Willie Nelson Biography

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Willie Nelson
Country Music | 3 CD Set
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Synonomous with the mythic "outlaw" movement in country music is Willie Nelson, without whom there may not have even been such a thing. Born William Hugh Nelson in Texas in 1933, Willie Nelson could have made a career just out of his songwriting, but he's managed to write and perform while making his life something of a soap opera. He and sister Bobbie were raised by their grandparents after their mother left home and their father died. He took up the guitar and Bobbie the piano and by age 7 Willie was writing songs that he later said were perhaps ideas taken from the radio soaps he listened to as a child. By 13, Willie actually sang a duet with western-swing legend Bob Wills because Bobbie had married the fiddle player with the band and joined Wills herself. After a short-lived stay in the Air Force (he left due to a bad back), he got married in 1953 and took to playing Texas beer joints and roadhouses. His first record was made in Vancouver, Washington, where he was a country DJ, "Lumberjack," written by Leon Payne, who promoted it on his radio show by selling it for $1 and an autographed photo. His own songs he was selling cheaply, including "Family Bible" for $50 (a hit for Claude Gray) and "Night Life," for $150. That became a Ray Price hit and subsequently was recorded by others in some 70 versions. In 1961, Willie had three of his songs become hits on both country and pop charts: Patsy Cline's big hit "Crazy;" Faron Young's "Hello Walls," and Jimmy Elledge's "Funny How Time Slips Away." Ray Price hired Nelson to play bass, but Willie had never played bass and spent all night before arriving to a gig practicing the bass he went out and bought. A later episode with Price resulted in Price's not playing Nelson music. Seems as though Willie accidentally shot Ray's prize fighting rooster. They eventually made up and recorded an album together. By the mid-'70s, Nelson had made a lot of records at different companies but it was extensive touring that fueled his success, including a gig at a rock venue in Austin, Texas that indicated a new audience was turning toward Willie. At about this time, Waylon Jennings made an album called LADIES LOVE OUTLAWS. The "outlaw" image as far as music was concerned was the alternative to the pop-styled Nashville country and with Nelson's pigtail hairstyle and other nonconventional accoutrements "outlaw" was the ticket to the next level. Meanwhile, he was putting together his classic album, REHEADED STRANGER, an early concept album that is still considered one of, if not the, best he's done. Outlaw country came into focus with RCA's WANTED: THE OUTLAWS, with Nelson, Jennings, Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter and its sales went crazy, attaining platinum status. This was followed by the first WAYLON AND WILLIE album as the outlaw image continued but not in a total sense. Willie was doing other music with other people. His duets over the years have been something of a country staple. He's worked with an array of artists that includes Merle Haggard, George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Neil Young and even Julio Iglesias. On yet another side trip, Nelson took on pop ballads in two albums, STARDUST and the later WITHOUT A SONG, the former a monster hit that stayed on the charts for some ten years. Movies came into his life when Robert Redford asked him to be in "The Electric Horseman." He was the title role in "The Redheaded Stranger" and appeared in "Barbarossa," a remake of "Stagecoach." He also helped organize the still-successful Farm Aid benefits, has been the subject of numerous other country songs by other artists and is as close to being a living legend as possible. Even the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a Willie Nelson fan. Discovering several years ago that he owed some $16 million in back taxes, the IRS made a deal that had him selling albums via mail order, profits going to the tax bill.

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