Willie Nelson Tribute

[mmcfadden]

"If you were betting on artists who would still be on the road and putting on a solid show at the age of 75, Willie Nelson probably wouldn't be at the top of your list.

But here he is, a week past his 75th birthday, daily testimony to the fact that sometimes the straight and narrow is just a suggestion, not a requirement.

How can you not like Willie Nelson?

Personally, I confess I never worshipped "Red-Headed Stranger," the 1975 album that made Willie Nelson hip to the entire music-loving world.

But I didn't have to, since I'd already liked him for 15 years.

In some ways, what was more quintessential about that record was the fact that it made him a ton of money on which he inadvertently failed to pay taxes. It's those sorts of minidramas that have made Willie so endearing.

In a sense, he's a little like his fellow miracle of nature Keith Richards. Even beyond the fact he's a little nuts, in a good way, odd things seem to follow him around waiting to happen.

We may not be able to write "Bloody Mary Morning," but we can relate to life serving up the occasional curveball.

So here are the five reasons we love Willie Nelson:

1. He says more in fewer words than any other songwriter. Casual fans have gotten a taste of this over the years from widely circulated Nelson songs like "The Party's Over," which got all that exposure over the years from "Monday Night Football."

"Turn out the lights / The party's over."

What else do you need to say? Seven words and done. That's Willie.

Or how about "The night life / It ain't no good life / But it's my life."

Twelve words.

That's Willie.

Even better, he was doing this from the start, back in the early 1960s when Patsy Cline was smart enough to record "Crazy."

"I'm crazy for trying / Crazy for crying / And I'm crazy for loving you."

Thirteen words. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote whole novels - great novels - to say that. "Sex and the City" spent years making that point. The list goes on.

You ask Nelson about this and he says yeah, he always figured simple was better. The thing is, thousands of writers say that, and none of them can say it with simple as well as he can.

2. "Funny How Time Slips Away" and "Hello Walls." These were two of his early hits, before most of the world knew who had written them.

"Funny" was recorded in the pop market by Joe Hinton, a former gospel singer whose soaring voice served it marvelously. "Hello Walls" was recorded by Faron Young, a nice distinctive country singer.

But it was clear to anyone who listened that these were not written by an ordinary writer. This was a guy who took the most common situation in all of songwriting - gal done gone - and found an angle from which no one had told it before.

"Funny" works from a wistful reflection on how life itself is finite, and when part of your life goes, it won't come back.

"I heard you told him / That you'd love him till the end of time / Well that's the same thing / That you told me / Seems like just the other day / Ain't it funny time slips away"

Okay, this time it took him 35 words. Still pretty good.

"Hello Walls" is funny enough that Willie works to keep a straight face, but the idea of a guy reduced to talking with his walls, window and ceiling is stark enough that he doesn't lose the point.

"Well, looka here, is that a teardrop / In the corner of your pane / Now don't you try to tell me / That it's rain."

Twenty-three words.

3. He didn't stick us with the tab.

When Nelson found out he owed a few million dollars to the IRS, he didn't hire someone to cut a deal.

He said, look, I owe this, just give me a little time, I'll pay it.

Then he did.

4. He'll take a good song over better royalties.

Nelson has recorded a ton of other people's songs, mostly because he likes them. Some country fans never warmed up to the "Stardust" album, but his "Always On My Mind" or his lovely remake of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" did very nice things with good songs.

When he sang "Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" with Waylon Jennings, they made Ed and Patsy Bruce's song - already pretty good - into a classic.

Some artists eventually just sing their own songs, and there's nothing wrong with that. But it adds another dimension when a great artist, from Bruce Springsteen to Elvis Costello, could at any moment summon a song from left field.

5. He took Bob Dylan at face value.

On the stage at Live Aid in 1985, Bob Dylan said he thought that raising money for African hunger relief was a good idea, but that maybe someone should raise some money for the American farmer, too.

Dylan says things like that because he's a contrarian. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a good idea, and Nelson picked up on it and created Farm Aid. Naturally, he asked Dylan to play the first one, and how could Dylan say no?

Live Aid left its mark. Twenty-three years later, Farm Aid is still running.

Simple is good."

[Spunky]

Willie is a great entertainer,I enjoy his music

[crockett]

I'm not much of a country music fan but I do like many of the old school country westren singers and he's one of them.

[brassmonkey]

willie is tha shit

[John-ACWM]

Great musician,hilarious actor

[bobby666]

he only makes still music due of his tax due

[mmcfadden]

willie is the shit!

remember listening to the toons thru my divorce... it was solace. This guy did alot and couldn't' get enough of willie!

I enjoy lots of music but always... Willie Nelson was always on my mind.

[mmcfadden]

dave mathews... yiven... i use to camp and remember neighbor campers sayin... turn that shit down! no shit... but this is where it started

[Michaelious]

The guy is a legend!