Archive for April, 2015

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

www.Rollingstone.com
by:  Patrick Doyle

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard have teamed up over the years, from their 1983 classic “Pancho and Lefty” to their Last of the Breed album and tour with Ray Price, but as Haggard has said, they only do it when the material is right. The duo linked, though, once they heard “Django and Jimmie,” a tribute to Nelson and Haggard’s respective heroes, Django Reinhardt and Jimmie Rodgers (written by Jimmy Melton and Jeff Prince). “It pulled my heard right out,” says Haggard. “I thought, ‘That’s a pretty good song.'”

It became the genesis of their new album, out June 2nd. In honor of Nelson’s 82nd birthday, enjoy this 10-minute video – filmed at Austin’s Arlyn Studios – which gives a rare glimpse into Haggard and Nelson working in the studio, full of weed and jokes. (“Can I borrow some money to get home?” Haggard asks Nelson.) “It’s almost surreal,” says producer Buddy Cannon, of being part of it.

In several fly-on-the-wall scenes, see them reminisce about Johnny Cash and duet on Bob Dylan. Their enthusiasm for the material is evident when they discuss “Unfair Weather Friend,” a new ballad written by Marla Cannon-Goodman and Ward Davis. “It’s got all the great ingredients of being one of those well-known standards,” says Haggard. Adds Nelson, “I think it has a good chance.”

In another scene, they wonder about a new lyric written by Jamey Johnson about a “cackle bobblehead in a box.” “Somebody’s got some weird shit they’re smoking,” someone in the studio says.

“Yeah,” Nelson says. “They’re holding out on us.”

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“Django and Jimmie” album available June 2nd!

Willie Nelson, “Who’ll Buy My Memories” (“Songwriter”)

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

You can watch the full movie at Crackle

From Crackle: Songwriter

Willie’s Road House still celebrating Willie Nelson’s birthday

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

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Happy Day #2 of Willie Nelson’s 82nd Birthday celebration! Tune in for an exclusive replay of his 80th birthday concert and joint benefit for the Abbott and West, TX fire departments at The Backyard at Bee Cave with family & friends including Randy Travis and David Allan Coe today 4 pm ET.
Thanks again to Paula Nelson for co-hosting with Dallas Wayne and all the folks that called in with their birthday wishes, including Bill Anderson, Johnny Bush, Jeanie Sealy, Ray Benson, Johnny Knoxville, Shelby Lynn, Dale Watson and W. S. Holland.

Willie Nelson, Actor

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

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www.uprox.com
by:  Micheal Depland

Like Brad Wheeler pointed out, they missed a few ( Barbarosa, Red Headed Stranger, Wag the Dog, Monk,, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, etc.

[Like Brad Wheeler pointed out, they missed quite a few:  Barbarosa, Red Headed Stranger, Wag the Dog, Monk, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, etc.]

Willie Nelson is an absolute institution in American music, with a recording career spanning seven decades.

But Willie has popped up on the big and little screens more times than you probably remember. In fact, he’s appeared in scripted roles nearly  50 times, according to iMDB. So, just to give a refresher course for Willie’s 82nd birthday, here are five times Willie stepped in front of the camera.

Miami Vice (1986)

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The man known as the Red-Headed Stranger appeared on the pastel-colored detective show in an episode titled “El Viejo” as a mysterious older man who knows way more about an enormous Bolivian cocaine deal than he’s letting on. The episode also features a very young Steve Buscemi as a squirrelly drug dealer.

Also, did you know that Willie and Don Johnson recorded a song together? Enjoy.

Half Baked (1998)

Though Dave Chappelle may have issues with how the film ultimately turned out, Half Bakedremains a classic stoner comedy for many reasons. High on that list is the numerous cameos, including Willie credited as “Historian Smoker.”

Space Ghost Coast To Coast (2001 & 2003)

While it’s technically a talk show, Space Ghost Coast To Coast is weird enough that it nearly counts as acting. When you pretend to get a man composed of magma high, that’s an acting commitment. And Willie was such a good guest, he appeared on the show twice.

King Of The Hill (1997)

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Willie has done a fair amount of voice acting as well, including a stop on The Simpsons, but everyone has had a cameo there. He had an entire episode, on the other hand, dedicated to him onKing Of The Hill. “Hank’s Got The Willies” detailed Hank trying to set things right with his country music hero after accidentally hitting him in the face. It was only right these two Texas institutions would meet.

Surfer, Dude (2008)

Just a few years prior to the McConaissance that we currently live in, Matthew McConaughey made this strange stoner beach film with his future True Detective partner Woody Harrelson. The movie also featured Willie as a farmer of numerous herbs and plants, but you can figure which one would bring all three of these men together.

Willie Nelson, Longhorn

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

http://alcalde.texasexes.org
by: Andrew Roush

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http://alcalde.texasexes.org
by: Andrew Roush

It took me a long time to get to know Willie Nelson. My first introduction to him was not as the suit-wearing Nashville upstart, nor as Shotgun Willie, the outlaw, nor as the post-legendary collaborator and wise old sage. It wasn’t even as a country musician. My introduction to the red-headed stranger was as Willie Nelson, crooner.

Growing up, my parents had a certain affinity for Stardust, the 1978 album in which Willie covered the jazz-pop standards of the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. It’s a blissful record, and it remains on my desert-island list to this day. It also planted the seed of an idea that would come into full bloom as I absorbed Willie’s full catalog: Like Stardust’s star-spangled record sleeve painted by Susanna Clark, Willie contains multitudes.

It’s worth reflecting on the many faces of Willie, as today marks his 82nd birthday. We know many of them. The soft-fingered Spanish guitar picker, the thundering bandito, the friend of the family farm, the marijuana aficionado. And many know him as Willie Nelson, friend of UT.

Yes, he never went to UT. He served a brief stint at that private detention facility on the Brazos known as Baylor University. But a school which famously banned dancing until 1996 was never a good fit for an outlaw like Willie. Austin, where the Armadillo Club brought together the rednecks and the hippies, and dancing was like walking, was much more his speed.

In Austin he struck up a surprising and deep friendship with Darrell K Royal. They golfed regularly and Willie dragged the coach to concerts. Together, like Sonny and Cher and Crockett and Tubbs, they were the perfect embodiment of a special place and time. The hard-nosed football coach, full of folksy adages, and the country rebel, full of rolicking songs and, well, pot smoke. Royal appreciated talent and craft, and encouraged, in his own coach-ish way, others to do the same.

After Willie’s first show at the Armadillo Club in 1972, the duo attended a party at the Crest Hotel hosted by Edwin “Bud” Shrake and Gary Cartwright. Willie began picking his guitar, and Royal, it’s reported, nearly kicked Cartwright out of the room for talking during the performance. “Leave or listen,” Royal commanded. Cartwright chose to listen. As should we all.

When Royal died in 2012, the Alcalde asked fans and alumni to share their memories of Coach. Unsurprisingly, memories of Willie were intertwined. Geralyn Blanda Vine, BJ ’73, remembered seeing Willie perform for the first time at a honky tonk in Round Rock. Royal sat in a metal folding chair, front row center.

“He was there for the whole show and sang and laughed and drank beer with everyone else while Willie entertained,” she recalled. “It was quite a night for me.”

Last year, Willie’s friend-of-UT status was cemented when he donated a huge collection of memorabilia and papers—documents, not those papers—to UT’s Briscoe Center for American History. And UT gave the love right back, putting some of the items on semi-permanent display in the north end zone area of the stadium named after his friend.

So the next time you reflect on Willie the beer-drinking balladeer, or Willie the outlaw, or even Willie the crooner—and I hope you do—think also of Willie the Longhorn.

Happy birthday, Willie. And hook ’em.

Willie Nelson Art by Joe Ciardiello

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

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Thanks, Stewart Patton, for sharing artwork of Joe Ciardiello.  You can purchase this print for $100.00 through Joe’s  website.

www.joeciardiello.com/

Willie Nelson & Leon Russell live from Passaic, NJ, March 1st,1979

Thursday, April 30th, 2015

Thanks Brad Wheeler, for finding this broadcast.

“He is truly the best person I know!!! — celebrating his birthday.” — Annie Nelson #WillieNelson

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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“Happy 82 to my best friend, lover and partner in crime for the last 3 decades! He is truly the best person I know!!! — celebrating his birthday.”

— Annie Nelson

Happy, happy Birthday!

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

happybday

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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www.WillieNelson.com

We Love Willie Nelson! We are so happy he was born!

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson!

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015

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