Willie Nelson
57 articles
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Willie Nelson: Willie Nelson Live (RCA)**
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 9 October 1976
WILLIE NELSON has been in country music for the better part of twenty years as a songwriter and performer, while, arm in arm with Waylon ...
Willie Nelson: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Live Review by Andrew Mueller, The Independent, 5 April 2005
AT THIS LATE stage, attending a Willie Nelson concert is more a gesture of pilgrimage than anything else. Nelson, now 71, with a ponytail that ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Barney Hoskyns, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 October 1994
Willie Nelson – on tour in Sweden – on leaving Columbia for Liberty, his tussle with the IRS, Cowboy movies, songwriting and more...
File format: mp3 File size: 30mb Interview length: 32 minutes 43 seconds Sound quality: ****
Interview by Chris Smith, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 September 1998
The outlaw-country icon talks about what makes Texas such fertile ground for songwriters and musicians; about his discovery of the Austin scene; his early years as a writer in Nashville, and pitching 'Crazy' to Patsy Cline; the struggle to break through as an artist, and at some length about songwriting.
File format: mp3; file size: 23.9mb, interview length: 24' 51" sound quality: ****
List of articles in the library
Willie Nelson: The Words Don't Fit The Picture (RCA LSP-4653)
Review by Gene Guerrero, The Great Speckled Bird, 24 July 1972
Country Willie ...
Something's Right In Austin: Commander Cody's Live Armadillo LP Proclaims a Texas Renaissance
Report by Michael Gross, Zoo World, 14 March 1974
HIPPY DIED in 1967. Time Magazine was the accused murderer, but the case was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. Since then, all ...
Willie Nelson: The Emperor of Austin
Profile and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Zoo World, 18 July 1974
"I WAS LIVING in Nashville," Willie Nelson recalls. "I had just written a song called 'What Can You Do To Me Now?' and the next ...
Nelson Picnic Brings Different Musical Elements Together
Report by Stephen K. Peeples, Cash Box, 26 July 1975
HOLLYWOOD — This year's Willie Nelson 4th of July picnic was streamlined in production and presentation: narrowed to one day as opposed to three last ...
Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger (Columbia)
Review by Nick Tosches, Creem, August 1975
I USED TO think Willie Nelson wrote sissy songs, that he was just another doily-brained sensitivo. Then, about two years ago, I came across an ...
Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger
Review by Mick Houghton, Let It Rock, October 1975
WILLIE NELSON has never written easy songs or recorded easy albums. He has penned his share of country standards over the past fifteen years, all ...
Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser: Wanted! The Outlaws (RCA)
Review by Nick Tosches, The Village Voice, 26 January 1976
Waylon &c. Pull a Fast One ...
Billy Swan, Willie Nelson: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 1 May 1976
The majesty of Nelson's column ...
Willie Nelson, Billy Swan: New Victoria Theatre, London
Live Review by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 1 May 1976
Good and bad ol' boys ...
Dylan meets Willie Nelson: Thunder Deep in the Heart of Texas
Report by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 17 June 1976
HOUSTON — It was the Rolling Thunder Revue's second stop here this year, just five months after the less-than-successful Rubin Carter Astrodome benefit, and Bob ...
Willie Nelson: The Troublemaker (CBS)****
Review by Chas de Whalley, Sounds, 23 October 1976
HOW ARE we supposed to take this album, eh? ...
Willie Nelson: The Troublemaker (CBS) and Live (RCA)
Review by Rob Partridge, Melody Maker, 13 November 1976
TWO OLDIES, neither of which add significantly to Nelson's reputation as the leading exponent of the new Texan country music: The Troublemaker, recorded in 1973, ...
Jerry Bradley: This Nashville dynamo doesn't sing a note
Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 13 February 1977
PEOPLE WITH careers in the record world refer to their industry as the music business for one elementary reason. It is a business, with a ...
Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings: Outlaws offer new kind of country
Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 22 January 1978
IF YOU think the Super Bowl was rough on the Denver Broncos, you should have seen Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson the next afternoon. The ...
Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings: Waylon & Willie (RCA)
Review by Mitchell Cohen, Creem, April 1978
'PICK UP The Tempo' again. 'It's Not Supposed To Be That Way' again. Tracking these guys separately or in tandem means a hell of a ...
Willie Nelson: Stardust (Columbia JC 55505)
Review by Ariel Swartley, Rolling Stone, 29 June 1978
WHEN COUNTRY singers go back to their roots, the album's usually called Amazing Grace, but Willie Nelsons never been known for his orthodoxy. Instead of ...
Hot times in the heart of Texxas
Report by Joe Nick Patoski, Rolling Stone, 24 August 1978
IF ANYTHING was learned from the 105,000 fans who piled into the Cotton Bowl over the Fourth of July weekend for the two-day Texxas World ...
Willie Nelson: Willie And Family Live (Columbia KC2-35642)
Review by Stephen K. Peeples, L.A. Weekly, 21 December 1978
WILLIE NELSON, whose maverick approach to country music helped him achieve widespread popularity in the last four years, is finally represented accurately on an album. ...
Willie Nelson: Always on My Mind (Columbia)
Review by Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, 27 May 1982
WHEN, IN the finale of Always on My Mind, Willie Nelson claims he "wasn't tryin'," he seems to be summing up his attitude toward this ...
Willie Nelson: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Mick Brown, The Guardian, 9 June 1982
IT IS TRUE what they say about things being bigger in Texas. You could wrap up a jumbo jet in the flag of the Lone ...
Willie Nelson: Always On My Mind (Columbia)
Review by Geoffrey Himes, Musician, July 1982
JUST WHEN you thought you couldn't bear one more version of Paul Simon's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', Willie Nelson comes by and makes the song ...
Willie Nelson: Capital Centre, Landover MA
Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore Sun, 16 March 1983
Nelson's style: spare but brilliant ...
Willie Nelson: Merriweather Post Pavilion, Baltimore MD
Live Review by Geoffrey Himes, Evening Sun (Baltimore), The , 27 May 1988
Despite many styles, Nelson is a hit ...
Willie Nelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kimmie Rhodes, Katy Moffatt: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, 18 April 1990
The other Nelson jumps genres ...
Willie Nelson: Cheer Up, It Might Never Happen
Interview by Mark Cooper, Q, July 1993
…Er, unfortunately it already has. Three failed marriages, a son's suicide, his house burning down — and that's before the small matter of a $16.7 ...
Willie Nelson: The Buddha of Texas
Profile and Interview by Barney Hoskyns, MOJO, January 1995
He is both The Great Elder of his tribe — a man of fabled serenity — and country music's most celebrated outsider; fond of the ...
Willie Nelson: Funny How Time Slips Away
Retrospective and Interview by Bill DeYoung, Goldmine, 6 January 1995
WITH HIS beatific smile and twinkling bright eyes, Willie Nelson looks like the most serene and centered man on the planet. When he's wearing a ...
Get set for good old Country Music: Willie Nelson's End of Summer Picnic
Profile and Interview by Lon Goddard, Daily Astorian, 7 September 1995
"MAMA, DON'T let your cowboys grow up to be babies," joked quintessential crossover music legend Willie Nelson from the stage of Portland's 3,200 capacity Rose ...
Willie Nelson: The Barbican, London
Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, 1996
HE STEPS out onstage to a standing ovation and his grizzled, beautifully-ruined face breaks into that huge grin. For a moment the spindly bloke looks ...
Guide by Fred Dellar, MOJO, May 1997
TWO THINGS. Willie Nelson is not a country singer but a singer who just happens to fit neatly in the country section for those of ...
Profile and Interview by Sean O'Hagan, The Observer, 31 May 1998
The songs come out of suffering. Like being beaten senseless with his wife's broom... ...
Willie Nelson: The Barbican, London
Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, August 1998
THE GREAT FEAR of seeing a hero in their twilight years is that their powers will have deserted them and they'll be unable to reach, ...
10 Questions for Willie Nelson
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, October 1998
Does writing and making records get harder or easier with time? ...
The Lone Star Spirit of Willie Nelson
Profile and Interview by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, December 1998
THERE WAS, of course, Texas music before Willie. Problem was, nobody outside of Texas heard it. The eclectic styles growing from lone star roots before ...
Willie Nelson Picnics At Woodstock
Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, woodstock.com, 26 July 1999
WILLIE NELSON WAS FAR, far away from Woodstock in 1969, at least physically. He was about to return to Texas after a tumultuous decade as ...
Willie Nelson Hits Springfield
Profile and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, unpublished, 2001
IT’S LONG PAST midnight at the Springfield, Illinois, State Fairground. Heavy rain slants down, dousing the day’s tangled aromas of corn dog, funnel cake and ...
Willie Nelson: Expecting the Unexpected
Profile and Interview by Hank Bordowitz, Gallery, March 2001
WILLIE NELSON studies martial arts. He has honed his skills as a karateka in various styles for around 40 years now. When you ...
Willie Nelson: The Great Divide
Review by Pat Blashill, Rolling Stone, 8 January 2002
SUNNY AND UPLIFTING are not words generally associated with Willie Nelson, but that's not the only reason some will be surprised by his new album. ...
Various Artists: America: A Tribute To Heroes
Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, March 2002
Star-Spangled Bummer: Record of benefit concert/telethon for victims of September 11 ...
Carla Bozulich: Cafe Club Fais Do-Do
Live Review by Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 April 2002
A CANNY BLEND of leather-worn country standards and original compositions that sound like they could be, Willie Nelson's 1975 album Red Headed Stranger functions as ...
Willie Nelson’s Straight Story
Report and Interview by Peter Murphy (Irish), Hot Press, 23 July 2002
IN DAVID LYNCH’S The Straight Story, the septuagenarian Alvin Straight showed his steel when the twin freak mechanics the Olsens tried fleecing him for repairs ...
Willie Nelson: Stars & Guitars
Review and Interview by Max Bell, Uncut, January 2003
Shotgun Willie recorded live in the country capital with a clutch of great names including Sheryl Crow, Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris. ...
Farm Aid: Germain Amphitheater, Columbus, Ohio
Report by Kandia Crazy Horse, PopMatters, 23 September 2003
I WAS EATING Neil Young when the highest points of my sojourn to this year's Farm Aid benefit concert occurred: veteran Crazy Horse bassist Billy ...
Book Excerpt by Gene Santoro, 'Highway 61 Revisited...', 2004
ON APRIL 30, 2003, Willie Nelson turned 70, and celebrated with the release of his latest Greatest Hits collection. The Essential Willie Nelson (Columbia/Legacy), a ...
Willie Nelson's Countryman (Lost Highway)
Report and Interview by Jaan Uhelszki, Harp, July 2005
HEARING WILLIE Nelson’s first reggae album, you’re bound to ask: What took him so long? There’s a rather sympathetic correlation between the Nelson’s rather lazy, ...
Graeme Thomson: Willie Nelson – The Outlaw
Book Review by Adam Sweeting, Daily Telegraph, 9 March 2006
MANY RECORDING artists have flirted with cowboy-chic, from the Eagles with their "gunfighter" album Desperado to Jon Bon Jovi preposterously claiming to be "Wanted Dead ...
Willie Nelson: One Hell Of A Ride
Review by John Morthland, No Depression, 30 April 2008
SOMEDAY, SOMEBODY with great taste, and no desire to be all things to all markets, is going to put together a Best Of Willie Nelson ...
Review by Alan Light, MSN.com, September 2008
"THIS IS OUR twenty-third Farm Aid," said John Mellencamp, "and when we started this thing, we were naïve enough that we thought we'd have this ...
Review by Rob Hughes, Uncut, June 2010
Legend revisits his roots, aided by Grammy-magnet T Bone Burnett It really is impossible to second-guess Willie Nelson. The recent past has seen some unlikely detours ...
Interview by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, July 2010
Onboard his battle bus, Uncut is granted a conference with the laid-back potentate of country music, Willie Nelson. On the agenda: Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, ...
Willie Nelson's Heroes a great Father's Day pick says his son, Lukas
Report and Interview by Jeff Slate, Examiner.com, 15 June 2012
"HE'S A GREAT DAD. I'm an incredibly lucky guy to have grown up with him," Lukas Nelson told me of his dad, music legend Willie ...
Paul English: Watching Willie's Back
Profile and Interview by Joe Nick Patoski, Oxford American, 13 Winter 2014
PAUL ENGLISH was talking about breaking someone's legs, cheerily using the threat as a means to get to the punch line of a story. The ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Heath, GQ, 31 August 2015
Marijuana's state-by-state march toward full legalization would never have happened without Willie Nelson. He's 82 now, and he's spent nearly half his life as America's ...
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