Willie: Life and Songs Of An American Outlaw, The Setting

Willie: Life and Songs Of An American Outlaw

PART 2; THE SETTING
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN
January 12, 2019

There’s Red State America, Blue State America…and Willie Nelson America. 18,000 members of WNA crammed into every seat in the cavernous Bridgestone Arena to pay homage to the man who has been writing songs since 1962. If the event would have been on pay per view, Willie could have bought the state of Texas with the proceeds. The level of anticipation in the arena was as thick as those two long pigtails hanging from under Willie’s cowboy hat. 

Anyone who owned Willie merchandise was wearing it. The forty-ish woman wearing a light blue Levi jacket with a Willie Nelson portrait on the back was walking to her seat in the hallway ahead of us. “I had it painted especially for me last year,” she said. “The same artist painted that one of Johnny Cash on my husband’s.”  For the rest of us, our devotion to Willie and what he stands for is painted indelibly on a small cameo in an invisible locket hanging on a delicate chain around our necks. 

 

Listen and you’d hear people telling Willie anecdotes. The couple sitting next to us had driven two hours from eastern Tennessee for the show. Judging by the conversation with Willie as the fulcrum you’d think we’d known each other for years. 

 

WNA comes in all ages and income levels and is mostly white. They have their favorite songs, can tell you the first time they remember hearing it and can recite the verses. They are here to honor the man whose songs have been on their playlists for years. The fact that the man is 85 years old is another driving force for reasons that need no explanation.

 

The Tennessee accents I hear around me would be perfect for making a Jack Daniels Black Label Bourbon radio commercial. As the arena fills up, a good ol’ boy with a bushy beard and grey streaked pony tail poking through the back of his baseball cap is belting out a George Jones song much to the amusement of his neighbors. “I drove up to his house one day, knocked on the door and he answered it. I asked if he’d sign my fiddle and damn, he did.” 

 

Read the lyrics to Nelson's songs, listen to his own renditions. The man’s a philosopher, a poet, a seer, a romantic sometimes of the hopeless kind but has the sensibility to avoid the saccharine and write the core truths. If you’ve loved, loved and lost, or just plain lived, he’ll be singing your song.

 

His songwriting phrasing and timing can croon or swing or muse whether balladeering or country two stepping. The man’s not just a songwriter, he’s a storyteller. To say that he’s country… well you haven’t listened to what he’s written or co-written since 1962. Those 367 songs are not about pickup trucks. They’re steeped in his own life experiences. Can you name another Texas songwriter who covers Hogie Carmichael and, hold your breath, his next project will cover ol’ Blue Eyes himself. To think Willie is country misses the point. 

 

I’m thinking that Willie is the Buddha of American music, toking on weed instead of drinking tea. That unmistakable Willie voice, slightly nasal bourbon baritone, is best listened to neat, just the voice and his trademark guitar ‘Trigger.”

 

Check out the man’s catalogue. Chances are you’ve heard his songs covered by artists way better known, Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” for example, more than you’ve heard Willie singing them himself. Look at this list of 367 songs and categories.

 

Look at the range of songs the man’s written and sung. Willie’s sort of a one-man Rogers and Hammerstein or a singer with the range and sensibility of George Gershwin who wears cowboy boots and a red bandana. With his country lyricism, jazz influenced phrasing, and soulful sensibility, Willie doesn’t even fit into the category of Americana. “One of a kind” sounds about right.

Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/2018/10/30/willie-nelson-recording-academy-grammy-2019/1817954002/

Comments

[Katherine Jones]

Paul,

I love this. You have captured the show and in Part Two the venue exquisitely. You also captured the man. This sentence resonates so well: For the rest of us, our devotion to Willie and what he stands for is painted indelibly on a small cameo in an invisible locket hanging on a delicate chain around our necks.

I can't wait to hear the cover of Sinatra's songs.

#WNA #younailedit

Kathy

[Myke Farricker]

Great job again!

[Susaan Straus]

Just great! One of your best!

The photo of the arena is mind blowing.

[Susan M. Bennett]

Great event and great writing PT. You were obviously inspired! Who doesn’t love Willie.

[May Louise White]

Fabulous Review. Saw part of the show on Public TV and I couldn't agree with you more.

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka PT from Boston]

May Louise, I put "Willie Nelson Tribute on public TV" in search engine Duckduckgo to find it. Much to my surprise, I found a link http://www.pbs.org/gershwin-prize/shows/gershwin-prize-willie-nelson/
I had no idea about the Gershwin Prize Award to Willie in 2015, made me happy that I wrote the last paragraph of my post without ever knowing about that prize or the story about it.

"Look at the range of songs the man’s written and sung. Willie’s sort of a one-man Rogers and Hammerstein or a singer with the range and sensibility of George Gershwin who wears cowboy boots and a red bandana. With his country lyricism, jazz influenced phrasing, and soulful sensibility, Willie doesn’t even fit into the category of Americana. “One of a kind” sounds about right."

[Susan Sullivan]

He be the man! What a treat