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Nelson Mellencamp

This week, John Mellencamp joined Willie Nelson for a bluesy rendition of Nelson’s classic song about living the “Night Life.” The two appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert together, commemorating this weekend’s upcoming thirtieth anniversary of Farm Aid, which is being held in Chicago this year.

With some help from Nelson’s guitar Trigger along with Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Mellencamp and Nelson give a nice performance. Nelson wrote the song in the late 1950s when he was playing clubs at night in Texas, struggling to make a living. “Listen to the blues that they’re playin’ / Listen what the blues are sayin’.” The song holds up more than fifty years later. [2019 Update: Unfortunately, the video is not currently available on YouTube.]

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Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson Put Johnny Cash’s Poetry to Music

The Saga of Willie Nelson’s Guitar

The First Farm Aid

80 Years of Willie: From Opry Singer to Outlaw to Wizard

Internet Venom, Toby Keith’s Death, . . . and Grace from Willie Nelson

Karen O and Willie Nelson Record “Under Pressure” (Pandemic Song of the Day)

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

This short 12-minute film from Rolling Stone tells the story of Willie Nelson’s famous guiar, Trigger. In The Tale of Trigger, Nelson recounts how he acquired the guitar, why he named it “Trigger” (after Roy Rogers’s horse, of course), and how he started collecting autographs on it. The video follows the important role that the Martin N-20 acoustic guitar played in his career.

One of my favorite parts of my favorite Willie Nelson’s albums is his recognizable guitar sound. Now, The Tale of Trigger tells us a little more about the five-decade relationship involving one of the most important guitars in country music history. Check it out.