Green Grass And High Tides Forever

Hughie Thomasson of The Outlaws passed away over the weekend. Thomasson wrote and sang the band's trademark song 'Green Grass And High Tides', as well as other hits such as 'Hurry Sundown' and 'There Goes Another Love Song'.

Hughie Thomasson with The Outlaws
Cow Palace, S.F. - April 17, 1982
(Pic by Umlaut)

Umlaut saw The Outlaws in 1982 when they supported Black Sabbath, which still seems like an odd bill even now. The drunken Sabbath crowd didn't take very kindly to The Outlaws and at one point Hughie was hit in the face by something thrown from the crowd.... However, after going offstage for a minute to recover he was back out front and when the band launched into 'Green Grass And High Tides' the crowd loved it. Rock concerts used to be so much more fun.

Fast forward to 1997 and Umlaut caught a latter day version of Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert. The version of Skynyrd at the time was actually interesting to Music Geeks because it featured guitarists from 3 of Southern Rock's greatest bands: Gary Rossington (Skynyrd), Ricky Medlocke (Blackfoot), and Hughie (The Outlaws). I gotta say that in his later years, Hughie looked better than he did back in the 70's heyday of The Outlaws; sorta like a Southern Rock Lemmy.

Trivia: Name the song that both The Outlaws AND Nick Cave covered...

Answer: The 19th Century Appalachian murder ballad 'Knoxville Girl'.. The Outlaws in 1975 and Cave in 1996.

Anyway, another Rock Star gone... Long Live The Florida Guitar Army!

Click HERE for a free download of a live 1975 recording of The Outlaws from The Record Plant in Sausalito, CA.