OUTLAWS
''SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE''
SEPTEMBER 1986
42:14
1 One Last Ride (Randy Bishop, Chuck Glass) 04:22
2 Soldiers Of Fortune (Randy Bishop, L.C.Cohen, Henry Paul, Hughie Thomasson, Alan Walden) 03:31
3 The Night Cries (Randy Bishop, Cohen, Paul Thomasson) 04:33
4 The Outlaw (Duane Evans, Steve Grisham, Paul) 03:48
5 Cold Harbor (Glass, Paul) 04:22
6 Whatcha Don't Do (Paul, John Townsend) 03:48
7 Just The Way I Like It (Spencer Proffer, Billy Thorpe) 04:00
8 Saved By The Bell (Randy Bishop, John Butcher) 03:55
9 Lady Luck (Evans, Grisham, Paul) 03:51
10 Racin' For The Red Light (Bishop, Freddie Salem, Thomasson) 05:59
Henry Paul - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Hughie Thomasson - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Steve Grisham - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Chuck Glass - bass, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
David Dix - percussion, drums
Additional musicians[edit]
Randy Bishop - keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Jon Butcher, Bart Bishop, John Townsend, Stacey Lyn Shaffer - backing vocals
Buster McNeil - guitar, backing vocals
Jimmy Glenn - drums
REVIEW/AMG
by Thom Jurek
Soldiers of Fortune was the last record by the Outlaws that could actually be called an "Outlaws" album. The disc was issued in 1986, three years after the band left Arista, in the wake of huge chart and sales successes a few years earlier by .38 Special, which wed FM radio pop, that '80s keyboard sound, and Southern rock in a winning formula. Given that and the way this record sounds, the title of the album is perhaps more telling of the band's motivation than it is an aesthetic choice. Guitarist Henry Paul returned to the Florida band's fold for this outing, restoring the three-guitar front line that leader Hughie Thomasson favored. But for all the restraint presented here, it hardly mattered. Drum programs abound, as do synthesizers, but nonetheless there is something very compelling about this record. Its feel is utterly nocturnal. It's slick, polished, and holds only a ghostly resemblance to the Outlaws of old. There are no roaring jams and no wrangling, knife-edged guitars -- only those spooky, out-of-the-murky-soil melodies that were the band's trademark. There are beautiful songs here, like the opening "One Last Ride," with its shimmering warm synth lines and elasticized guitars and vocals by Jon Butcher. The title track was crafted to hit the same mark that .38 Special's "Caught Up in You" and "Hang On Loosely" were, with its nearly chanted choruses, smooth guitar riffs with just a hint of Southern rock sting, and a hook to die for. "The Night Cries," for all of its Southern flair, still could have been written and produced by Lindsey Buckingham. "Cold Harbor" reflects Paul's gift for writing narrative pop songs and weaving beautiful acoustic guitars through his tomes. "Saved By the Bell" is another tune sculpted in the "Soldiers of Fortune" mold. Only "Just the Way I Like It," "Lady Luck," and (to a lesser extent) "The Outlaw" revel in an '80s form of Southern boogie rock, but even these are textured gloriously. Sonically, this album sounds dated, but musically it's the true space oddity in the Outlaws' catalog, and deserves both a listen and a berth just for that.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Jason Ankeny
Southern rock unit the Outlaws were formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1972 by singers/guitarists Hughie Thomasson and Henry Paul, bassist Frank O'Keefe, and drummer Monte Yoho. With the 1973 addition of guitarist Billy Jones, the lineup was complete, and after a year of intense touring the band became the first act signed to Arista under Clive Davis; the Outlaws' self-titled 1975 album spotlighted their Eagles-influenced harmonies and Allman Brothers-like guitar attack, yielding the Top 40 hit "There Goes Another Love Song."
In the wake of 1977's Bill Szymczyk-produced Hurry Sundown, both Paul and O'Keefe exited, with guitarist Freddie Salem, bassist Harvey Dalton Arnold, and second drummer David Dix signing on for the 1978 concert set Bring It Back Alive and the studio effort Playin' to Win. The lineup shuffles continued when Arnold announced his departure following 1979's In the Eye of the Storm, with bassist Rick Cua recruited for the next year's Ghost Riders in the Sky, which netted a Top 40 entry with its title track, a rendition of the Vaughn Monroe favorite. Yoho left to rejoin Henry Paul soon after, and with the subsequent exit of Jones, only Thomasson remained from the original Outlaws roster -- not surprisingly, the group disbanded upon completing 1982's Los Hombres Malo.
A year later Thomasson and Paul formed a new Outlaws lineup, adding guitarist Chris Hicks, bassist Barry Borden, and drummer Jeff Howell; after issuing 1986's Soldiers of Fortune, Paul again quit the band, with the remaining quartet returning in 1993 with Hittin' the Road. While Paul resurfaced in 1994 in the chart-topping contemporary country band Blackhawk, Thomasson later toured with the re-formed Lynyrd Skynyrd while continuing to lead the Outlaws, releasing So Low in 2000. Sadly, Jones and O'Keefe died within three weeks of one another in early 1995. In 2005, original members Thomasson, Paul, Yoho, and David Dix reunited as the Outlaws, rounding out the lineup with three members of Blackhawk, guitarist Chris Anderson, bassist Randy Threet, and keyboardist Dave Robbins. Paul and Robbins departed a year later to concentrate again on Blackhawk, while Thomasson, the only original member of the Outlaws to make it through all of the band's configurations, kept things going, reportedly finishing a new studio album, Once an Outlaw, before his death from a heart attack in 2007.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
''SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE''
SEPTEMBER 1986
42:14
1 One Last Ride (Randy Bishop, Chuck Glass) 04:22
2 Soldiers Of Fortune (Randy Bishop, L.C.Cohen, Henry Paul, Hughie Thomasson, Alan Walden) 03:31
3 The Night Cries (Randy Bishop, Cohen, Paul Thomasson) 04:33
4 The Outlaw (Duane Evans, Steve Grisham, Paul) 03:48
5 Cold Harbor (Glass, Paul) 04:22
6 Whatcha Don't Do (Paul, John Townsend) 03:48
7 Just The Way I Like It (Spencer Proffer, Billy Thorpe) 04:00
8 Saved By The Bell (Randy Bishop, John Butcher) 03:55
9 Lady Luck (Evans, Grisham, Paul) 03:51
10 Racin' For The Red Light (Bishop, Freddie Salem, Thomasson) 05:59
Henry Paul - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Hughie Thomasson - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Steve Grisham - guitar, vocals, background vocals
Chuck Glass - bass, keyboards, vocals, background vocals
David Dix - percussion, drums
Additional musicians[edit]
Randy Bishop - keyboards, programming, backing vocals
Jon Butcher, Bart Bishop, John Townsend, Stacey Lyn Shaffer - backing vocals
Buster McNeil - guitar, backing vocals
Jimmy Glenn - drums
REVIEW/AMG
by Thom Jurek
Soldiers of Fortune was the last record by the Outlaws that could actually be called an "Outlaws" album. The disc was issued in 1986, three years after the band left Arista, in the wake of huge chart and sales successes a few years earlier by .38 Special, which wed FM radio pop, that '80s keyboard sound, and Southern rock in a winning formula. Given that and the way this record sounds, the title of the album is perhaps more telling of the band's motivation than it is an aesthetic choice. Guitarist Henry Paul returned to the Florida band's fold for this outing, restoring the three-guitar front line that leader Hughie Thomasson favored. But for all the restraint presented here, it hardly mattered. Drum programs abound, as do synthesizers, but nonetheless there is something very compelling about this record. Its feel is utterly nocturnal. It's slick, polished, and holds only a ghostly resemblance to the Outlaws of old. There are no roaring jams and no wrangling, knife-edged guitars -- only those spooky, out-of-the-murky-soil melodies that were the band's trademark. There are beautiful songs here, like the opening "One Last Ride," with its shimmering warm synth lines and elasticized guitars and vocals by Jon Butcher. The title track was crafted to hit the same mark that .38 Special's "Caught Up in You" and "Hang On Loosely" were, with its nearly chanted choruses, smooth guitar riffs with just a hint of Southern rock sting, and a hook to die for. "The Night Cries," for all of its Southern flair, still could have been written and produced by Lindsey Buckingham. "Cold Harbor" reflects Paul's gift for writing narrative pop songs and weaving beautiful acoustic guitars through his tomes. "Saved By the Bell" is another tune sculpted in the "Soldiers of Fortune" mold. Only "Just the Way I Like It," "Lady Luck," and (to a lesser extent) "The Outlaw" revel in an '80s form of Southern boogie rock, but even these are textured gloriously. Sonically, this album sounds dated, but musically it's the true space oddity in the Outlaws' catalog, and deserves both a listen and a berth just for that.
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
by Jason Ankeny
Southern rock unit the Outlaws were formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1972 by singers/guitarists Hughie Thomasson and Henry Paul, bassist Frank O'Keefe, and drummer Monte Yoho. With the 1973 addition of guitarist Billy Jones, the lineup was complete, and after a year of intense touring the band became the first act signed to Arista under Clive Davis; the Outlaws' self-titled 1975 album spotlighted their Eagles-influenced harmonies and Allman Brothers-like guitar attack, yielding the Top 40 hit "There Goes Another Love Song."
In the wake of 1977's Bill Szymczyk-produced Hurry Sundown, both Paul and O'Keefe exited, with guitarist Freddie Salem, bassist Harvey Dalton Arnold, and second drummer David Dix signing on for the 1978 concert set Bring It Back Alive and the studio effort Playin' to Win. The lineup shuffles continued when Arnold announced his departure following 1979's In the Eye of the Storm, with bassist Rick Cua recruited for the next year's Ghost Riders in the Sky, which netted a Top 40 entry with its title track, a rendition of the Vaughn Monroe favorite. Yoho left to rejoin Henry Paul soon after, and with the subsequent exit of Jones, only Thomasson remained from the original Outlaws roster -- not surprisingly, the group disbanded upon completing 1982's Los Hombres Malo.
A year later Thomasson and Paul formed a new Outlaws lineup, adding guitarist Chris Hicks, bassist Barry Borden, and drummer Jeff Howell; after issuing 1986's Soldiers of Fortune, Paul again quit the band, with the remaining quartet returning in 1993 with Hittin' the Road. While Paul resurfaced in 1994 in the chart-topping contemporary country band Blackhawk, Thomasson later toured with the re-formed Lynyrd Skynyrd while continuing to lead the Outlaws, releasing So Low in 2000. Sadly, Jones and O'Keefe died within three weeks of one another in early 1995. In 2005, original members Thomasson, Paul, Yoho, and David Dix reunited as the Outlaws, rounding out the lineup with three members of Blackhawk, guitarist Chris Anderson, bassist Randy Threet, and keyboardist Dave Robbins. Paul and Robbins departed a year later to concentrate again on Blackhawk, while Thomasson, the only original member of the Outlaws to make it through all of the band's configurations, kept things going, reportedly finishing a new studio album, Once an Outlaw, before his death from a heart attack in 2007.
WEBSITE
TO THE TOP
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