The early to mid-1970s was a great time to be a rock band from the South. The Allman Brothers opened the door in the late 1960s. By the time Lynrd Skynard crashed the party in 1973 music label scouts were stumbling over each other in roadhouses from Mobile to Jacksonville and back again looking for the next big southern band.

The Outlaws were one of the better bands to get signed and actually have a few radio friendly hits. As a general rule, their fast tunes were better than their ballads -- nothing wrong with that -- and their singles far outshine anything else on their albums, with one exception (again, there are much worse raps a band can have against them). What is interesting, on listening to The Heritage Collection, is just how well some of these tunes have aged in the quarter-century or so since they were released.

Everyone who is 35 years or older, or who has a classic-rock station within listening distance of them, is familiar with "There Goes Another Love Song, " the Outlaws' first single out of the gate and the song that most people are familiar with if they are familiar with anything on this CD. There is also "Green Grass & High Tides," the FM radio staple, with a title borrowed from the Rolling Stones' first Greatest Hits Collection ("High Tides & Green Gas") and a form and riffs borrowed from Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven." No matter; the plaintive, angst-laden vocals evoke a melancholy mood coupled with an adrenaline surge even if, after repeated listenings, you have absolutely no idea what it all means.

The Outlaws may have been aiming for radioplay, as opposed to immortality. They did, however, have a couple of flashes of genius, one of them being their speedfreak version of the country-western classic "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky." If Johnny Cash's version of the song was evocative of lonely western trails and tired-eyed cowboys who had gone ahead, the Outlaws' take had its listeners looking uneasily into the rearview mirror of their pickups late at night, wondering who or what would come sweeping down on them with fire in their eyes and blood on their hands. Cash was reportedly knocked out by this version of his song -- what higher praise could one reasonably expect?

The Heritage Collection gives you an excellent reason to clean out that scratched up 45 or first Outlaws vinyl album (or, heaven help you, that old 8-track) and replace it with a CD that has everything you could ever possibly want from a band that was regarded as somewhat disposable in its day but which, against the odds, has, at least in a few cases, withstood the test of time. Recommended.