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 Willie
Nelson has twice revolutionized country music--first as a writer, then
as a performer. A maverick who has long favored his personal
inclinations over conventional wisdom, Nelson's career has encompassed
roles as hit songwriter and country-hippie icon, actor and elder country
statesman. He's rarely played to any of these personas; rather, he's
likely to suddenly turn in a different direction entirely.
Born April 30, 1933, in Fort Worth, Texas, Willie Hugh Nelson grew up in
Abbott and learned to play guitar at age 10. He joined the Air Force
during Korean War and afterwards worked as a DJ in Waco and Houston. He
played bass for a while in Ray Price's Cherokee Cowboys and moved to
Nashville in 1960. After finding his share of struggles there (he once
offered to sell Faron Young "Hello, Walls" for $500, but Young loaned
him the money instead), he became an acclaimed songwriter. A writer
influenced equally by Gene Autry, Lefty Frizzell and Tin Pan Alley,
Nelson's work encompassed honky-tonk numbers and bluesy tunes that bore
the stamp of standards. The hits he wrote during the early '60s included
"Crazy" for Patsy Cline, "Night Life" for Price and "Funny How Time
Slips Away" for Billy Walker (and on the pop side for Jimmy Elledge and
Joe Hinton).
Nelson's own recordings for Liberty and RCA failed to
ignite interest in his performing career, and by 1970, Nelson had had
his fill of Nashville and returned to Texas. He soon recorded two albums
for Atlantic, Shotgun Willie and Phases And Stages, that showed he was
developing a style that might appeal to both traditional and
non-traditional country audiences. He found that style in 1975, when he
released the sparsely produced Red Headed Stranger on Columbia; the
album possessed the sound of a small turn-of-the-century cantina, but it
sold millions of copies and made Nelson an across-the-board star.
Nelson found himself smack dab in the middle of what was termed "the
outlaw movement," and he and its other main proponent, Waylon Jennings,
made many records together. But Nelson wasn't content with "outlaw" as a
label; a few years later, he recorded Stardust, an album of songs like
"Georgia On My Mind" and "Blue Skies," both of which topped the country
chart. He made typically country albums as well, and he also recorded
duets with everybody and his brothers--Price, Webb Pierce, Roger Miller,
Leon Russell, Merle Haggard and Ray Charles among them.
Many of Nelson's records during the '70s and early '80s reached the pop
top 40 as well, among them "Blues Eyes Crying In The Rain," "Always On
My Mind" and "On The Road Again," the theme from Honeysuckle Rose, a
film in which Nelson starred. "Good Hearted Woman," a duet with Jennings
charted in 1976, and one with Julio Iglesias, "To All The Girls I've
Loved Before," went gold in 1984. Nelson has had 80 records reach the
top 40.
Nelson's duets with Jennings and Iglesias won him the
Country Music Association's Vocal Duo Of The Year, as did his pairing
with Haggard. He was named the CMA's Entertainer Of The Year in 1979,
and "Always On My Mind" won Single Of The Year in 1982. The Grammys gave
Nelson its Living Legends Award in 1989, and the Country Music Hall Of
Fame inducted him in 1993.
Nelson's commercial viability has diminished during the '90s, though his
output certainly hasn't. He's released albums at a phenomenal rate for
Liberty, Island, Justice and other labels, recording original music,
standards, jazz, reggae and gospel tunes with accompaniment that's
ranged from a couple of musicians to a full orchestra.
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