An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home

An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home

An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home

An Outlaw and a Lady: A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith that Brought Me Home

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Overview

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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780718082970
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date: 04/11/2017
Pages: 304
Product dimensions: 6.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

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.


David Ritz, called the "first call celebrity collaborator" by the New York Times, recently wrote Willie Nelson's bestselling It's A Long Story. He has collaborated on memoirs with, among others, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and B. B. King. His books include Scott Stapp's Sinner's Creed; Nik Wallenda's Balance: A Story of Faith, Family, and Life on the Line; and Messengers: Portraits of African American Ministers, Evangelists, Gospel Singers, and Other Messengers of the Word. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part 1 The Cloud

1 Arizona at Night 3

2 When Time and Eternity Meet 11

3 Beyond the Mountains of the Moon 19

4 Young and Innocent 29

5 The End of Innocence 37

6 Meet Mirriam Eddy 43

7 The Canyons 51

8 Cry Softly 59

Part 2 The Lightning

9 Waylon at JD's 71

10 Love of the Common People 79

11 Rhythms 89

12 "You Wanna Get Married, Don't You?" 99

13 The Birth of Jessi Colter 107

Part 3 The Return

14 Oh Well, There's Always God 117

15 Storms Never Last 125

16 Outlaw 133

17 Of Man and God 143

18 Joy and Grief 153

19 Mirriam 163

20 What Goes Around Comes Around 175

21 A Cowboy Rocks and Rolls 185

Part 4 The Reconciliation

22 Flying High, Falling Low 197

23 Patience 207

24 Time to Party 217

25 Unexpected Birth 227

26 Hoss 237

Part 5 The Road Back Home

27 Nourishment 249

28 Will the Circle Be Unbroken? 259

29 This Mortal Coil 267

30 Out of the Ashes 277

Acknowledgments 287

Notes 291

About the Authors 293

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