With the recent passing of native Texan and singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, we thought it would be a great time to celebrate him and the other renegades who changed the course of country music. In the 1970s and 80s, they fought for and won their creative freedom outside of the Nashville establishment.

Below we’ve included general books about the outlaw movement and biographies and autobiographies on the individual musicians who participated in it.

General

BAKERSFIELD SOUND: HOW A GENERATION OF DISPLACED OKIES REVOLUTIONIZED AMERICAN MUSIC by Robert E. Price (DBC 16152)

OUTLAW: WAYLON, WILLIE, KRIS, AND THE RENEGADES OF NASHVILLE by Michael Streissguth (DB 91185)

WILLIE, WAYLON, AND THE BOYS: HOW NASHVILLE OUTSIDERS CHANGED COUNTRY MUSIC FOREVER by Brian Fairbanks (DB 121918)

Johnny Cash

CASH: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Johnny Cash (DB 48368, BRG 01737, LB 04558)

JOHNNY CASH: THE BIOGRAPHY by Michael Streissguth (DB 63854, BR 17221)

JOHNNY CASH: THE LIFE by Robert Hilburn (DB 77605)

JOHNNY CASH: THE REDEMPTION OF AN AMERICAN ICON by Greg Laurie (DB 113719)

MAN IN BLACK by Johnny Cash (DB 58372, BRG 04590)

Jessi Colter

OUTLAW AND A LADY: A MEMOIR OF MUSIC, LIFE WITH WAYLON, AND THE FAITH THAT BROUGHT ME HOME by Jessi Colter (DB 95936)

Steve Earle

I’LL NEVER GET OUT OF THIS WORLD ALIVE by Steve Earle (DBC 11863)

Merle Haggard

HAG: THE LIFE, TIMES, AND MUSIC OF MERLE HAGGARD by Marc Eliot (DB 106389)

SING ME BACK HOME: MY STORY by Merle Haggard (DBC 14316)

Waylon Jennings

WAYLON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Waylon Jennings (DB 43334)

Willie Nelson

IT’S A LONG STORY: MY LIFE by Willie Nelson (DB 81617, LB 09217)

WILLIE: AN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF WILLIE NELSON by Michael Bane (DB 23224)

Marty Robbins

TWENTIETH CENTURY DRIFTER: THE LIFE OF MARTY ROBBINS by Diane Diekman (DB 97778)

Tanya Tucker

NICKEL DREAMS: MY LIFE by Tanya Tucker (DB 48356, LB 04599)

Townes Van Zandt

TO LIVE’S TO FLY: THE BALLAD OF THE LATE, GREAT TOWNES VAN ZANDT by John Kruth (DBC 04839)