This story was originally published May 20, 2016, on rollingstone.com.
Theres also a DVD/Blu-ray of that same concert.
Yes, they arethecountry supergroup, but it was founded by friendship.
Jim McGuire
But they came together as friends, and thats the unifying power of the Highwaymen.
Thats where the magic was.
It wasnt an awkward pairing or like working with someone they didnt know.
It came out of pure friendship, she says.
There was no marketing guy who came and said, This will be a good idea.
My dad and Waylon were roommates in the Sixties, hiding their drugs from each other.
Kris is like his little brother for decades…
They were all buddies and they wanted to do it.
They showed people that four really big superstars can get together and make something great.
That record could have been awful, but it wasnt, he says.
They worked together and left their ego at the door and said, Lets make some country music.
You had Cash doing Big River and then Willie doing Always on My Mind.
It blew peoples minds, says Jennings.
Along withAmerican Outlaws, the band is the focus of PBSsAmerican Masters.
Kris was very much into politics.
Kris was always crazy about Waylon.
Waylon was knocked to his knees when he first heard Kriss songs.
Jennings remembers the disagreements as squabbles among kids.
They were like brothers up there, bickering with each other.
Tension often results in great art, however, and onAmerican Outlaws, the performances crackle.
What Ive always respected about all of those guys was the honesty and the integrity of the songs.
But those songs last.
Its something that had a big impact on me, listening to their music.
Cash seconds Binghams assessment, marveling at the longevity of the Highwaymen catalog.
Itll be more clear, wherefore our tree came from.
Were looking back over the history of our modern recorded music, he says.
To Harris, the Highwaymen thrived as a unit because of each artists refusal to ever be boxed in.
When you break free of those parameters you really have something to say.
And thats what they did.
They just blew it out of the water.
They said, Were going to be rebels, but were going to rebel together.'
And that is the magic of Desperados,' Cash says.
They took it on as being their own story.
Jennings himself believed that to be true.
A quote from his 1996 autobiography appears in the liner notes toAmerican Outlaws.
Theres a blues song that talks about the key to the highway.
