An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home
Written by Jessi Colter and David Ritz
Narrated by Devon O'Day
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Renowned songwriter, singer, and wife of Waylon Jennings writes an intimate, enormously entertaining memoir of American music, of life with Waylon and the Outlaws, and of faith lost and found.
The daughter of a Pentecostal evangelist and a race-car driver, Jessi Colter played piano and sang in church before leaving Arizona to tour with rock-n-roll pioneer Duane Eddy, whom she married. Colter became a successful recording artist, appearing on American Bandstand and befriending stars such as the Everly Brothers and Chet Atkins, while her songs were recorded by Nancy Sinatra, Dottie West, and others. Her marriage to Eddy didn’t last, however, and in 1969 she married the electrifying Waylon Jennings. Together, they made their home in Nashville, which in the 1970s, was ground zero for roots music, drawing Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Shel Silverstein, and others to the Nashville Sound. And Jessi was at the center of it all, the only woman on the landmark Wanted: The Outlaws album, the record that launched the Outlaw Country genre and was the first country album to go platinum. She also tasted personal commercial success with the #1-single “I’m Not Lisa.”
But offstage, life was a challenge, as Waylon pursued his addictions and battled his demons. Having drifted from the church as a young woman, Jessi returned to her faith and found in it a source of strength in the turmoil of living with Waylon. In the 1980s, Waylon helped launch the super group The Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson, and the hits kept rolling, as did Waylon’s reckless living. Amid it all, Jessi faithfully prayed for her husband until finally, at Thanksgiving 2001, Waylon found Jesus, just months before he died.
An Outlaw and a Lady is a powerful story of American music, of love in the midst of heartache, and of faith that sustains.
Jessi Colter
Jessi Colter is one of America’s most beloved singer-songwriters. Her storied career began in the sixties when, encouraged by her first husband, guitar legend Duane Eddy, she composed hit songs for Dottie West, Nancy Sinatra, and Hank Locklin. Best known for her collaboration with her husband, Waylon Jennings, and for her 1975 country-pop crossover hit “I’m Not Lisa,” she was the only woman featured on the landmark album Wanted: The Outlaws that forever changed American music. She has fifteen major-label albums to her credit, and her songs and records have sold in the tens of millions. She lives near Scottsdale, Arizona.
Related to An Outlaw and a Lady
Related audiobooks
Love, Janis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Face It: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gentle on My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grand Tour: The Life and Music of George Jones Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Myths and Legends, Kris Kristofferson: Flowers, War and Rebellion, Flashbacks from the 1960s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNever Look at the Empty Seats: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of Hank Williams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Willie Nelson's Letters to America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Luck or Something Like It: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Me and Paul: Untold Stories of a Fabled Friendship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The MAN Called CASH: The Life, Love and Faith of an American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Renaissance Man, Kris Kristofferson: Heroes of the Sixties, The Love and Peace Era Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Cross to Bear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Satan Is Real: The Ballad of the Louvin Brothers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Icon Remembers, Kris Kristofferson: Legends of the 1960s; Days of Rage and Promise Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anchored In Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Change of Seasons: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Robert Plant: A Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rhapsody in Black: The Life and Music of Roy Orbison Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Artists and Musicians For You
IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dolly Parton: The Life of a Legendary American Singer, Actor, and Businesswoman Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5My Effin' Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5More Myself: A Journey Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Me: Elton John Official Autobiography Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rememberings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Love Story: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Woman in Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward after Loss and Heartache Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scar Tissue Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mercury and Me Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chita: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Robin Williams: When the Laughter Stops 1951 - 2014 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Faith, Hope and Carnage Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary: Greenlights: by Matthew McConaughey: Key Takeaways, Summary & Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Perfect Union of Contrary Things Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Storyteller: Expanded: ...Because There's More to the Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Share My Life: A Journey of Love, Faith and Redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chronicles: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for An Outlaw and a Lady
13 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I thought this book was superb. It was well written and interesting. This lady put up with a lot of cr*p from the outlaw, but she stuck with him through thick and thin. Stand by Your Man, but that was another country western singer. Two thumbs up.