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WILLIE NELSON - "Shotgun Willie"

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WILLIE NELSON

“Shotgun Willie”

Atlantic Records - June 11, 1973

Willie Nelson is an established international icon and his best-known songs are recognizable throughout the world but few know what a turning point in his career, “Shotgun Willie,” was. Having grown tired of his relationship with RCA, who in addition to restricting his choice of material and not allowing him to record with his touring band, finally refused to release any new material until he got with the program and extended his deal even before it had expired. Obviously, as time has proven, “The Red Headed Stranger,” does not take kindly to ultimatums, and eventually, his manager was able to make a deal where if Nelson repaid $1,400 RCA had overpaid him he'd be out of his contract. Free of label constraints, he left Nashville ( “I never did like putting on stage costumes, never did like trim haircuts. It felt good to let my hair grow, felt good to get on stage in the same jeans I'd been wearing all damn day,” he said in 2015) and quickly set up in Austin, TX (“I liked this new world. It fit me to a T,” he said in the same interview). Though he decamped to New York City to record, “Shotgun Willie,” the material was born deep in the heart of Texas. From the first strains of the opening title track where Nelson croons, “Shotgun Willie sits around in his underwear, biting on a bullet and pulling out all of his hair. Shotgun Willie got all of his family there,” it is clear Music City is in the rearview (the nickname apparently came from an incident during which Nelson taught an abusive son-in-law’s pickup truck a lesson on respect to women with a shotgun blast). The destined to be classic cover of Johnny Bush’s, “Whiskey River,” follows before, “Sad Songs And Waltzes,” delivers the sort of material, much like, “She’s Not For You,” and a cover of Leon Russell’s, “A Song For You,” that must have left RCA execs with tears in their own beers. Nelson’s take on Bob Wills’ “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer,)” which features Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter and Doug Sham, and Willie’s Family Band (which included real-life sister Bobbie) travelogue, “Devil In A Sleepin’ Bag,” are essentially the groundwork for outlaw country. While there is a legitimate academic discussion, or perhaps more accurately a barroom or campfire debate, to be had to name the definitive Wille Nelson song, it’s hard to argue against, “Shotgun Willie,” as his most complete collection of songs.

Standouts: “Shotgun Willie,” “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer),”Sad Songs & Waltzes”

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