Product Description

Willie Nelson is more than just a singer whose albums have captured the imagination of America for more than thirty years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136278 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780815410805
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Nelson, self-proclaimed "outlaw" of country music, is depicted from many angles in this rambling account of his trajectory into celebrity. Written with freelancer Shrake in salty and sometimes vulgar language, Nelson's reflections on his three wives, children, his country music peers and others in his large, floating entourage reveal a hard-living man. The singer toiled in the fields as a child during the Depression, was left by his teenage parents with grandparents who raised him and his sister in Texas. The experience was pivotal to his career: "My desire to escape from manual labor started in the cotton fields of my childhood and cannot be overstated." Nelson began his road life as "an itinerant singer and guitar picker" on trips punctuated with alcohol, drugs and sex as he climbed to eminence in the world of country music. Now "crossed over," popular with national audiences, Nelson notes that he enjoys all the personal perquisites of his success. Among his revelations here, the singer recalls smoking pot on the roof of the White House after entertaining at a Carter state dinner. Photos not seen by PW. BOMC and QPBC alternates; first serial to Texas Monthly and Golf Digest; paperback rights to Pocket Books.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Proof: Better than Fiction!
I bought "Willie" years ago (and I like the old cover with the flag..don't know why they changed that) It's a big, thick book that's just crammed with proof that real life - if it's Willie's - is a whole lot better than any fiction novel. I loaned my copy out one too many times and it came up missing, so was glad to see it on here so I could get another one...only I had my old one so dog-earred, highlighted, etc...I hate having to go buy all those markers again, to do over;) When you get your copy, go to the index and ck it out....grab that highlighter pen before you even get started, here. I'm a truck driver, so I read this and that and here and there, before having a chance to read cover to cover. Then it turned into a reference book of Willie's Wisdom and all sorts of good stuff to good to forget. I kept it handy just to re-read some parts over and over. It's more than one book, somehow or other...yes, it's his autobiography - an All-American tale of rags to riches and all that; but, it's a whole lot more than that, too. If you like Willie, buy it. If you don't, I don't know why you're in here looking at it...but, if you like a dynamite story, or to read real-life accounts at all - you won't put this down, easily. What leaves me amazed is how anyone could cram that much living into the time period that book covers...he's lived nearly 20 more years since then...so I bought his new one, "Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes", to see what he's been up to since the "Willie" book. It's a hoot..sort of a grass-roots type of wisdom, interjected with lots of "mind-f.r.ts" and takes on his varied accumulation of friends and family, to date. Better buy it too, while you're at it...for dessert.

No one like Willie!
This was even better than I thought it would be, and Willie's my favorite singer/songwriter. Not only did I discover how spiritual Willie is, but he treats people with sincere compassion,loves his audience even more than I think most people realize. Also, he doesn't make excuses for himself, and it takes someone with heart like Willie to admit his mistakes, and he keeps on bringing people back for more great music and he loves to make his audience happy. Right on, Willie

Great Book
This was very informative on the life of the man. Chapters from members of his band, family and ex-wives was fantastic. A look deep inside the man and his music, and worth the purchase by any true fan of country music and the "outlaw movement". Really shows his deep spirtual feelings about life. Worth every penny of the cost, and I'm glad I purchased it.