We love Willie Nelson. For me, this began when Jimmie Carter was President and he told an interviewer that Willie was his favorite performer. It's possible that Willie was even a guest at the Carter White House. Jimmie Carter was a very upstanding gentleman, very proper, and so it seemed to me that Willie must be proper too - "Gilt" by Association, so to speak ;) Well...it turns out that Willie is not that proper after all, but he is so entertaining and so listenable that a fan can overlook some things as not really affecting the product :)
Dick and I are fans, but we're not FANS. Some of these folks follow him around and attend all of his concerts, just like Kim and Mike used to follow the Grateful Dead, or like Shelly and Melissa with Tim McGraw. These Willie fans wear bandanas and cowboy boots and leather jackets and fake braids - some of them look downright wierd! But then, everybody needs a hobby.
Last night at Interlochen's Kresge Auditorium it was Willie Nelson night. We clapped and stomped and sang along and just really enjoyed the whole thing - even though he didn't play Pancho and Lefty. ()
He is such a great performer and you can tell that he's a real person with real human instincts, and very down to earth, friendly, and accomodating. He's older than we are, but he can stand up there and sing in a powerful voice and play such great guitar for an hour and a half with no break - I think that's remarkable.
Our seats were in row F, section 4 - center stage :) here's the stage all set up for Willie:
This photo is fuzzy, but I like it anyway - this is the way I remember the night.
Though he's mostly known for his vocals and unusual phrasing, Willie plays amazingly well on his disreputable old guitar full of holes and autographs of his friends. Give a listen:
"Crazy" is usually associated with Patsy Cline, but Willie wrote it, and I think he sings it better than anyone:
Don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys!
After the show he autographed T shirts, hats, bandanas, books, programs, albums, and even a bottle of booze (after signing it he opened it up and took a swig!)
