Pride. Dedicated to
Hughie Thomasson, Billy Jones, and
Frank O'Keefe, the album featured
Henry Paul,
Monte Yoho, Chris Anderson, Randy Threet, and Dave Robbins from the Once an Outlaw lineup, alongside new members
Billy Crain (guitar) and
Joe Lala (percussion). In 2013,
Billy Crain left the band due to medical problems, and
Joe Lala died in 2014 after a bout with lung cancer.
Steve Grisham, who played with
the Outlaws from 1983 to 1986, rejoined the group as guitarist. A new concert album from this edition of the band, titled
Legacy Live, arrived in 2016. ~ Jason Ankeny & Steve Leggett