Nearly every week, Willie Nelson and his band, set out on a two-thousand mile round trip to the honky-tonks of Texas and back to Tennessee — first driving an old station wagon, later in a road bus.
If Music Row in Nashville was ruled by record executives, the southwestern country bars were ruled by the queens of the honky-tonks — waitresses.
“They were our first critics and our best ones, ” Willie says. “If I had a turkey of an act, it would hurt the waitress’ audience and cut into their tips,” Willie explains, “but if my show was good, the waitresses would be very grateful for it.”
“I think every singer in every band had a following of waitresses,” Willie says. “Before I had even heard the word ‘groupies’, we all had our favorite waitresses.”
Willie Nelson: Country Outlaw
By Lola Scobey
