By the mid ’70s, Southern rock emerged as one of the most-exciting and successful genres in pop music, thanks to the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Another important early Southern-rock band making its mark with country influences was Outlaws – the Tampa group nicknamed “Florida Guitar Army.”
Rhythm guitarist Henry Paul, lead guitarists Hughie Thomasson and Billy Jones, bassist Frank O’Keefe, and drummer Monte Yoho set themselves apart from contemporaries with three- and four-part vocal harmonies. Their 1975 debut album, Outlaws, rose to #13 on Billboard and sold more than 500,000 copies propelled by the explosive guitar-jam anthem “Green Grass & High Tides” and the rousing hit single “There Goes Another Love Song.”
Paul recalled that the band’s musical personality was forged in bars where crowds wanted to hear cover songs, even as they compiled a list of original music.
“The difference between Outlaws and some of the more-popular Top 40 cover bands was that we would not allow ourselves to veer off this imaginary course we were on,” he said. “There was a price you paid for being an original band. You didn’t get as much money, you didn’t get as many dates. We did cover songs of the Allman Brothers Band, Cream, and Eagles so that when we stooped to pick up the dime, we at least stayed in character.”
Though known for its three-guitar lineup, vocal harmonies were crucial to the group’s sound, the influence coming from Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds, and Eagles.
“The country-music character primarily came from me, and in part my collaboration with Hughie, because he had the ability to play a Strat in a way that mimicked steel guitar. We’d sing together and it was really cool; I had this bluegrassy, nasally, piercing voice while he had that raspier, thicker, lower voice. With Billy’s clear high-tenor harmony, we created the foundation for our vocals and were a very good hybrid of those West Coast vocal-harmony bands and Southern-rock dual-lead-guitar bands.”
Legendary music executive Clive Davis signed Outlaws as the first rock act on Arista Records. Bob Johnston, Bob Dylan’s producer, was first in line to helm their debut, which thrilled Paul, who was a Dylan-fanatic folkie. After Johnston declined, they approached Paul A. Rothchild, who was hot for his work with The Doors, Janis Joplin, and many folk acts.
“He came to see us in Chicago at a weird little show bar,” Paul remembers. “He made a profound impression on us – me, in particular, because I knew of his work. We felt very comfortable, given that he was so successful and knew exactly what he was doing. It was a huge learning experience.”
“There Goes Another Love Song” features Thomasson’s Stratocaster riffing, a catchy chorus, and two guitar solos – all in a tight three minutes. It reached #34 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart – quite respectable in the era of disco and soft rock.
“Hughie and Monte collaborated on that,” Paul said. “It had a very commercial appeal, and it’s one of our more-recognizable songs. Rothchild did a remarkable job creating a radio record.
“There’s a funny footnote,” he adds. “When we were sent the test pressing, none of us had a good stereo system, so we took it to the high-end stereo shop in Tampa. We sat in their demo room and were like, ‘Holy s**t! This is really good! I can’t believe we did this!’ It was a testimony to Rothchild’s professionalism and talent.”
The hyperactive two-minute instrumental “Waterhole” started as a song co-written by Paul for his previous band, but Outlaws gave it new life.
“We would play it at the end of our set (in the bars). It was a very bluegrass-tempo thing,” said Paul, who played an ES-330 and D-28 on Outlaws. “The group re-wrote and arranged it and made it their own. You’ll notice that everybody got (songwriting) credit because it was a group effort.”
“Green Grass & High Tides” closes Outlaws. Arguably the band’s definitive song, today it stands as a bona fide rock classic. Paul recalled how the band was at first taken aback as Rothchild worked the tape.
“Everything was done with a razor blade and there was miles of 2″ tape on the floor – someone’s solo – so it went from a 13- or 14-minute song down to a 9:46 version,” he said. “But he consolidated the essence of the song with brilliant edits; it sounded like it was perfectly conceived.”
Sadly, three original Outlaws have passed – Jones and O’Keefe in 1995 and Thomasson in 2007. Paul leads the current Outlaws lineup and also continues working with BlackHawk, the successful country group he co-founded in the early ’90s. In ’25, he plans to release an autobiography, a solo album, and an Outlaws album with new material and covers of classics by their Southern-rock peers.
Fifty years down the road, Paul said Outlaws is where it all began.
“I see a record that was transitional – from being a dreamer to living the life that dream represented. It was integral in that process and will forever be the most-important record I’ve ever made because it got me out of the clubs and on the road; it took us from a rough-and-tumble club band – a good one – to a polished national recording act.
“It was such an amazingly magical time, and Rothchild (d. 1995) was incredibly important in making it happen. The excitement and what it did for us – and where it took us – is indelibly etched in my heart.”
This article originally appeared in VG’s March 2025 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.
