August 18, 2022
Volume 52 - No. 32
by lyle e davis
The first time I ever saw Willie Nelson in a live concert was back in Omaha, Nebraska, sometime in the mid to late 1950’s. He had short hair, wore a black, or dark blue suit, white shirt and red standard neck tie.
Quite a different image from today’s Willie Nelson.
He was part of a touring show. I don’t remember now if it was Elvis on tour, or some other touring show . . . I do remember Sonny James was also on he had a big hit with “Young Love”. Quite a change from today’s Willie Nelson. No more short hair, no more suit and tie; well trimmed gray beard, long flowing gray hair (no more braids), cowboy hat (later in the show, a bandana) and he simply walks on stage and jumps right into 'Whiskey River,'' a brokenhearted drinking song that has been Nelson's set starter for decades.
On April 30, Nelson turned 89. No matter which song he sings, he still improvises new shades of meaning each time.
Back when I first saw Willie, he was pretty much mainstreammusic. He was being noticed, but not by a whole lot of people . . . or a whole lot of recording execs. That would change.
Willie has worked hard all his life. Not much has changed . . except, perhaps, his rate of pay.
He started working by the age of five, picking cotton in Abbott, Texas. When he was a toddler, his mother, a dancer, and his father, a musician, left him and his older sister, Bobbie, who plays keyboards in The Paper - 760.747.7119
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