Legends of Country Music by James Hoag

Author:James Hoag
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: country music, trigger, willie nelson, redheaded stranger, willie nelson an epic llife, willie nelson autobiography, willie nelson stardust
Publisher: James Hoag

The Big Time

Suddenly Willie Nelson was a star. He was selling albums and everybody knew his name. He signed a multi-million dollar contract to perform at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Willie’s style of music was catching on. They called it Progressive Country and several radio stations in Texas played just that type of music. Besides Willie, they played Waylon Jennings, The Allman Brothers, Poco and Pure Prairie League.

Willie had lots of fans before, but now, it was ridiculous. Fans were coming out of the woodwork. They would hop the fence around his house and try to get close to him. They hired guards, but nothing could keep them away. The people tide just kept on coming. Wife Connie was terrified. She couldn’t live in a house that was virtually under siege every day. The children weren’t safe and Willie was gone most of the time, so he was no help.

Finally, it got to be too much. Connie and her two girls, left Texas and moved to Conifer, Colorado in the summer of 1976. They would move again a year later to Evergreen, Colorado just about 27 miles southeast of Denver, where they bought 122 acres, and they were isolated enough that the fans didn’t bother them. The fans were after Willie and he still lived in Texas, so Connie finally felt safe. Willie stayed in Texas, but visited when he could.

Wanted: The Outlaws was released on January 12, 1976 on the RCA label. It sold double-platinum (2 Million copies) and went to number one on the country album chart (and stayed there for six weeks.) It also reached number ten on the pop chart. Wanted: The Outlaws was the first country music album in the history of RIAA, who collects the statistics, to go platinum, let alone double-platinum. The album was a compilation album of mostly previously released songs, but it contained the best of the best. It featured not only Willie Nelson, but Waylon Jennings and his wife Jessi Colter and Tompall Glaser.

The songs I find interesting on this album were “Good Hearted Woman,” the duet between Willie and Waylon from 1972 which I have already talked about. Also Waylon Jennings sang the song “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” a song that Willie would take to number one four years later. Waylon never released the song as a single. Waylon and Jessi recorded the Elvis Presley song “Suspicious Minds.” They reached number 25 on the country charts. The song has been done by many other people.

Willie has always been known for his pot smoking, but in 1976, he went at it full steam ahead. He quit smoking regular cigarettes and smoked marijuana exclusively. He also stopped drinking heavily. Willie was kind of a mean drunk and even when he was sober, he wasn’t that easy to get along with. He found that pot mellowed him out, and he quit putting holes in walls and kicking down doors. In fairness, Willie was a busy guy. He was recording constantly.

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