What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

Welcome to Our Forums. Once you've registered and logged in, you're primed to talk football, among other topics, with the sharpest and most experienced fantasy players on the internet.

Walkin' with Willie Nelson - 90th Birthday Celebration Concert on video and record (1 Viewer)

I can't get over cheating with Amy Irving over Dyan Cannon.

I've watched two Dyan Cannon movies this week: Honeysuckle Rose and Deathtrap. Over the decades her reputation has diminished to some old floozy hanging out at Lakers games but she's a defining female lead of the 70s adding layers to the dumb blonde roles she was often cast in. And she was married to Cary Grant.

Amy Irving FTW.

I'd make accommodations for her if she comes with the Spielberg divorce money.
 
Last edited:
Fans - I was able to procure a gorgeous Jeff Tweedy Custom Martin acoustic guitar in perfect condition and autographed by Willie Nelson! Pictures available here. I have had it authenticated and it will be going up for live auction at some point at a Chance for Hope event. If this is something one of you might be interested in let me know and I can keep you on our list.
Just fyi, but if you are ever getting a guitar signed that you play, that is one of the worst areas to get it signed. I have an Ibanez Jem signed by Steve Vai and his signature is mostly worn off now since that is where my arm rest. I should have had it clear coated to protect the signature but I was young, high, and barely making ends meet at that time and just didn't.

Many thanks and of course you are 100% correct. But my guitars almost never go to collectors who play (or plan to play them), and it’s not like I’m going to tell Eddie Van Halen or Jeff Beck where to sign a guitar when I’m standing there. As an aside, our Chance for Hope event was last night, and the Jeff Beck Signature model Strat autographed by Jeff last September went for $10k! Of course, the winner could probably turn around and sell it today for twice that, but he won’t because he’s a big time collector. Anyway, thanks!
 
Another new song from Willie in advance of an upcoming album. It's another version of his breakup song "You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago". He previously recorded it in the 70s when he was still in Nashville, in the 80s as a duet with Brenda Lee and in 2005 on his Reggae album Countryman.

The new album is called Bluegrass so the new song is given a traditional string band arrangement. Willie's voice seems a bit thinner than on the Harlan Howard tribute album. The new version is very nice, arguably better than the countrypolitan sounding original.


 
Willie's new album Bluegrass is out today. As the title suggests, it's a record of twelve songs from Nelson's vast back catalog done up in traditional bluegrass arrangements. The song choices include some familiar along with deeper cuts.

I can quibble a bit. Willie does more talk-singing that usual and Trigger is nowhere to be heard but the album is a pure joy. He and the ace group of pickers assembled for the recording all sound delighted to be there. Most bluegrass singers stick more to the beat but Willie sings the way he always has which seems to work in the context of his songs. When all is said and done, Bluegrass won't go down among his masterpieces but it's a very enjoyable listen for fans of the genre and/or Willie.

The album cover is a blue tinted drawing of Willie's smiling face emerging from a bunch of grass or marijuana plants. The album title is in an arched script and looks like it's printed on his headband. The whole effect reminds me a bit of Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz but your mileage may vary.


We celebrated Happy Lou Year last month to mark the third anniversary of him coming home with us. He's 7 or 8 now and is pretty set in his ways. I'm sorry that he'll always be afraid of the outside world but I'm glad we've provided him with a place where he can feel safe. It's hard to express how sweet and gentle the little guy is but he's still painfully shy with anyone or anything but us. Out of 100 encounters with other dogs, he'll avoid 90 of them and react negatively to 8 but every so often he'll share a nice moment which is enough for me to keep trying to acclimate him better. One of the positive encounters recently was with a dog belonging to a local Onlyfans model with 1.5M Instagram followers. She now says hi to me when I see her at the dog park which made this old guy's day.
 
I thought I did but I never did a writeup on Willie's collaboration with Billy Strings on "California Sober". Today would have been a good day to do it because of the "What's Normal? - Do you regularly drink alcohol non-socially? " on the front page of the FFA but I think I'll just go listen to Bluegrass again.
 
Thanks for the heads up. I did see the single pop up once but couldn’t listen then, and forgot all about it. Now I’m glad the full album is out.
 
I saw Willie last Friday at the Outlaw Festival. I think he sounded the best I've heard him in the last three years. Maybe it's because he quit smoking pot. He still digest it, but not smoking it anymore has given his lungs a break. He would take a deep breath sometimes before he would sing, and I guess that helped. Some songs he still spoke-sang them, but he carried the note much further than in recent years, and he was in strong voice. His son, Lukas, was with him. They sang some songs together, and some separately, and Willie sang the most himself. Willie has always sang gospel songs at the end of his set, but I noticed he sang more songs within his setlist that seem to tap into his mortality. He sang his classics, but he also sang his songs Not Dead Yet, I Thought About You, Lord, and he and Lukas did a great cover of Pearl Jam's Just Breathe. Trigger sounded as good as ever. Willie did a long solo on Trigger and the crowd went wild, and he looked over at Lukas and gave him this huge smile. That was one of the best parts of the evening.
 
I was planning to post this when the record came out but forgot.

I've mentioned before how quiet Lou is but here's a rare recording of the sounds he makes (very infrequently) while in a deep sleep. Other than this he's pretty much silent.

 
I was planning to post this when the record came out but forgot.

I've mentioned before how quiet Lou is but here's a rare recording of the sounds he makes (very infrequently) while in a deep sleep. Other than this he's pretty much silent.

I wonder what he is dreaming about in that deep sleep.
 
Was he really comfortable around that giant dog in a couple of those pictures of the model? Or was she walking a different dog?

She had both of her dogs with her but Lou bonded with the gigantic Great Dane named Charlie. Who knows, maybe he didn't recognize it as a dog but he wasn't afraid for some reason.

Charlie is a friendly lug who always comes over to lean against me. He has a big of a drooling issue though.
 
Last night CBS showed his 90th birthday celebration concert at the Hollywood Bowl that took place back in April. It's streaming on Paramount+ now if you have that. The show was coordinated with the release of the live album from the concert. They had to cut a lot to fit into a two hour TV timeslot and to make room for celebrity intro segments and a ton of commercials. The show was entertaining and very guest star heavy--Willie didn't make his appearance until the 1:20 mark. He performed from a chair but sounded pretty good. He had a handful of solos on Trigger and can still play better at 90 than most younger cats.

As far as the guest shot highlights, Jamey Johnson did a powerful version of "Georgia on my Mind". Willie's son Lukas sounded great and it was nice to see The Chicks on TV again. The emotional peak was Rosanne Cash and a very old looking Kris Kristofferson dueting on "Loving Her Was Easier". I have my quibbles about which guests got air time and which ones missed the cut but it wasn't a bad cross section. The director showed too many crowd shots and cut to Sheryl Crow during Willie's first guitar solo but the production didn't detract from the performances.

The album is 53 tracks spanning 3 hours and 15 minutes. I haven't had the time to listen yet. I kind of doubt there's anything essential but it promises to be a good listen. Willie has so many great songs and there was obviously a lot of love on stage that weekend.

Lou has another ear infection and hates the rain like most dogs. Other than that, he's doing well. He's so quiet you forget he's there sometimes even when he's right next to you. For a dog who's afraid of the world, he's amazingly calm when he's in the comfort of his home.

 
I know I skipped over Willie's induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame last month. I suppose I'll eventually go back and watch his speech but I haven't yet.
 
Last night CBS showed his 90th birthday celebration concert at the Hollywood Bowl that took place back in April. It's streaming on Paramount+ now if you have that. The show was coordinated with the release of the live album from the concert. They had to cut a lot to fit into a two hour TV timeslot and to make room for celebrity intro segments and a ton of commercials. The show was entertaining and very guest star heavy--Willie didn't make his appearance until the 1:20 mark. He performed from a chair but sounded pretty good. He had a handful of solos on Trigger and can still play better at 90 than most younger cats.

As far as the guest shot highlights, Jamey Johnson did a powerful version of "Georgia on my Mind". Willie's son Lukas sounded great and it was nice to see The Chicks on TV again. The emotional peak was Rosanne Cash and a very old looking Kris Kristofferson dueting on "Loving Her Was Easier". I have my quibbles about which guests got air time and which ones missed the cut but it wasn't a bad cross section. The director showed too many crowd shots and cut to Sheryl Crow during Willie's first guitar solo but the production didn't detract from the performances.

The album is 53 tracks spanning 3 hours and 15 minutes. I haven't had the time to listen yet. I kind of doubt there's anything essential but it promises to be a good listen. Willie has so many great songs and there was obviously a lot of love on stage that weekend.

Lou has another ear infection and hates the rain like most dogs. Other than that, he's doing well. He's so quiet you forget he's there sometimes even when he's right next to you. For a dog who's afraid of the world, he's amazingly calm when he's in the comfort of his home.

I only wandered in when his son, Lukas, was singing ...and he sounded fantastic (voice and guitar).
 
I saw Willie last Friday at the Outlaw Festival. I think he sounded the best I've heard him in the last three years. Maybe it's because he quit smoking pot. He still digest it, but not smoking it anymore has given his lungs a break. He would take a deep breath sometimes before he would sing, and I guess that helped. Some songs he still spoke-sang them, but he carried the note much further than in recent years, and he was in strong voice. His son, Lukas, was with him. They sang some songs together, and some separately, and Willie sang the most himself. Willie has always sang gospel songs at the end of his set, but I noticed he sang more songs within his setlist that seem to tap into his mortality. He sang his classics, but he also sang his songs Not Dead Yet, I Thought About You, Lord, and he and Lukas did a great cover of Pearl Jam's Just Breathe. Trigger sounded as good as ever. Willie did a long solo on Trigger and the crowd went wild, and he looked over at Lukas and gave him this huge smile. That was one of the best parts of the evening.
I caught him the the Outlaw festival on 10/13 and you are right, he sounded better than he has for the last several years. He didn't have Lukas with him at this show but he did have the son of his longtime guitarist Jody Payne play with him. I thought that was pretty cool.
 
Willie has a new record coming out in May called The Border. It'll be his 75th studio album which is an achievement few can match. It's another collaboration with Buddy Cannon who's done some strong work with late-career Willie.

The title track dropped today. It's a cover of a Rodney Crowell song from a few years back sung from the perspective of a US Border Patrol agent. It's a somber song that contrasts his daily job in the verse with his domestic life in the chorus. Willie's voice sounds grizzled but that fits with the dirge-like quality of the song. He omits Crowell's verse about the agent's corrupt colleagues in prison. The best part of the song for me is the extended instrumental outro where Willie plays Trigger in a lower register accompanying a Mexican sounding electric lead. As far as Nelson songs with "border" in the title, I'd slot "The Border" beneath the magnificent "Across the Borderline" but ahead of his version of Elton John's "Border Song".

Lou sends his regards. Today a puppy ran up on him while we were high tailing it through the park. Lou was having none of it but the puppy persisted. I can usually see these types of situations developing and get Lou out of harm's way. He's probably forgotten all about it now but he was visibly nervous for a few blocks afterwards.

 
Willie has a new record coming out in May called The Border. It'll be his 75th studio album which is an achievement few can match. It's another collaboration with Buddy Cannon who's done some strong work with late-career Willie.

The title track dropped today. It's a cover of a Rodney Crowell song from a few years back sung from the perspective of a US Border Patrol agent. It's a somber song that contrasts his daily job in the verse with his domestic life in the chorus. Willie's voice sounds grizzled but that fits with the dirge-like quality of the song. He omits Crowell's verse about the agent's corrupt colleagues in prison. The best part of the song for me is the extended instrumental outro where Willie plays Trigger in a lower register accompanying a Mexican sounding electric lead. As far as Nelson songs with "border" in the title, I'd slot "The Border" beneath the magnificent "Across the Borderline" but ahead of his version of Elton John's "Border Song".

Lou sends his regards. Today a puppy ran up on him while we were high tailing it through the park. Lou was having none of it but the puppy persisted. I can usually see these types of situations developing and get Lou out of harm's way. He's probably forgotten all about it now but he was visibly nervous for a few blocks afterwards.

His voice does sound grizzled, and it clears a bit at times, especially on the chorus when he is singing more than speaking. I love the music in it. I wonder if the rest of the album will resemble the style in this song. I look forward to hearing it.

My regards to Lou.
 
Willie is playing the shed circuit this summer bundled as the Outlaw Music Festival tour. Dylan is playing all dates with the third billed duties split between John Mellencamp and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

I considered it for a hot second but I swore I'd never go back to Shoreline Amphitheater after seeing The Cure there last summer.
 
I love the music in it. I wonder if the rest of the album will resemble the style in this song. I look forward to hearing it.

Crowell's original version features a nice accordion part by Rory Hoffman. It comes from a Texas-themed concept album he released in 2019. I don't associate Rodney with being a Texan but he was born in Houston. I've added the record to my never ending queue.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top