Willie Nelson Celebrates 80th Birthday With Old Friend by His Side

[G_j]

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/our-country/willie-nelson-celebrates-80th-birthday-old-friend-side-223901051.html

Willie Nelson has taken his share of beatings through the decades: In his 80 years, he's been through three divorces, an allegedly unscrupulous accounting team, numerous brushes with the law, and a number of non-musical ventures yielding varying amounts of success.

Through it all, there's been a constant companion that's shared the ups and downs, and visibly weathered a beating of its own--Nelson's beloved, battered guitar, which he calls "Trigger" (after Roy Rogers's famous horse) and has credited with giving him his signature sound.


The Martin acoustic, covered with scribbled autographs and sporting several wear-and-tear holes in the wood--including a huge one just below the sound hole--has "the greatest tone I've ever heard from a guitar, and I've played lots of guitars," Nelson, who turns 80 on Tuesday, noted in his 2007 memoir The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart.

"The two of us even look alike…we're both pretty bruised and battered."

[Scuba]

1. Oh yeah ...

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/edC6bCyD43EO4euGuC6SMg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTU5NA--/

[G_j]

3. love it

thanks

[yellowcanine]

5. "Trigger" could tell a few stories.......

[laborinvain]

18. Something interesting about that guitar

It's actually a classical guitar, which is supposed to have nylon strings, or gut strings, but he put steel strings on it. That's part of what gives it its unique sound.

[Paladin]

2. That smashed-up, plastic-stringed, plinky-toned old Martin guitar.....

I hope Willy's playing it for years to come.....

[TheKentuckian]

4. Happy Birthday Willie! Listening to his rendition of "Rainbow Connection" as I type.

[L0oniX]

6. People don't know how much this guy has affected music. He's writen so many songs that you think

are by someone else. He's sold rights to many songs so you wouldn't even know he wrote it. I mostly don't like his music but he is a national treasure.

[KansDem]

8. Hear, hear!!!

Take this Elvis "classic," for example:

...written by Willie Nelson.

And in the fifth season of "Rockford Files" (1978)

FIFTH SEASON, 1978-79
Executive Producer: Meta Rosenberg
Supervising Producer: Stephen J. Cannell
Producers: David Chase & Chas. Floyd Johnson
Executive Story Consultant: Juanita Bartlett
Associate Producers: J. Rickley Dumm, John David

[Margolin wins Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series;
series is nominated for Outstanding Drama Series; Garner is nominated
for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series; Beery is nominated for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series]

78/09/22
HEARTACHES OF A FOOL
W: Stephen J. Cannell [29]
D: William Wiard [13]
Music: Willie Nelson
Rocky gets in yet another jam, sending his son the private eye sniffing
around a crooked sausage-making operation that's endorsed by a singing
cowboy.

http://www.thesandbox.net/arm/rockford/episode_guide/season5.shtml

...Nelson's music is prominently featured!

[Mutiny In Heaven]

9. He didn't write Always On My Mind

Covered it a decade or so later, but that one isn't a Nelson-penned song.

[KansDem]

12. Was it penned by Wayne Carson Thompson, John Christopher & Francis Zambon?

I checked the US copyright office and found this:

Always on my mind : a.k.a. You were always on my mind / By Wayne Carson...

Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V2392P052
Date of Recordation: 1988-08-29
Entire Copyright Document: V2392P052-057
Title: Always on my mind : a.k.a. You were always on my mind / By Wayne Carson Thompson, John Christopher & Francis Zambon.

Variant title: You were always on my mind.

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=1&ti=1,1&Search%5FArg=you%20were%20always%20on%20my%20mind&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=QYVB4SHz3Jr6HsOYeyYu67F6Rbh6H&SEQ=20130430122432&SID=7

...then did a YouTube search and found this...

Thanks for setting me straight!

[Mutiny In Heaven]

19. No problem!

I hope I didn't appear petty or as though I wanted to diminish Nelson; he's written more than enough to ensure his legacy is sound.

[Eleanors38]

13. Indeed. The big question is whether he or Johnny Cash has

had the greatest impact on country music. Willie set up shop in the Austin area ( specifically, the old Armadillo World Headquarters) in 1971, a year after I moved here. Such times, such times.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. On the Road Again...................

let's hope he keeps on going!

Happy Birthday, Willie!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. The episode of "Monk" with Willie Nelson was on this weekend.

In syndication.

http://monk.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Monk_and_the_Red-Headed_Stranger

[Bake]

11. I'll never smoke weed with Willie again

My party's all over before it began
You can pour me an old Whiskey River, my friend,
But I'll never smoke weed with Willie again.


Happy Birthday, Willie!!

Bake

[Eleanors38]

14. Note: proceeds from his 80th went to West, Texas explosion survivors.

[kentauros]

15. Here's a good in-depth story about him at The Houston Press:

Mr. Record Man - Willie Nelson
In the Houston of 1959 and 1960, Willie Nelson was just another unknown musician. But not for long.
By William Michael Smith Wednesday, Apr 24 2013

The American music icon, who turns 80 years old on April 30, was once just another starving musician looking for his next gig. In early 1959, he was 26 years old and waiting for Larry Butler, who'd had some records do well on Houston radio and was an established name in Gulf Coast music circles, to finish an afternoon band rehearsal at the popular Esquire Ballroom on Hempstead Highway.

According to Joe Nick Patoski's exhaustive 2008 biography Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, Nelson was freshly arrived in Houston, then known as the murder capital of the entire nation, and had decided the bustling port city was the right one to further advance his own career. He had recently left the hard-knuckle honky-tonks of Fort Worth and had already networked enough to catch the attention of D Records, the most important country-music label in Houston, if not the entire region.

Nelson had signed a fresh contract with Houston music mogul George "Pappy" Daily ­before leaving Fort Worth that identified him as a D Records recording artist and a Glad Music songwriter. Daily had orchestrated East Texas hillbilly George Jones's rocket ride to country-music stardom in 1957 with the release of "Why Baby Why" and, like others, Nelson figured Daily could do the same for him. This was an iffy deal at best, but it was as close to a solid future in the music business as Nelson had ever come.

Nelson's goal from the beginning had been to become a songwriter and performing star, but back at the Esquire Ballroom, he was thirsty. Butler asked him if he wanted anything, and Nelson asked for a Coke and a pack of cigarettes. Butler had the waitress put them on his tab.
(more at link, much more

[hobbit709]

16. Here he is with another friend-note which one is wearing the ID badge

[napkinz]

17. that shirt ... did Willie Nelson know John Lennon?

Just wondering.

[LWolf]

20. I've loved Willie

since I was a pre-teen in the early 70s.

[Norrin Radd]

21. kr