I don't recall if I ever gave a completed review of the Joe Nick Patoski bio of Willie Nelson. I finished it a couple months ago. And, since then, I've finished another, less-exhaustive Willie bio.
For those who are keeping score, here's my countdown of the biographies:
No. 4: "Heart Worn Memories" by Susie Nelson. Eakin Press, 1987. I have the autographed copy that Susie gave to my friend Jalapeno Sam Lewis. It's a light read, but quite entertaining and not bad at all. Plus it has a collection of photos and memories that only come from family. I think I'm gonna have to re-read this one.
No. 3: "Willie Nelson: The Outlaw" by Graeme Thomson. Virgin Books, 2006. I just finished this 260-pager written by some British guy. Really. Gives a different spin on it, I mean, the book is written in English. No, not just "eulogise" and "colour" but the writing has a different feel to it. And, of course, there's some pitfalls, like when he's writing about the IRS taking all Willie's stuff and he talks about how David Zettner was told to drive around back to the studio and covertly fill up his boot with tapes. Well, he wouldn't fit very many … oh! "Boot" in Britain means "car trunk"! I get it ...
The book, true to its title, doesn't shy away from or gloss over Willie's marijuana use or his experimentations with drugs or troubles with alcohol in his younger days. But so much of the book sounds as if it was written by a music critic. And the problem with music critics is they are unabashedly critical. Here's a segment: "He is content to stick to a tried and tested formula. It has, in some ways, destroyed him as a creatively vibrant and relevant artist." And there's more where that came from.
I guess I've had enough of music writers complaining about Willie's little-changing shows. It's like someone complaining about Johnny Cash's wardrobe or Kristofferson's singing or Waylon's surliness. At some point, you've got to accept them for what they are and go a little deeper with the analysis.
The book did give me one revelatory shock. You know the classic recording of "Good Hearted Woman"? With Waylon in the lead and then Willie comes in? With the live crowd? Thomson says the song was taken from Waylon's 1974 album "Waylon Live" with Willie overdubbing his vocals in a Nashville studio. Even with extra crowd noise thrown in where Willie joins in.
Damn. That's one of my Top 3 favorite songs of all time. And I've been fooled all this time. I thought it was the two of 'em live at some show or other, a moment of magic. I'm trying not to let my new knowledge distract from my enjoyment of the song.
No.2: "Willie: An Autobiography" by Willie, or rather, by Bud Shrake. Simon and Schuster, 1988. Thanks to Half-Price Books, I have my own copy of this at last for $3.98. The "autobiography" part is fine, but the genius of the book is the transcribed personal stories of those around Willie. There's where you get the real nuggets of information.
Like the time Paul English refused to take a check from HBO and they had to scramble to come up with $70,000 in cash before Willie would play their private party. Or Larry Trader talking about how Willie broke his neck in Corpus Christi. Or Poodie Locke describing the stage set-up in detail. Or Dennis Hopper talking about God knows what.
No. 1: "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life" by Joe Nick Patoski. Little Brown & Co, 2008. This is the exhaustive final word. Or, at least, most of it. Some day, far off in the future, someone will be researching the life of Willie Nelson and will find out: "Man, we really don't know shit about what happened between 1994 and 2004."
I mean, Patoski's book starts off in the finest detail. So much of its journey through the 1950s and early 60s sounds like the slowest book in the Bible: "And Paul Buskirk begat Ray Price. And Ray Price begat Johnny Bush. And Johnny Bush begat Jimmy Day," and so on. And the heart of the book, the journey through 1970s is a joy to read, packed full of information that informs the most rabid of Willie fans.
But it looks like Patoski got up to the point where Willie was wrapping up the IRS troubles in '93 and '94 and said "oh shit, this book is getting huge, I better wrap this up quick." And he does. There is, for example, no mention of any of the Fourth of July Picnics in Luckenbach. I mean, there were 5 of them. And when the picnic first wennt to Luckenbach in '95 that was a pretty big story.
He just kind of zips on through to "present day," shares a few observations and boom, story over.
C'mon Joe. Give us a "Vol. 2" of the "Epic Life."
Oh shit. This blog is getting huge. I better wrap this up qu…
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