Former wife Connie Nelson: He’d open every show with “Whiskey River” and he got so sick of that song. I remember at one point he said “God, I hate doing (that song) every night, it just grinds on me.” Well, it pissed him off that he was tired of it, so — this will tell you everything about Willie — he started opening AND closing the show with it. That’s who Willie is right there, it’s just total stubbornness. He’s gonna show whatever is bothering him that he can overcome it. He knew that by doing that song twice a night, that he'd have to get over it.
I won't post it twice, at the beginning and the end, but feel free to listen to it a second time if you want.
He is still making music. His latest album is called "Oh What a Beautiful World."
I saw his 4th of July concert at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in 82 or 83. Our buddy who drove, left me and my brother so we ended up having to hitch hike from the speedway to Decatur. No small feat when you're drunk off your ass and it's getting dark in SE Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a bit of a haul, too. Glad it worked out.
DeleteBack in the day, my roommate dated a woman whose mother was a real estate agent. Her mother had rented a house to Willie, but later evicted him for nonpayment of rent. When she went to clean up his house, she found out it was wall-to-wall beer cans. He couldn't have lived to 92 without cutting down on drinking.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Willie for making it to 92.
He's said as much himself.
DeleteAccording to the documentary "Tales from the Tour Bus," during the 'high' period Waylon Jennings would allow his band any drugs except marijuana, which he thought made people lazy and likely to space out instead of focusing on the music. Willie was the opposite. They both cleaned up a lot in the 80s, Jennings almost completely so (to the detriment of his music, it must be said; it was never as good again). However, Jennings didn't live a long time after. Willie's transition from alcohol to just marijuana seems to have thriven wonderfully with him.
A Strongman friend of mine who smokes a lot of the same stuff told me that his doctor, the other day, said, "Whatever you're doing is working. Smoke as much as you want."
Willie's 10th anniversary Outlaws tour will start this month. I see he has a couple of tour dates in North Carolina. I think I'll try to make the one in OK.
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