Willie Nelson. Tribute while he’s still standing, smoking and singing

June 23, 2024

Willie Nelson. A tribute while he’s still standing, smoking and singing.

Willie…troubadour, folk hero, counter-culture icon, philanthropist (Farm Aid), father (Lukas and Micah), husband (to Annie D'Angelo), is managing respiratory issues from years of smoking weed, and in the midst what some say will be his last rodeo. He canceled his upcoming show.

The spirits are engaged. WUMB played his son Lukas’s cover “Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground” this afternoon … Lukas’s rich tone and timbre channels his 91 year old dad so well it’s eerie.

“Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” ?

Willie is in no rush to be smoked. He celebrated his 91^st birthday on April 25, 2024

Billboard just reported that Willie’s dropping his 114^th career album extending his record for the most in the chart’s history..114!.  

BILLBOARD LINK

Willie's early ballads "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls" and "Crazy" on his album "And Then I Wrote" are American Songbook before he grew a beard, let his hair grow to pony tail length and wrapped that iconic red banana around his  head.  These are my favorite Willie recordings They didn't chart very high but exemplify the man's range and musical sensibility. Check them out.

Willie’s tenacity, perseverance, influence on country/western music is unmatched. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nelson

Willie, never the one to go softly into the night, is an entrepreneur at heart. He was not kidding when he said, “Roll me up and smoke me when I die.”  

You know damn well that he’s gonna order cremation.

You know damn well that he’s gonna have a few grains of his ashes packed in a tightly rolled reefers and have them sold. For big bucks.

You know damn well he’s gonna find a way to keep the proceeds from the revenuers, probably by demanding that proceeds be remanded to non-profits of his choice,

https://americansongwriter.com/willie-nelson-extends-stunning-chart-record-latest-release-the-border/

January 12, 2019 photo below of a sold out show in Nashvllle.  His son Lukas sang solo and together with his brother Micah then Lukas performed with his band "Promise Of The Real". It's in the genes. Happy Birthday, Willie...may you keep rolling on...and rolling those reefers, assuming there's a smoking section in your next rodeo.

https://ptatlarge.typepad.com/ptatlarge/2021/08/willie-nelson-singing-for-his-supper.html

https://ptatlarge.typepad.com/ptatlarge/2019/02/willie-nelson-the-2015-library-of-congress-gershwin-prize.html

https://ptatlarge.typepad.com/ptatlarge/2019/01/willie-life-and-songs-of-an-american-outlaw-the-setting.html

Links that add to the legend...

https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/WillieNelsonInterview.pdf

A MUST WATCH VIDEO BELOW TO GET A SENSE OF THE MAN THE MYTH AND THE LEGEND

'Willie on Willie' interview with Walter Isaacsson. on Christine Amanpour show October 15, 2021

Isaacson's style and questions draw out Nelson's humanity and experience growing up with his close knit family in Abbot, Texas...Nelson has sung with George Jones and Frank Sinatra...yes, you read that right.

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/legendary-musician-willie-nelson-his-letters-america-nie80g/

Photo by Paul A.Tamburello, Jr.