Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993 TAG: 9307300087
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The symphony will come out and do its Picnic with the Pops thing. This time around, in keeping with the country headliner, its selections will include, "The Cowboys" Overture, "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and a "Pops" Hoe-Down, among others.
Then after 45 minutes, the orchestra will pack up like any opening act, and leave the spotlight at the Salem Civic Center on Saturday to Willie and his band. They will get a full 90 minutes.
Clearly, everybody has their priorities in line here.
That is nothing against symphony conductor Victoria Bond. No doubt she has prepared a respectable Picnic with the Pops performance. But when sharing the stage with Willie Nelson, it is probably best to let Willie be Willie.
For, like him or not, he is a uniquely American treasure. And his distinctive style - often at its best when stripped to just bare vocals and an acoustic guitar - is better left unsmothered by a swell of orchestrated arrangement.
Besides, who can imagine "Whiskey River" with a string section?
Not that Willie couldn't make it work.
In a remarkable career that spans five decades and has made him one of the most identifiable figures of our time, he has tried almost everything. He is still going strong, too.
At age 60, Willie is enjoying yet another rebirth of sorts. His latest album, "Across The Borderline," received critical praise and once again took him in new directions, as best exemplified by a duet with the unlikely Sinead O'Connor.
That is a long way from where Willie started.
Raised in Abbott, Texas, he learned music early on from his grandparents and from the radio. His grandparents introduced him to gospel music and taught him how to play the guitar. They both played themselves. From the radio, he listened to the Grand Ole Opry.
The combination left a lasting impression, giving him his trademark ability to bring a spiritual dimension to many secular and country songs like nobody else can.
As a teen, he played in a polka band. In high school, he was part of a family band with his father and sister, Bobbie, who is a member of his touring band today.
A brief stint in the Air Force ended with a back injury. He enrolled in Baylor University, but dropped out after two years. He got married - the first time. Soon, he had three children to support and worked a variety of jobs, from trimming trees to selling Bibles.
Seven years as disc jockey followed, and he started trying to work on weekends as a country singer. He also started writing songs, among them "Family Bible" and "Night Life," which became country hits for Glaude Gray and Ray Price.
His songwriting success inspired a move to Nashville in 1960. He was the bass player in Ray Price's band for two years and continued writing songs, including the classic, "Crazy," made famous by Patsy Cline.
However, the following 10 years proved frustrating. His own singing career enjoyed some minor attention. He was a regular on the Grand Ole Opry for a time. But Nashville never embraced his idiosyncratic vocal style. They tried to hide his voice behind slick instrumentation. A string of overproduced albums went nowhere.
By 1969, he was so disenchanted that he quit music altogether, bought a small farm outside Nashville and decided to try pig farming. A house fire, though, sent him home to Texas instead, where he became the center of the Austin music scene of the early 1970s.
It proved the best career move he could have made.
In Austin, Willie targeted a younger audience that was willing to accept his hybrid of country and rock - both in his music and in his red-neck hippie image.
Along with Kris Kristofferson, Leon Russell and Waylon Jennings, he came to define the celebrated "outlaw" movement in country music who rebelled against the glitz and well-groomed sound of established Nashville.
His 1973 album, "Shotgun Willie," sold more copies than all of his previous albums combined. But it wasn't until his "Red-Headed Stranger" album in 1975 that Willie's fortunes really took off.
His sad and simple rendition of "Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain" remains a country standard, and won Willie a Grammy award. Other successes followed, notably 1978's "Stardust" album of pop music standards, which earned him a second Grammy, and his teaming with Waylon Jennings on "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," which won him another Grammy.
He got into the movies. "Electric Horseman" in 1979 and "Honeysuckle Rose" in 1980 were the most memorable. "On the Road Again," the song Willie penned for "Honeysuckle Rose" without a doubt is his best-known work. It also won a Grammy.
The following dozen years were not so kind. Musically, Willie has had his ups and downs. He has seen financial ruin. A public tangle with the Internal Revenue Service ended with Willie owing the government $32 million. That amount eventually was reduced to $9 million, half of which has been paid.
He also has seen personal tragedy. On Christmas Day 1991, his son, Billy, committed suicide at age 33. It is a subject Willie reportedly still won't discuss.
Last year marked another low point when he spent a miserable six months in Branson, Mo., where many performers have moved to wind down their careers. He also signed on to do endorsements for Jose Cuervo Tequila and Taco Bell. All to help pay his IRS debt.
Still, for the ever-restless outlaw, this seemed an unfitting end.
Fortunately, it wasn't an end. They say Willie's idea of getting sick is coming down with diesel poisoning from the fumes emitted by his touring bus. They also say "Across The Borderline" is his most vital record since "Red-Headed Stranger."
And he's out playing with symphonies.
It seems he is firmly back on the bus.
Picnic With the Pops with guest Willie Nelson, Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Salem Civic Center. 343-6221.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB