Each member of the supergroup that would come to be known as the Highwaymen—Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson—changed the tides of country music. So when the four friends decided to join forces in the mid-’80s, the genre was never the same. On this day in 1984, the outlaw quartet recorded the song they would eventually name themselves for.
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The “Highwayman” Line Harry Nilsson Hated
Penny by Nashville wunderkind Jimmy Webb, “Highwayman” tells the story of a soul reincarnated four times: as a highwayman, a sailor, a construction worker on the Hoover Dam, and finally as a captain of a starship.
Fittingly, the song “Highwayman” was born from a night of “professional drinking,” Webb said in 2012. The Grammy Award-winning songwriter was in London putting the finishing touches on his album El Mirage, with Beatles producer George Martin. After friend and fellow songwriter Harry Nilsson left Webb’s apartment, the lyrics quite literally came to him in a dream.
“I had an old brace of pistols in my belt and I was riding, hell-bent for leather, down these country roads, with sweat pouring off of my body,” Webb recalled. “I was terrified because I was being pursued by police, who were on the verge of shooting me. It was very real.”
Jolting awake, Webb sat up in bed, his pajamas drenched in sweat. “Without even thinking about it, I stumbled out of bed to the piano and started playing ‘Highwayman,’” he said. “Within a couple of hours, I had the first verse.
Nilson joshed his friend about the line “Along the coach roads I did ride. “You mean, ‘Along the coach roads you rode?’” he asked Webb.
“In that particular case, I felt it was justified because it was kind of an antique way of speaking,” Webb said.
[RELATED: Watch The Highwaymen Reveal What They Believe To Be the Best Country Songs Ever Written]
Glen Campbell Had It First
According to Webb, “Highwayman” languished for years until Glen Campbell recorded it in 1978. Eight years later, Campbell played the song for Johnny Cash—who just so happened to be recording a quartet album with Willie, Waylon and Kris Kristofferson.
“There were four verses to ‘The Highwayman.’ Talk about predestination,” Webb said. “I don’t know how they decided who would take which verse, but having Johnny last was like having God singing your song.”
“Highwayman” spent 20 weeks on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at No. 1.
Featured image by Beth Gwinn/Getty Images
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