Willie Nelson by Graeme Thomson

Author:Graeme Thomson [Graeme Thomson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Published: 2007-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

YOU NEED FRIENDS

WILLIE NELSON IS talking about friends, but he is really talking about protection.

There have been times when he has needed protecting – from fame, from life, from being alone. When hard, true fame finally hit he created a mobile buffer zone between himself and the world, an ever-changing travelling party of cowboy courtiers who kept the world at arm’s length when the need arose. And it arose frequently.

‘I didn’t want a lot of people around,’ he says simply, and sighs. ‘I just didn’t know what was going to happen.’

The hotel room has never really warmed up and he huddles into his tracksuit top. It is not a subject he wants to talk about but he will. The words leave his mouth and form vague shapes, hinting at sharper images he will be picturing in his mind but will not reveal. He has seen almost every form of base criminality and the most extreme acts of loyalty and kindness pass before his eyes, many acted out in the name of friendship. Protection.

‘At the time, I didn’t want a lot of things to get out of my control,’ he continues. ‘I knew these guys were not the most politically correct in town, but they were good characters, good guys. I knew that if they had their eye on things everything would be cool. There would be no problem.’ He laughs softly. ‘I knew they wouldn’t encourage a lot of people to come around.’

His entourage is unique in modern music – not even Frank Sinatra could claim such loyalty and longevity from his clan. He has been the centre of this show for over thirty years. He is the very reason it exists. He could make it all stop tomorrow and perhaps a hundred people would be left on the side of the road.

The line between employee, hanger-on and friend became blurred a long time ago, if indeed it ever existed. The relationship between the man and his human bubble is complex and comprises a multitude of mutual needs and wants. He doesn’t want to hear it. Let’s keep it simple.

‘Oh, they’re friends,’ he says sharply. His eyes focus and darken the way they do when he feels a little anger rising. ‘As far as needing, well, I don’t know who needs what, but they’re friends.’

He looks up from the floor and smiles, his brief passion spent. ‘And you need friends.’

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