Assessing Nelson\u2019s legacy is challenging because there are so many Willies to assess. There is historical Willie Nelson, child of the Depression. There is iconic Willie Nelson, near embodiment of Texas myth. There is outlaw Willie Nelson, revolutionizing the country music industry. There is activist Willie Nelson, Farm Aid\u2019s<\/a> co-founder and biofuel pioneer. There is Willie Nelson the songwriter of rare and poignant gifts, and more Willie Nelsons yet to be named.<\/p>\n As a Texas music historian<\/a>, I find that Nelson\u2019s legacy also challenges appraisal because the concept assumes closure, a pastness, while the man at 90 still seems to be active everywhere. The LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas recently announced the Willie Nelson Endowment Uplifting Rural Communities<\/a>. Nelson is headlining a star-studded tribute concert weekend in honor of his 90th birthday at the Hollywood Bowl<\/a> on April 29 and 30, 2023. And the country outlaw is a current nominee for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n Born on April 29, 1933, in a small town between Waco and Dallas, Nelson and his sister Bobbie<\/a> took to music at a young age. Nelson joined his first band at 10 and was a songwriter by 12. We know this in part from a curious artifact in the Wittliff Collections<\/a> at Texas State University. Nelson\u2019s first songbook has all the doodles of a child\u2019s arts and crafts project. The songs inside, though \u2013 \u201cHangover Blues,\u201d \u201cFaded Love and Wasted Dream,\u201d \u201cI Guess I Was Born to Be Blue\u201d \u2013 speak to honky-tonk themes far beyond Nelson\u2019s years.<\/p>\n He spent the next years chasing the life in those songs, hitting the road as an itinerant performer. Like most aspiring country artists, Nelson ended up in Nashville. In 1961, he joined Ray Price<\/a>\u2019s band, the Cherokee Cowboys<\/a>. Price had been a roommate of Hank Williams Sr.\u2018s, and the Cherokee Cowboys built on Williams\u2019 legacy, at various times including not just Nelson but also his pals Johnny Bush<\/a>, Johnny Paycheck<\/a> and Roger Miller<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nelson moved from success to success as a songwriter, with Ray Price singing \u201cNight Life,\u201d Faron Young<\/a> singing \u201cHello Walls\u201d and Patsy Cline<\/a> singing \u201cCrazy.\u201d He likely would have made it to the Country Music Hall of Fame with this early songwriting alone. He did record, but Nelson\u2019s flamenco guitar, jazzy phrasing and eccentric lyricism did not fit the mold of 1960s Nashville. Facing personal and professional challenges that culminated in his house\u2019s burning down, Nelson left Tennessee for Texas by decade\u2019s end.<\/p>\nSEE WILLIE NELSON LIVE<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/a>While Nelson\u2019s story is vast, it can be distilled down to this: He sprang from the Texas cotton fields and earned his spurs in the state\u2019s dance halls before becoming one of Nashville\u2019s signature songwriters in the 1960s. He then returned to Texas a prodigal son, fostering Austin\u2019s musical ascent and, as the story goes, brokering a peace between the warring rednecks and hippies. He redefined country music\u2019s image and industry through the outlaw revolt<\/a> of the 1970s. He catapulted to pop stardom in the 1980s but always went out on the road making music with his friends, night after night.<\/p>\nFrom Texas to Nashville and back<\/h2>\n
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