![]() ![]() He spent the next years chasing the life in those songs, hitting the road as an itinerant performer. The songs inside, though – “Hangover Blues,” “Faded Love and Wasted Dream,” “I Guess I Was Born to Be Blue” – speak to honky-tonk themes far beyond Nelson’s years. Nelson’s first songbook has all the doodles of a child’s arts and crafts project. We know this in part from a curious artifact in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University. Nelson joined his first band at 10 and was a songwriter by 12. Courtesy of The Wittliff Collections., CC BY-NC-NDīorn on April 29, 1933, in a small town between Waco and Dallas, Nelson and his sister Bobbie took to music at a young age. The cover of the songbook Willie Nelson wrote at age 12. He catapulted to pop stardom in the 1980s but always went out on the road making music with his friends, night after night. He redefined country music’s image and industry through the outlaw revolt of the 1970s. He then returned to Texas a prodigal son, fostering Austin’s musical ascent and, as the story goes, brokering a peace between the warring rednecks and hippies. While Nelson’s story is vast, it can be distilled down to this: He sprang from the Texas cotton fields and earned his spurs in the state’s dance halls before becoming one of Nashville’s signature songwriters in the 1960s. And the country outlaw is a current nominee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Nelson is headlining a star-studded tribute concert weekend in honor of his 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl on April 29 and 30, 2023. The LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas recently announced the Willie Nelson Endowment Uplifting Rural Communities. There is Willie Nelson the songwriter of rare and poignant gifts, and more Willie Nelsons yet to be named.Īs a Texas music historian, I find that Nelson’s legacy also challenges appraisal because the concept assumes closure, a pastness, while the man at 90 still seems to be active everywhere. There is activist Willie Nelson, Farm Aid’s co-founder and biofuel pioneer. There is outlaw Willie Nelson, revolutionizing the country music industry. There is iconic Willie Nelson, near embodiment of Texas myth. There is historical Willie Nelson, child of the Depression. The country music legend is on tour, with dates scheduled into October 2023.Īssessing Nelson’s legacy is challenging because there are so many Willies to assess. Willie Nelson’s unofficial theme song, “ On the Road Again,” remains accurate as he turns 90 on April 29, 2023. ![]()
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