Tag: Highwaymen

Happy Birthday Willie Nelson, A Hero of This Country

Desperados Waiting For a TrainIn what has become an annual tradition on Chimesfreedom, we wish a happy birthday this week to Willie Nelson, who was born in Abbott, Texas late at night on April 29, 1933.  Due to the late hour, the birth was not officially recorded until the next day and his birthday is sometimes reported as April 30.  So, Nelson celebrates his birthday on both dates.  One of his recordings I love is his wonderful interpretation of Guy Clark’s “Desperados Waiting For a Train.”

The song “Desperados Waiting For a Train” combines themes of memory, aging, history, and mortality. The singer recounts being friend with an old man when he was a boy.

The singer reports how the old man told him about his youthful days as a drifter working on oil wells.  And the young man watches the old man get older. Anyone who as a child has been close to an elderly person or a grandparent may recognize the relationship and admiration.  The singer sums it up, “Well to me he was a hero of this country.”

One of the reasons the lyrics ring so true is that Clark based the story on someone he knew. As he explained in a 2011 interview, “It’s a true song about someone in my life – I mean, you couldn’t have made that up. . . . It was about a guy who was like my grandfather.” Clark also recounted how he knew he would write about the man almost as soon as he started writing songs.

Versions of “Desperados Waiting For a Train”

There are several excellent recordings of “Desperados Waiting For a Train.”  Guy Clark made a beautiful recording of it, including some live versions. Jerry Jeff Walker released the first recording of the song on his 1973 album Viva Terlingua. Actor Slim Pickens released his own version, where he reads the lyrics like poem over the music.

Willie Nelson took part in an earlier version recorded with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson as the Highwaymen. Their version that appeared on the super group’s album Highwayman was a top 20 hit when released as a single in 1985.

The more recent version by Nelson alone appeared on a wonderful Guy Clark tribute album, This One’s For Him (2010).  At the time, Nelson, like the old man in the song, was “pushin’ eighty.” This version of the singer as an older man looking back on his youthful encounter with old age and death adds a deeper layer to the classic song. Check it out.

For some additional Willie, the Larry King Now website features a recent episode where Larry King interviewed Nelson about music, marijuana, politics, and aging.

Happy birthday Willie, and thanks for the presents to us.

What Willie Nelson song are you playing for his birthday? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Tribute to Guy Clark CD is “Stuff That Works”
  • Nanci Griffith’s Superstars on Letterman: “Desperados Waiting for a Train”
  • When the World Seems to be Spinnin’ Hopelessly Out of Control
  • Willie Nelson: “Immigrant Eyes”
  • Why “GUY”? (Steve Earle album review)
  • Willie Nelson Is “Still Not Dead”

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    Buy from Amazon

    Highwaymen Reunite at Grammys (Sort Of)

    Sunday night the 56th Annual Grammy Awards had various moments, including what was billed as a reunion of The Highwaymen. The two surviving members of the supergroup — Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson — were joined by Merle Haggard and Blake Shelton. But the performance was only partly a tribute to the band that released three albums and a recognition of its deceased members Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, as most of the performance acknowledged the individuals on stage. That was okay, though, as it was good to see the three legends on stage with Blake Shelton giving the group a little shot of “youth.”

    As you may see in the following video, the performance opens with the two surviving Highwaymen singing a little of the group’s hit “Highwayman,” a song about reincarnation written by Jimmy Webb. Then, they are joined by Haggard and Shelton, singing Haggrard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which had been a hit for Nelson and Jennings.

    Many years ago, I saw the original Highwaymen perform at the Houston Astrodome. It was a memorable experience to see the country music legends all together, and at that performance they did a lot of individual songs too. So in a sense, the reunion continued that tradition of being more than just about songs by the Highwaymen. With Cash and Jennings gone, of course the band can never be the same. But like another Grammy sort-of reunion of another great quartet that had Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr playing together, we will take what we can get, while also remembering those who can no longer perform.

    What was your favorite performance at the Grammys? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Devil’s Right Hand Arrest in New York City
  • Internet Venom, Toby Keith’s Death, . . . and Grace from Willie Nelson
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • Ringo Starr Records a John Lennon Song (with a little help from Paul McCartney)
  • Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson Put Johnny Cash’s Poetry to Music
  • The Beatles’ 1969 Rooftop Concert

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)