www.statesman.com
by: Dave Thomas and Hannah Thornby
Last week, Willie Nelson became the seventh winner of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
To mark the occasion, we’ve rounded up just a few of the best of Nelson’s many, many hits:
Old School Willie
photo: Erika Rich
“Night Life” — Written while driving to and from gigs in Pasadena, Willie sold the song to pay the bills.
“Family Bible” — Willie sold this one, too. But Claude Gray made a hit out of it and that encouraged Willie to move to Nashville.
“Hello Walls” — Faron Young took this to the top of country charts.
Classic Willie
“Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” — You know you’re doing good when Bob Dylan records your song.
“On the Road Again” — Written almost on the spot when it was suggested he needed a new song for his movie “Honeysuckle Rose.”
“Good Hearted Woman” — Written and performed with good friend Waylon Jennings.
Wild Willie
“I Gotta Get Drunk” — “There’s more old drunks than there are old doctors so I guess we better have another round.”
“Shotgun Willie” — Willie got the nickname after a shootout that followed a domestic dispute between daughter Lana and her husband.
“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” — We can’t imagine how Willie interested Snoop Dogg in a collaboration.
Weird Willie
“I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye” — The protagonist strangles the woman who is going to leave him.
“I Never Cared for You” — Willie gives the traditional love song a surreal makeover.
“Devil in A Sleeping Bag” — Inspired by drummer Paul English’s devilish looks and a long road trip from California.
Not Written by Willie
“Whiskey River” — Johnny Bush wrote the song that Willie (almost) always opens his shows with.
“Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” — Written by Fred Rose and originally recorded in 1945 by Roy Acuff, it was Willie’s first No. 1 hit.
“Always on My Mind” — Was a big hit for Elvis in the early ?70s, but an even bigger hit for Willie.
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