Legends of Country Music: Willie Nelson

By James Hoag

Willie Nelson could do everything, but he had two passions, music and golf. He loved playing both and could play music with just about anyone. One day, he would play in the seediest bar in Austin, Texas and the next day, he might front the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Willie has been called the Shakespeare of American music. Whether the song is “On the Road Again” or “Always On My Mind” or any of the dozens of other songs he is known for, you know the voice of Willie Nelson the second you hear it.

Willie Nelson is a one of a kind American. The world is a better place because Willie Nelson was in it.

This is a tribute to the great Willie Nelson.

Inside you will find:

A Texas Boy - Willie started out a Texas boy and he is still one to this day.
After High School - Willie tried many different jobs until one day picked up his guitar and started taking it seriously
Fort Worth - His early tears in Fort Worth, Texas
Houston - Trying to get his first break, he tried Houston.
Nashville - Nashville is the capital of country music. Maybe he would have more luck there.
“Hello Walls” - Learn how Willie wrote this iconic song and sold it to Faron Young who had a monster hit.
Playing With Ray Price - Still trying to make it on his own, Willie played in Ray Price's band for a short time.
Recording His Own Work - Finally living in Nashville paid off and he started recording his own work.
Trigger - The story behind his famous guitar.
The Dripping Springs Reunion - The concert that started all of the picnics that Willie had very year.
Red Headed Stranger - Willie had been recording for years and finally, he gets the breakthrough he has been looking for.
The Big Time - Suddenly Willie Nelson was a star.
The Electric Horseman - Robert Redford asks him to star in his movie.
Always on My Mind - The story behind one of his biggest hits.
“To All the Girls I’ve Known Before” - Willie loved to do duets, this one was with Julio Inglesias.
The Highwaymen - The country super group with Willie, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
Farm Aid - Willie is responsible for helping thousands of American farmers.
Tax Problems - Trouble begins when the IRS arrests him for tax evasion.
Branson, Missouri - Willie agrees to perfom in Branson but doesn't like it very much.
The Twenty-First Century - The latter years of Willie's career as we bring him up to the present.
Legacy of Willie Nelson - Some of the awards and recognition given this great artist

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Hoag
• Release date: Jan 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005775674

James Hoag

James Hoag has always been a big fan of Rock & Roll. Most people graduate from high school and then proceed to "grow up" and go on to more adult types of music. James got stuck at about age 18 and has been an avid fan of popular music ever since. His favorite music is from the Fifties, the origin of Rock & Roll and which was the era in which James grew up. But he likes almost all types of popular music including country music.After working his entire life as a computer programmer, he is now retired and he decided to share his love of the music and of the performers by writing books that discuss the life and music of the various people who have meant so much to him over the years.He calls each book a "love letter" to the stars that have enriched our lives so much. These people are truly Legends.

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Legends of Country Music – Willie Nelson

By

James Hoag

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2016 by James Hoag

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Cover by James Hoag

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Publishers Notes

Disclaimer

Legends of Country Music – Willie Nelson Copyright 2016 James Hoag.

All rights reserved.

No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the publisher. The only exception is for a reviewer. A reviewer may quote brief passages in a review.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

A Texas Boy

After High School

Fort Worth

Houston

Nashville

Hello Walls

Playing With Ray Price

Recording His Own Work

Trigger

The Dripping Springs Reunion

Red Headed Stranger

The Big Time

The Electric Horseman

Always on My Mind

To All the Girls I’ve Known Before

The Highwaymen

Farm Aid

Tax Problems

Branson, Missouri

The Twenty-First Century

Legacy of Willie Nelson

Afterword

Selected Discography

Awards

Introduction

In 2000 I got married for the second time and my bride and I went to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. I scoured the internet for shows playing in Vegas at the time and we selected three which we wanted to see. One of them was Willie Nelson. He was playing in a small club just off the strip so the crowd was fairly small. We were able to sit just a few feet from Willie and watch him sing and perform his set. What a magical night.

Now, one of the other acts we saw while in Vegas was David Copperfield and while he was great and we loved the illusions he performs, on this day, sixteen years later, Willie is what I remember from going to Las Vegas.

Willie Nelson is to Country or American Music as apple pie or baseball is to America. Willie Nelson is the rare musician who appeals to all tastes. That doesn’t mean everybody likes Willie, but, I suspect you wouldn’t be reading this book unless you do. He has had a fantastic career over the years. Willie has always been his own man. He does what he wants and doesn’t worry about the consequences. I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed writing the story of the life and the music of Willie Nelson. I hope you like it.

A Texas Boy

Willie Hugh Nelson was born April 29, 1933 in the little town of Abbott, Texas. He came into the world just a few minutes before midnight on the 29th, but the doctor, when he wrote up the birth certificate, put down he was born on the 30th. If you check a website like imdb.com, they still claim Willie’s birthday is April 30, when in fact, it was April 29. He had flaming red hair right from the moment he was born. Willie had an older sister, Bobbie Lee, who preceded him in 1931.

In 1930, the population of Abbott, Texas was 326, so this was a tiny town. It’s located about 70 miles south of Dallas and 26 miles north of Waco, Texas. I recently drove I-35 from Dallas to Austin. I passed within a few miles of Willie Nelson’s birthplace and didn’t even know it. Willie says Abbott was a no-horse town (as opposed to a one-horse town,) because the only horse that lived anywhere near them was just over the city line about two miles out of town.

1933 was the middle of the depression and times were hard. Willie’s mother was Myrle Marie Nelson (maiden name: Greenshaw) and his father was Ira Doyle Nelson, who was a mechanic. There’s not much to say about mom and dad, because they both left Willie when he was little and were never a part of his life. Myrle left the family shortly after Willie was born and then without a wife, Ira also moved out. Ira stayed in Abbott for a while but left the raising of little Willie to his grandparents, Alfred and Nancy Nelson or as Willie called them, Mama Nelson and Papa Nelson.

Willie’s grandparents raised them from then on and Willie saw little of his real father and mother.  Eventually Ira got divorced from Myrle and re-married and Willie only saw him once in a while during his growing up years. His parents didn’t even name him. His name was given to him by a cousin named Mildred. She also gave him his middle name of Hugh. Most of his growing up years, they called him Hughty.

Mama and Papa Nelson both loved music. Mama taught music to the local kids who wanted to learn. Papa could play the guitar and when Willie turned six, he bought a cheap one from Sears, so he could teach Willie how to play. Mama Nelson first taught Bobbie to play the piano by using an old pump-organ they had. Until they could afford to buy an actual piano, Bobbie made a piano out of cardboard, so she could practice her fingering. Bobbie became a very accomplished pianist. She has played for Willie’s band almost from the beginning.

Music was a part of their family since they were little, but things opened up for them when Mama and Papa Nelson bought a new Philco radio. Now they could listen to the music of American. They were in Texas, so you can imagine that most of the music they heard was country. Country was just getting started in the Thirties. Willie listened to people like Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family. People like this planted the seed that would grow into an adult country singer, Willie Nelson. Willie also liked Ernest Tubb and Bob Wills. He says Ernest Tubb was his first singing hero.

In 1940, when Willie was six years old, Alfred or Papa Nelson suddenly died due to complications from pneumonia. He was fifty-six. Willie wasn’t old enough to understand what death was about, but he knew he was now the man of the house and if things hadn’t been tough before, they got much tougher after the death of Papa.

Willie found that he was great at writing simple poems. The death of his grandfather seemed to push him into overdrive, for he found himself writing more and more about loss and