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Willie Nelson (still kicking at 91)

jimmyjazz

By jimmyjazz
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  • 3 months later...
Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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"You always know a tit."  /louisck

 

Happy Birthday, Willie!  I still remember a random interview on Fox7 on his 70th birthday.  Reporter asked him this long-winded question, "What's it like turning 70, Willie...what wisdom have you gleaned...what stands out...how do you feel...etc.???"  She just kept talking because I think she could tell he was stoned to bejeesus and wasn't gonna answer.  Willie looked down, smiled, looked back up, and just said, "There's nothing to it..." and walked off.  I knew then that wonderful man would live decades longer (no jinx).  

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tbone_

tbone_ 14106

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Yea no shit. ATL must have one impressive family.

Like many others I’m sure, I’ve been listening to Willie songs on pretty much an endless loop since the early 70s in the back seat of my parents car. I can straight up honestly say Willie Nelson has had a bigger impact on how my life philosophies have developed over the years and what kind of person I want to be more than any religion, code, book, or really any other person in my life other than my dad (to a certain extent) and my grandfather. And maybe more so than both in some ways.

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  • 4 months later...
Gil Bang

Gil Bang 25907

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On 9/26/2021 at 10:18 AM, Buzzrock said:

He was in Atlanta a couple nights ago and I couldn’t go, but my buddy said his kids had to help him with the singing, forgetting words and stuff.

I saw him a couple of years back, and yeah, he's a shadow.  Still plays well, but he's basically a rapper now. 

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Hornius Emeritus

Hornius Emeritus 12450

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On 9/26/2021 at 12:18 PM, Buzzrock said:

He was in Atlanta a couple nights ago and I couldn’t go, but my buddy said his kids had to help him with the singing, forgetting words and stuff.


Two of my readers said exactly the opposite. They said that he sat for the whole show but that his playing was excellent and that is singing was surprisingly good.

 

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...
Wally Pryor

Wally Pryor 5261

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Really nice capsule of her life from Peter Blackstock. I did not know she lost two sons within 6 months of each other.

 

Bobbie Nelson, older sister of Texas country music icon Willie Nelson and the pianist in his band for nearly five decades, died Thursday morning, "peacefully and surrounded by family," according to a statement from the Nelson family. She was 91.

"Her elegance, grace, beauty and talent made this world a better place," the statement reads. "She was the first member of Willie’s band, as his pianist and singer. Our hearts are broken and she will be deeply missed. But we are so lucky to have had her in our lives. Please keep her family in your thoughts and give them the privacy they need at this time."

Nelson had been hospitalized in recent weeks with an undisclosed illness. She last performed with Willie’s longstanding Family band in late 2021, after he began to tour again following a long break during the pandemic.

"I've always been very shy," Nelson told American-Statesman writer Michael Corcoran in 2007. "I sang a little when we were kids, mostly in church. But Willie had such a beautiful voice. I'd always tell him, 'You sing, Willie, and I'll play the piano.'"

Born Jan. 1, 1931, Nelson showed a talent for music at an early age growing up in Abbott, a small Texas town near Hillsboro. Her younger brother, Willie, born two years later, looked up to her and always considered her the best musician in the family, as he made clear in “Me and Sister Bobbie,” a dual memoir they published in 2020 with biographer David Ritz.

Raised by their grandparents, the siblings began playing in honky-tonks when they were teenagers, as part of a band that included their father, Ira Nelson, and Bobbie's first husband, Arlyn "Bud" Fletcher, whom she married at age 16.

The couple had three children between 1950 and 1953 but divorced a few years later. Nelson enrolled at Brantley-Draughon Business College in Fort Worth; married a man named Paul Tracy; and took a job at a department store that sold Hammond pianos and organs.

Her first husband died in a car crash in 1961, and her second marriage didn't last. After visiting Willie in Nashville in the mid-'60s, Nelson moved to Austin. El Chico, a Mexican restaurant chain where she'd been playing piano in Fort Worth, offered her a job at a new restaurant they'd opened here.

Soon, she also was playing regularly at hotels such as the Stephen F. Austin and the Chariot Inn. In 1967, she married Bud Smith, whom she had met at a convenience store where he worked. Shortly thereafter, they moved with Nelson's three sons to Tennessee to live on a plot of land near Nashville that Willie had bought with proceeds from his burgeoning career as a songwriter.

Nelson moved back to Austin for good in the early 1970s, playing piano at dinner clubs in Lakeway and at a Howard Johnson's on Interstate 35. Her brother then moved to Austin as well, and soon they were playing music together for the first time since their teenage days.

When legendary producer Jerry Wexler signed Willie to Atlantic Records in 1972 and told him to hire whatever musicians he wanted for the recording sessions, his first call was to Bobbie, who joined him in New York. That became the start of the Family band, Willie's backing crew ever since on tour and for many of his recording sessions.

Bobbie played on iconic Willie Nelson albums such as "Phases and Stages," "Red Headed Stranger," "Stardust," "Spirit" and "Teatro." She had a featured role on last year's "Willie Nelson Family," joining a cast that included Willie's sons Lukas and Micah Nelson and daughters Paula and Amy Nelson.

In concert, she was the ideal accompanist for Willie's blend of country traditionalism and jazz innovation. He always ceded the spotlight a few songs into the set so that she could play the century-old instrumental tune "Down Yonder."

Nelson released one solo album, "Audiobiography," in 2007 on Justice Records, supporting it with a performance on "The Tonight Show." 

For Nelson's 90th birthday last year, family and friends (including Beatles drummer Ringo Starr) created a half-hour video of photos, music and personalized greetings that was posted to Willie's social media pages.

Nelson's sons Randy and Michael died within six months of each other in 1989 —Michael from leukemia and Randy in a car crash. Her youngest son, Freddy, lives in Austin and operates Arlyn Studios, a recording facility in South Austin named after his father.

In "Me and Sister Bobbie," Nelson was unflinchingly open about the ups and downs of her nine decades. She often acknowledged the role that her faith played in her life. In the book's final chapter, she wrote: "As a child, playing revivals with Brother Dunson in small villages spread over Hill County, I remember playing 'Let Go and Let God Have His Wonderful Way.' His wonderful way. Those words stuck.

"I believe God's wonderful way is to forgive. I can say today that I hold no ill toward anyone. I can also say that I feel forgiveness is almost a selfish act because it does so much good for those willing to forgive."

 

 

Edited by Wally Pryor
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tbone_

tbone_ 14106

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As far as albums go, I think it's pretty hard to top Shotgun Willie and Phases & Stages.  Everyone raves about Red Headed Stranger (and I get it), but those are the absolute peak of Willie's career (and arguably country music) in my mind.

Fantastic albums for sure.

I can remember my dad bringing home and opening up/ first play of every album from Shotgun Willie to Stardust. (Well, stardust was 8 track). Hell of a 5 year production run and as good a run as there’s ever been in music IMO. And pretty much the story of my childhood.
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Kennythetiger

Kennythetiger 9374

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On 3/17/2022 at 9:42 AM, tbone_ said:


Fantastic albums for sure.

I can remember my dad bringing home and opening up/ first play of every album from Shotgun Willie to Stardust. (Well, stardust was 8 track). Hell of a 5 year production run and as good a run as there’s ever been in music IMO. And pretty much the story of my childhood.

 

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  • 1 month later...
nolongerU2horn

nolongerU2horn 758

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Willie sounded way, way, WAY better on Saturday than he did in March when we saw him at Luck. It was pretty sad honestly at the time. His voice was extremely frail and he needed help from Lukas and Micah. Was very pleasantly surprised at how much stronger he was this time around.

  • Hook 'Em 2
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tigol

tigol 2395

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1 hour ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Willie sounded way, way, WAY better on Saturday than he did in March when we saw him at Luck. It was pretty sad honestly at the time. His voice was extremely frail and he needed help from Lukas and Micah. Was very pleasantly surprised at how much stronger he was this time around.

Same for his birthday party in Luck yesterday.  His voice was awesome!  He missed a few things on guitar, but it was great to hear him with a strong voice again.  Bruce Robison put together a fantastic show.

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UTexasFight

UTexasFight 9428

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On 4/30/2022 at 11:26 PM, 4th&Five said:

How is the grand opening like the 9th show there?

Probably because that was the only way George would do it?

but yeah, the George shows were the first ones announced back in ~November and then they kept tacking on more and more the week before as April approached.

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nolongerU2horn

nolongerU2horn 758

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1 hour ago, UTexasFight said:

Probably because that was the only way George would do it?

but yeah, the George shows were the first ones announced back in ~November and then they kept tacking on more and more the week before as April approached.

The Weeknd was supposed to play on April 18 2022 and those tix went on sale in February of 2021

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17658

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14 hours ago, Gil Bang said:

Norah is so fucking cool, and so fucking talented.  

For fuck's sake, she called her all-girl country side project "Puss 'N Boots". 

No lie.  She's also in my wheelhouse for other reasons.  Cool and talented plus beautiful?  

I think in another thread I posted some of the videos she made during Covid, sometimes just her, sometimes with a friend.  They really are fantastic.

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