Willie Nelson

Mr. Record Man: Willie Nelson

In the Houston of 1959 and 1960, Willie Nelson was just another unknown musician. But not for long.

Five Essential Willie Nelson Albums

This week and into next, the State of Texas and the rest of the world will join together in saluting American hero Willie Nelson on his 80th birthday. Rocks Off would certainly like to add our congratulations, but we woke up today -- well, yesterday -- looking to start an argument. The standard li ... More >>

Pro-Gay Marriage Willie Nelson Returns With A New Album April 16

As Willie Nelson inches towards 80 years of age on April 29, his schedule doesn't seem to winding down one bit. He tours at an astounding clip, and it seems like he was in the Houston-area at least four times in the past year. In fact, we reviewed his latest Arena Theatre gig here on Rocks Off earli ... More >>

Last Night: Willie Nelson at Arena Theatre

Willie Nelson Arena Theatre March 10, 2013 For some artists, even superlatives aren't enough. Willie Nelson turns 80 next month. He's been making music -- and making a living off it -- longer than my parents have been alive. And while there are other country artists of similar vintage and pedigree ... More >>

The Texas 30: Willie Nelson's Best Albums of the Past 30 Years

Willie Nelson's Across the Borderline is one of the albums that made it onto our Texas 30 list of the best 30 Texas albums of the past 30 years, which runs later today. We promise that you will dig it, and hate it, which is how it's supposed to be. Rewind: The Texas 30: The Third Runners-Up, Al ... More >>

Merry Christmas, High Rollers: The Most Expensive Vintage Concert Tees On eBay

A few days ago I asked Rocks Off fans on Facebook what the most they had ever spent on a concert tee was. Most people topped out at $50 for touring legacy acts, while some shelled out a lot more for hoodies and limited-edition tees. Now the world of concert posters is a whole other animal unto its ... More >>

Big Tex: We Offer Our Six Replacements, Starting With Willie Nelson

As you've no doubt heard by now -- or, if you're a Texan, felt like a great disturbance in the force -- State Fair's Big Tex burned to its frame today. The icon for generations of fairgoers was taken down by an electrical short, so at least we don't have terrorists to blame. But it's simply too m ... More >>

Michael Martin Murphey: The Cosmic Cowboy Years

Texas singer-songwriter and real by-god cowboy Michael Martin Murphey has already walked Rocks Off through a healthy bit of the past 100 years of American folk music this morning, as well as a good bit of his own. But dissatisfied with the folk scene he found out in late-'60s Southern California, he ... More >>

Bill O'Reilly Has A Hard-On For Willie Nelson

Wilco, "Pot Kettle Black" Despite his appearance on SNL's "What's Up With That?" skit this weekend, Bill O'Reilly has managed to squander what little credibility he has among liberals, moderates and (we're guessing) anyone under age 60 by calling Willie Nelson a "creep." The conservative Fox News ... More >>

Top 5 Songs About Whiskey

Whether it's rye or bourbon, straight or blended, Irish, Scotch or Canadian, rock, country or classical, whiskey and warblers go way back. Even Stravinsky was quoted as saying "My God, so much I like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey." In whiskey-related weird news ... More >>

Last Night: Willie Nelson at Arena Theater

photos by Marco Torres​It's been a long, loud, and smoke-filled road for Willie Nelson. And although the end of that road just might be around the next bend, Shotgun Willie can still pack 'em in and shake 'em up. The man is a legend, possessing a musical genius that elevates him into the pantheon ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Messing With Willie Nelson

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Willie Nelson Not Off The Hook For 2010 Pot Bust After All

Mark Britain​Whether or not you believe Willie Nelson mailed in his most recent Houston-area performance at Verizon in April, one thing is sure: The singer and Texas icon won't be mailing in the fine and court costs stemming from his November 2010 pot bust in West Texas, where six ounces of ma ... More >>

Willie Nelson Will Not Get Off Easy for World's Most Overblown Weed Arrest

Free Willie!​Discovering weed anywhere near Willie Nelson shouldn't count as a surprise, so his November 2010 arrest for possession in West Texas didn't figure to become a national circus. But it has, especially when word first somehow spread that his sentence would be to sing "Blue Eyes Cryi ... More >>

Last Night: Willie Nelson At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Mark Britain​Willie Nelson & Family Verizon Wireless Theater April 28, 2011 See Willie Nelson's extended Houston family in our slideshow. There are few times you don't want the Rolling Stones in your head. A very few. But on your way to a Willie Nelson show trying to fight off the ... More >>

Tracy Nelson, Victim Of The Blues, Embraces Muddy & Lightnin'

Robert Hakins​Long acclaimed as one of the truly great singers of the modern era, at 66 Tracy Nelson still has the fire for performing great songs. Her latest project, Victim of the Blues, is a loving caress to her original passion: Old-school blues, particularly the Chicago variety. Nelson's ... More >>

On The Seal Again: Willie Nelson's Fine Flippered Friend

Willie Nelson on Facebook​Rocks Off came across this picture of Willie Nelson shaking hands with one of his pinniped fans on the singer's Facebook page this morning, and immediately knew we had to share it. Little did we know that the Red Headed Stranger has long had an affinity for these ado ... More >>

Willie Nelson And Weed: Houston Teapot Party Answers The Call

Houston Teapot Party is up and running​Shortly after Willie Nelson's arrest last month for breathing pot, a statewide movement sprung up to legalize marijuana in Texas. As our sister blog Rocks Off reported, the Teapot Party was headquartered in Austin (of course) and was looking to do big th ... More >>

Marshall Chapman's Phases And Stages With Willie Nelson

​The final chapter of Marshall Chapman's new book, They Came to Nashville, is probably as close as most of us will ever get to riding on Willie Nelson's tour bus. Chapman, who has known Nelson since meeting him at a party in Nashville in 1973, hooked up with the Red Headed Stranger at a gig in ... More >>

Willie Nelson's Pot Bust: A Milestone In Marijuana Policy?

​You gotta love a sumbitch like Willie Nelson who, unlike Bill "I-Never-Inhaled" Clinton, has always 'fessed up to using copious quantities of herb. Two days ago, in response to his pot bust last Friday at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Sierra Blanca (that's a Spanish geographical term for th ... More >>

Willie Nelson's "Green Friday" Leads To Teapot Party

​If you are a cop in Texas - OK, a cop anywhere in the world - when you pull over a tour bus and out pops a gnomish man with grayish-red hair and you smell pot smoke, you smile and nod, get an autograph and go on your way. It's 2010, and we live in a world where Willie Nelson can still get a ... More >>

Willie Nelson's 4th of July Celebration

Aurora unleashes a rare concert film from the redheaded stranger

Cypress Hill

Willie Nelson Camp Confirms Drummer's Stroke

Willie Nelson's camp has finally confirmed what Rocks Off first reported here last Friday, that longtime Nelson drummer Paul English did in fact suffer a "mild stroke." About an hour ago, Nelson tweeted the message "Paul is getting better!" A brief statement on Nelson's Web site today added that En ... More >>

Willie Nelson's Drummer Said To Have Suffered Stroke

​Word reached Rocks Off earlier this afternoon from a usually reliable source that Willie Nelson's longtime drummer, Paul English, has suffered a stroke. English, who now lives in Dallas with his wife and three sons, began working with Nelson in Fort Worth in 1955. According to various interviews ... More >>

Phosphorescent

Another Side - Several, Actually - of Willie Nelson

It's easy for older Willie Nelson fans to overlook his modern works, where he saw his influence dig out tributaries away from the safer riverbeds. In the past two decades, he has ventured out from his hearty country roots into reggae, spooky Daniel Lanois-produced noir, pop standards, Spanish-tinte ... More >>

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp

Big Willie Style: The Red Headed Stranger at the Movies

Honeysuckle Rose This weekend at the Woodlands comes one of the most prolific trios of artists to ever appear on the same bill. Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp converge on the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for what looks to be one of those landmark shows people brag about catching, k ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: R.I.P. Poodie Locke

www.stillisstillmoving.comJohn Belushi (left) and Poodie Locke, date unknownWord has reached Lonesome, Onry and Mean that longtime Willie Nelson stage manager Poodie Locke passed away shortly after 3 p.m. this afternoon. The cause of death is said to be a "massive heart attack." Reports of Locke's p ... More >>

Phosphorescent

Album of the Day: Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel's Willie and the Wheel

Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel Willie and the Wheel www.willieandthewheel.com The late Jerry Wexler, who passed away last August at age 91, was best known as an advocate and producer for top R&B and soul artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. But Wexler was a ... More >>

Aftermath: Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Photos by Frank Stewart/ Jazz at Lincoln Center When Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis first shared the stage at New York's Allen Room for Jazz at Lincoln Center almost exactly two years ago, the concert was simply billed as "Willie Nelson Sings the Blues." There was no hint that music history ... More >>

An Algae Farm Near The Ship Channel? Why The Hell Not?

You know what the Ship Channel area needs?Besides a whole lot less pollution, we mean.It needs a good farm. An algae farm, in fact. That's the thinking of a Nevada company, which has announced plans to build a 20-acre algae farm near the Channel if it can get some financing from the federal governem ... More >>

Aftermath: Cheech & Chong at Verizon Wireless Theater; Willie Nelson at House of Blues

Willie Nelson

Re-Scattering Willie Nelson's Stardust, 30 Years Later

Larry McMurtry and Willie Nelson in Houston

Willie Nelson: One Hell of a Ride

Bartender, Pour the Wine: Ten Great Country Breakup Songs

Elana James

Fiddle with this

Houston's Very Best Songs Ever

...otherwise known as the H-Town 20

Drenched In Blog: We Wanna Get High, So High

The Full Nelson

A Rhino rerelease celebrates Willie's new concept for country

Go for Brogue

Scenes from a Picnic

Willie, Dylan, Kinky and the Ghost of Bob Willis descends on Fort Worth. Wack is there too.

Dwight Yoakam

Thursday, August 21

Los Lonely Boys

Willie Nelson

Crazy: The Demo Sessions (Sugar Hill Records)

Playbill

Willie Nelson's Family Picnic