Willie Nelson and Me...

Ninety-nine per cent of the world's lovers are not with their first choice. That's what makes the jukebox play.
Willie Nelson

***Hello Walls (1966) signed by Willie***

There's really nothing wrong with the fact that the same people who sing "Whiskey River" at the show tonight also sing "Amazing Grace." When I was back teaching Sunday school, I used to teach the same people on Sunday mornings that I sang to on Saturday nights. Nothing wrong with that, either.
Willie Nelson

***Good Times (1968) signed by Willie***

Well, yeah I was, you know, throwing it away with both hands. The faster I would make it, the faster I would spend it. Everybody else would travel on the bus, and I was still playing bass for Ray Price when “Hello Walls” made a hit and I got my first royalty check. So I started flying first class to all the dates - Ray’s bass player, right? I’m making $25 a day and I’d get a suite at the hotel. Ray’s got a regular room at the Holiday Inn… and I got the penthouse. So the checks came and went, but I had a lot of fun.
Willie Nelson on his early profligate ways

***San Antonio Rose (1979) signed by Willie, Ray Price***

He was an incredible writer, sang with so much feeling. He was a sick man from the time he was born till he died. He had a bad back and was always on some kind of pain medications or alcohol or whatever it took to get him up to the show. And he had a hard life, died at twenty-nine. But nobody wrote better songs than Hank. It was the simplicity, melody and a line anybody could understand.
Willie Nelson on Hank Williams

***Pancho & Lefty (1983) signed by Willie, Merle Haggard***

He was doing things that really weren’t considered mainstream. Like to me, Red Headed Stranger (1975) is a punk record, in the context of what country music was supposed to be back then: very overproduced and shiny and rhinestones and strings. And he came out with Red Headed Stranger. The label thought it was a demo. He was just breaking down those barriers and fearlessly doing his thing.
Micah Nelson, son and fellow musician

***Red Headed Stranger (1975) signed by Willie***

Born in Abbott, TX in 1933, Willie Nelson was raised by his grandparents who exposed him to music as a young child. His grandfather gave him a guitar when he was six. Willie wrote his first song when he was seven and he sang gospel in the church with his older sister Bobbie (who later joined his band as his long time pianist).

Early in his career, Willie had incredible success as a songwriter. In fact in one week, (probably the best week in songwriting history!) Willie wrote “Crazy”, “Funny How Time Slips Away” and “Night Life” - songs which have become standards and hits for others: "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, "Funny How Time Slips Away" by Billy Walker, and “Night Life" by Ray Price. "Crazy" became one of the best selling and most popular jukebox tunes of all time, and a staple for country and popular music. Although Patsy Cline recorded the definitive version in 1961, other artists have sung it, everyone from Shirley Bassey to Linda Ronstadt, Norah Jones to Neil Young.

***One For The Road (1979) signed by Willie, Leon Russell***

Despite Willie's enormous success as a songwriter, his own career stalled for decades. Willie's voice and unusual phrasing (seemingly one beat behind the music) was considered uncommercial by Nashville. Tommy Allsup, producer of early 1960s Willie Nelson records explained: “He sang behind the beat. That’s the way jazz singers sing. If you recorded with Willie, I don’t care if you knew the song backwards, you better write out a chord chart and read that sumbitch. He’s going to be away from the lead line… if you start listening to him while he’s playing, you’re going to break time.” For his part, Willie was nonplussed by the criticism, “Growing up in Texas and working the clubs there, all the folks would come out and see me, and they seemed to like my singing well enough. Whether my singing could sell records or not, that was another story. Record companies weren’t that turned on by my phrasing, and it wasn’t exactly what was going on in Nashville at the time.”

So Willie moved to Austin, Texas in the early 1970s and helped start the nascent Outlaw Country movement with Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker and others. The Outlaw movement was an attempt to get away from the rigid confines and structure of the Nashville music establishment as these artists wanted to take more creative and artistic control. Willie released a string of great records - Shotgun Willie (1973), Red Headed Stranger (1975) and Wanted! The Outlaws (1976) - which helped define the genre and considerably raised his profile.

***Somewhere Over The Rainbow (1981) signed by Willie***

Another stroke of Willie’s genius was his decision and insistence to record American pop standards “Georgia On My Mind”, “All Of Me”, “Moonlight In Vermont”, and “Blue Skies” among others on Stardust (1978). Willie remembered his record company’s reluctance, “There’s always been people who say, ‘That’s not country, why you doing that?’ Or, ‘This would be a better song for you.’ Record company executives are the worst at it, they think they know everything. And, you know, sometimes they know a lot, and sometimes they don’t know anything… they didn’t see it, they didn’t understand it, and automatically they said it wasn’t a good idea. I went ahead and did it anyway, because I had it in my contract that I had creative control. I could record anything I wanted to. They had to back off and take it, and when it wound up a Number One record, they all said, ‘Well, look what we did!’ “ Of course, it didn’t hurt that Stardust sold more than five million records and was produced by the incomparably talented Booker T. Jones, his Malibu neighbor! Remarkably, it took only ten days to record, mix and produce.

***The Highwaymen (1985) signed by Willie***

I saw Willie dozens of times over the years, and he is the consummate performer with a fabulous band. Twice, I saw him appear with The Highwaymen - Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Willie - the Mount Rushmore of Country Music. Those were amazing shows as each artist took turns singing their hits and harmonizing with each other on stage. And what songs and singing!

Another time, I saw Willie perform at Tower Records in New York City at a record release event in late fall 1998. Willie was highlighting his new album, Teatro (1998) which was produced by sonic landscape master Daniel Lanois. There was no stage. Willie and his band set up on the floor to the right of the check out counter. Sister Bobbie had an electric keyboard, Paul English, his drummer and cohort since 1967, had one conga drum as his entire kit. Bee Spears played bass and long time harmonica player Mickey Raphael was blowing soulfully. At most in-store visits, an artist plays two or three songs (if any) from a new album, signs some records, and leaves within an hour. Not Willie. He opened with “Whiskey River”, then took requests (which he said he never does), played for ninety minutes, and signed records for more than an hour. The show started around 1pm, and Willie and his band didn't leave until after 4pm. And he had a show that night in New Jersey! There were maybe eighty of us in the store watching this incredible, intimate performance.

***Me & Paul (1985) signed by Willie, Mickey Raphael***

As Willie was signing some albums after the Tower show, I told him one of my favorite albums was Texas Swings (1992), an instrumental tribute to the music of Bob Wills, the father of Texas swing, which featured Willie and Herb Ellis (Oscar Peterson's longtime guitarist). It was a potent mix of jazz, country, blues and swing. Willie said he loved playing jazz instrumentals with Herb, they were both Texans and the music of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys was very influential to both artists. "It was jazzy,” Willie confirmed with a big smile.

***Two Men With The Blues: Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center February 2009***

In February 2009, I saw Willie perform with Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was unlike any Willie Nelson show I have ever seen. As we entered Rose Hall, we were given a program which listed the songs the band was to perform. It was a tribute to Ray Charles and featured all Ray Charles standards like "Cryin' Time", "Busted", and "Come Rain Or Come Shine." Wynton and his band came on stage dressed impeccably in Armani suits. Then Willie joined. All black. Black hat, black boots, black shirt, black tie, black jacket and slacks. Hair neatly braided, there was nary a red bandanna to be found (or thrown from the stage). On a couple songs, Willie was joined by the preternaturally talented and beautiful Norah Jones. He more than held his own playing with Wynton's skilled players, as Willie has some bona fide jazz chops and cites Django Reinhardt, the incomparable Gypsy jazz guitarist, as an early influence. The encore was a swinging, percolating "What'd I Say" with Wynton's band taking turns with crisp solos. Brother Ray would have certainly approved.

After the show, Willie stood at the edge of the stage and signed every album, ticket, program, etc. He didn't leave until everyone who wanted to speak with him or shake his hand did so. As he signed some albums, I teased Willie and asked him why he didn't open with "Whiskey River" (the song he usually opens and closes every show, and definitely not from the Ray Charles catalog!). He said, "I'll have to open with that tomorrow night." I told him how much I enjoyed the Ray Charles songs and how tight the band sounded. He thanked me and said how much fun it was to perform these songs with Wynton and his band. Indeed it was a commanding performance with some of the finest jazz musicians in the world on one of its' biggest stages. Thankfully, they were taping this show and Here We Go Again: Celebrating The Genius Of Ray Charles (released in 2011) is a brilliant recording of a fabulous night.

Willie Nelson. American music legend, icon and a really nice, generous guy.