stillisstillmoving.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kscherer11/

 *** all dates subject to change

joel williams posted this picture of Willie Nelson and little Jackson, at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9976914@N06

Charlie Dick (Patsy Cline’s husband) Willie Nelson, songwriter Mary John WIlkins, Kris Kristofferson (photo by John Montgomery)

Tootsie Bess took over ‘Mom’s” bar in a Lower Broadway storefront in 1958.  She dropped its old name two years later, but she kept up some matronly habits despite a sometimes rough crowd.

“It was an extraordinary little piece of time for country music,” said Kent Wildman, writer and co-producer of the documentary, “Tootsies’.   “They all hung out there, down-and-out ne’er-do-wells who didn’t know a lot of time where there their next meals were coming from.  Tootsie helped them out, saw they got credit, something to eat, and really helped launch some careers.”

Willie got his first job in Nashville out of Tootsie’s.  Hank Cochran helped secure a staff writer’s job at Pamper Publishing Co. for Willie so the struggling singer could have some income while wiating for his big break.

“This collection of small-town boys from nowhere turned out to write classic songs, like Willie Nelson’s ‘Crazy’ or Harlan Howard’s ‘I Fall to Pieces,’” Wildman said.  “There were probably more standards written in and around Tootsies than in any other time or place you can come up with.”

Tootsie, sometimes described as a den mother to the patrons, died in 1978.  By then, the bar’s star was fading, too.  Those in the up-and-coming outlaw musical camp had their own hangout, and in 1974 the Grand Ole Opry moved out of the Ryman Auditorium.

The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart (Unabridged)
by Willie Nelson, with Turk Pipkin

“Some people like to make a big deal about their particular religion.  If your religion is an important part of your life, then I am happy for you without any regard for which religion it is.

As far as different religions are concerned, to me they’re just different paths leading to the same place.  A thousand paths to a single destination.

The Golden Rule is the main thing I live by, and every religion I’ve read about or studied — both East and West — has the Golden Rule as a common thread running through it.

Every person is free to believe whatever the heck they want to believe, but if every person, every business, and every government simply followed the Golden Rule in all their decisions, everything else would just fall into place.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

– Willie Nelson

I found it on ebay:  $49.00

Bob Weir
Mickey Hart
Phil Lesh
Bill Kreutzmann
Jimmy Herring
Rob Barraco
Jeff Chimenti
Joan Osborne

Disc. 1  (Grateful Dead with Willie Nelson**)

Alabama Getaway**
Mama Tried**
Little Red Rooster**
The Race is On**
Jam**
Truckin’**
Jam**
Built to  Last
One More Saturday Night

Disc 2
Drums
Space
Playin’ in the Band
Eyes of the World
Mason’s Children
China Doll

Disc 3
Unbroken Chain
St. Stephen
William Tell Bridge
Jam
Ripple
Sugar Magnolia
Aiko, Aiko

Unconfirmed, but www.boblink.com, a Bob Dylan website, posts that Bob Dylan may do a Summer 2009 tour of west coast ballparks with Willie Nelson, concentrating on venues in California, Oregon and Washington. 

Remember, this has not been finalized or confirmed, and could of course change.  Still, nice rumor.

Thanks to the fan who passed along that information to me! 

Here’s Willie and Bob, at Willie’s 2005 picnic in Fort Worth, singing, ‘You Win Again.’

Thanks to Scott for this photo, http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottspy

On January 3, 1986, Willie Nelson was nominated for four American Music Awards, tied with Alabama for the most nominations that year.

Harry Belafonte initiated the idea for a fundraising effort. His manager, Ken Kragen,  suggested the multi-artist approach, inspired by the success of the British supergroup Band Aid and their 1984 fundraising single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

The performers gathered at A&M Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, on January 28, 1985.  Kragen selected the night of the American Music Awards  to ensure as many artists as possible could attend. Jones famously advised them, in his written invitation, to ‘check your egos at the door.’ In all, 45 musicians attended the recording session, including Bob Geldof, who had arranged the Band Aid effort in the United Kingdom. Lead vocals were rotated among 21 of the performers, including Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson, Tina Turner, Billy Joel,  Steve Perry, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

Columbia Records donated their manufacturing and distribution costs to the effort.   ‘We Are the World’ hit stores on Tuesday, March 7, 1985 and all 800,000 copies sold out before the end of the weekend. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number twenty-one. On April 5 (Good Friday in that year), more than 5,000 radio stations played the song at the same time. It became the United States’ number one single on April 13 and held the position for four weeks.

The song went on to win 1985 Grammys for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

Ultimately, the single sold 7.5 million copies in the US. It was released on an album, We Are the World,  which sold over three million copies. In addition to ‘We Are the World,’ the album included previously unreleased songs by Prince, Springsteen, Turner and other artists. It also included another famine relief fundraising song, ‘Tears Are Not Enough’, which was performed by Canadian upergroup Northern Lights.

Including revenues from the single, the album, the video and related merchandise, ‘We Are the World’ raised about $50 million for famine relief.

Dan Aykroyd
Harry Belafonte
Lindsey Buckingham
Kim Carnes
Ray Charles
Bob Dylan
Sheila E.
Bob Geldof
Hall and Oates
James Ingram
Jackie Jackson
LaToya Jackson
Marlon Jackson
Michael Jackson
Randy Jackson
Tito Jackson
Al Jarreau
Waylon Jennings
Billy Joel
Cyndi Lauper
Huey Lewis and the News
Kenny Logins
Bette Midler
Willie Nelson
Jeffery Osborne
Steve Perry
The Pointer Sisters
Lionel Richie
Smokey Robinson
Kenny Rogers
Diana Ross
Paul Simon
Bruce Springsteen
Tina Turner
Dionne Warwick
Stevie Wonder

Michael Boddicker - synthesizers, programming
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Louis Johnson - bass
Quincy Jones - producer
Michael Omartian - keyboards, producer
Greg Phillinganes - keyboards
John Robinson - drums
 

Kay Petla, of Wasilla in the beautiful Matanuska Valley of South central Alaska, is creating a felted sculpture of Willie Nelson.  She has an on-line gallery of sculpture she’s created with needle felting at www.feltalive.com.

What a beautiful place to live:

This is the view from her studio window in her home.

1.  I Been to Georgia on a Fast Train 
2.  Forgiving you was Easy
3.  I Let My Mind Wander
4.  I’m a Memory
5.  She’s Gone
6.  Old Five & Dimers Like Me
7.  I Never Cared for You
8.  You Wouldn’t Cross the Street (To Say Goodbye)
9.  Me and Paul
10.  One Day at a Time
11.  Pretend I Never Happened
12.  Black Rose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me and Paul
words and music by Willie Nelson

It’s been rough and rocky travelin’
But I’m finally standin’ upright on the ground
After takin’ several readings
I’m surprised to find my mind still fairly sound
I guess Nashville was the roughest
But I know I said the same about them all
We received our education
In the cities of the nation, Me and Paul

Almost busted in Laredo
but for reasons that I’d rather not disclose
but if you’re stayin’ in a motel there and leave,
Just don’t leave nothin’ in your clothes.
And at the airport in Milwaukee
They refused to let us board the plane at all
They said we looked suspicious
But I believe they liked to pick on Me and Paul

On a package show in Buffalo, with us and Kitty
  Wells and Charley Pride
the show was long and we’re just sittin’ there,
And we’d come to play and not just for the ride;
Well, we’d drunk a lot of whiskey, so I don’t know
  if we went on that night at all
I don’t think they even missed us
I guess Buffalo ain’t geared for me and Paul

It’s been rough and rocky travelin’
But I’m finally standin’ upright on the ground
After takin’ several readings
I’m surprised to find my mind still fairly sound
I guess Nashville was the roughest
But I know I said the same about them all.
We received our education
In the cities of the nation, Me and Paul

sbrooksgrahics.com

http://www.peoplenewspapers.com
by Silver Hogue

Steve Brooks managed to become a part of rock history without trashing hotel rooms or enduring rehab.

In the 1970s and ’80s, the Oak Cliff native and Kessler Park resident spent his days cranking out concert posters for the likes of Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Alice Cooper, and Pink Floyd. Brooks will showcase his colorful design history Jan. 3-31 at the Dallas Public Library’s Lillian Bradshaw Gallery.

“Steve’s work is original, humorous, and has that necessary ‘graphic art’ quality of grabbing the viewer’s immediate attention,” said Gwen Dixie, art librarian at the Dallas Library. “His exhibit at library will be called ‘That 70s Flyer Show’  and brings back memories of all those bands who played Dallas 30 years ago.” 

The self-taught designer got his start during his time at North Texas State University, when he was hired by local concert promoter Treehouse Productions to create a poster for Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.

“They needed it fast and cheap, so I fit their needs,” Brooks said. “We only had a 72-hour turnaround.”

Brooks said the job gave him a foot in the door and he later got a job at Buddy Magazine working alongside friend and fellow Oak Cliff resident Kirby Warnock.

“Steve had a certain style that was just right for the progressive country movement that was taking place then,” Warnock said. “His artistry captured the feel of Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker. Rock music back then had a Texas twang to it, and Steve had that twang in his pen whenever he started to draw a character or a poster.

“It was a special time and place to be in Dallas in the ’70s. There was so much that was totally unrestrained and unregulated. There were no credentials, just the guts to try it. Steve saw a niche and just started drawing. He captured the flavor of the Dallas rock scene in the ’70s.”

All of Brooks’ work was done by hand in pen and ink, and occasionally watercolor. It was then quickly sent to a local printer who would create a few thousand copies for distribution at local record stores such as Sound Warehouse, Peaches Records and Tapes, and Mother Blues.

Brooks said one of the most difficult designs he took on was creating a poster for Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic.

“I created a number of things for Willie,” Brooks said. “The rope logo of his name that he still wears on his bandanna was my creation. I also went and lived on his ranch in Colorado for a while to paint a teepee for him.”

Brooks cultivated a working friendship with Nelson that continued throughout the ’70s and early ’80s. Brooks even designed the movie poster for Nelson’s film Honeysuckle Rose.

His exhibit next month will feature many of his posters and some of his handbills, a promotional tool that is almost forgotten in today’s music industry. Brooks said he drew hundreds of them, usually one week prior to the shows that only cost about $4 to attend. Promoters would hire people to hand them out at street corners and other locations where teens hung out.

The process became a weekly ritual for Brooks, and his impressive collection speaks for itself. All of the posters and handbills will be for sale at the show and range from $10 to hundreds of dollars; however, Brooks said he is keeping some of the pieces for himself.

“I had a great time doing this,” Brooks said. “I would encourage anyone who wants to go into design to follow their dreams.”