As I write this, it's the Fourth of July 2006, late afternoon. It's dark and rainy in Dallas, with predictions of heavier rain to come. North Korea, in an extreme case of penis envy, is flexing their might by firing off long range missiles and CNN is lapping it up. And me, I'm listening to Willie Nelson belting out "Whiskey River." It seems apropos, in a weltschmerz sort of way.
Willie Nelson, when all is said and done, expresses a world weariness that strikes a universal chord among anybody who has ever heard him. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Complete Atlantic Recordings. It's pointless, thirty years-plus after the fact to attempt to dissect Shotgun Willie (sure, it was over-produced for the time), or Phases and Stages (country's first concept album) — hindsight is always 20/20. And despite what latter-day critics are fond of saying, Willie Nelson did not reinvent country with those two albums — he merely returned it to its rightful roots — the Texas honky-tonk that nurtured it.
That is by no means intended to detract from the significance of those two albums — quite the contrary. What Willie (some icons you just have to refer to by their first name) did on those two albums was revolutionary at the time. He broke free from a bloated Nashville establishment which was content to be a parody of itself, took his jazz and blues infused music with him, and set it free in the rolling hills of Austin. This was no easy feat, and without the aid of legendary producer Jerry Wexler (of Aretha Franklin fame), it's doubtful whether he could have pulled it off. Pull it off he did, though, and thus was born Country Outlaw.
But it's on the previously unreleased Live at the Texas Opry House Willie Nelson proves himself as a performer and vindicates his desertion from Nashville. This is Texas honky-tonk at its best, centerpieced by a kick-ass rendition of "Bloody Mary Morning" that would do Bob Wills proud. It's not urban cowboy stuff — it is the real thing. We Texans have always had an affinity for fusing music genres into something distinctly, well, Texan and Willie epitomizes the fondness like no other.
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Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
Excellent article. But...the last American icon? We've got no shortage of them...
2 - Jet in Columbus
And he made the song "Cowboys are secretly frequently fond of eachother" famous too!
3 - Mat Brewster
Great stuff. To this day the first lines of "stardust" knock me to the floor.
gawd bless willie nelson.
4 - Ray Ellis
Stormy weather last night, but Willie didn't let that stand in the way of his picnic. Fireworks displays were cancelled or rained, but Willie played on into the wee hours of the morning. I guess that's what I meant, Michael, when I referred to him as the last American icon, though I'll admit that was a bit hyperbolic. But within that gnre, he is one of the last--Johnny Cash is gone, Waylon has passed--so within the original "outlaw" group, there are not very many left.
And Jet-- you know Willie has always been one of "them liberal left-wingers", don't you?
Mat--what can I say? Thanks, man.