FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
| MUSIC "I'm sitting on my tour bus looking out the window in Geraldo, Missouri, talking to nice people on the phone. You can't really beat a day like that," declares country-songster-turned-American-legend Willie Nelson in that addictive, sweet drawl so comforting to those who have made his songs the soundtrack of their lives. The fact that this one-time outlaw of Nashville is now 65 years old means little in terms of becoming mellow or slowing down, but perhaps means much in the curing of the soul, in the honing of the indomitable spirit that someone who has taken their musical beliefs on the road for over 40 years must possess. His freshly released album, Teatro, is enjoying raves from sources that would generally eschew the guy's offerings, and one listen is enough to convince anyone why. His voice is entwined with Emmylou Harris's backup vocals, with the textural sensualities of snakes or lovers, and as he reaches into a reserve of his own unreleased songs stretching back to the early '60s, Nelson proves his musical depth and consistency increase exponentially with age. For those of us who fell in love with Harris's vocals on Bob Dylan's Desire album in the '70s, Teatro has an eerie sense of deja vu. "When they asked me what lady I'd love to have in the studio, Emmylou was the natural choice," Nelson explains as the towns and fields roll along outside his tinted window. "'Course, Emmylou and I go back a long way. We've played music together and made movies together, and we love singing together. Our voices blend well together. She's a very beautiful, sweet person and we've been around each other for years." Teatro, and the accessibility Nelson has gained by sticking it out and touring for so long, have drawn a new set of fans to his shows. "I've seen a lot of young people in the audience that come up and really enjoy the music. I mean, I've heard I was 65, but I don't believe it," he chuckles. "I'm in much better health physically and probably mentally, too, than I was back in those days (30 years ago). I enjoy playing music as much, maybe more, than I used to. I don't know anything about age; I haven't experienced it yet." But aged or not, Nelson has to admit that membership into the club of senior citizen has its privileges. "Maybe over the years I've learned maybe a little bit more how to live on the road, how to pace myself, how to enjoy the day, the crowd, the moment, and just to enjoy what's going on without trying to rush anything or without trying to get away from what you think's happening." Nelson refuses to admit that life on the road is work, even though he totes an eight-piece band plus a road crew, and even though he must deal with journalists and schedules and random acts of nature's subterfuge, like concerts canceled due to storms, or the likelihood of car crashes. He is exacting in his analysis of what continues to draw him to the road after all these years. "I think the freedom of it - it's the huge escape, it's the giant leap away from responsibility, but not really, because you're going somewhere and have a reason to go. But when I sit in one spot somewhere for a long time and the reality of everything comes down, that bothers me. I really don't think I could ever retire and just do nothing for a long period of time." But in one way, at least, Nelson acts like the old guy he isn't - he's addicted to golf, even going so far to have built a studio outside of Austin with an adjacent golf course. And just as he's clear on the attraction of touring, he's lived long enough to understand this more common passion. "It's seclusion, and you're out in the middle of nature and you're walking and you're getting exercise and you're breathing fresh air and every now and then you hit a ball with a bat (laughs). Then you keep walking again, listening to the birds and smelling the flowers." Still, besides golf and acting in a few movies - including the upcoming The Hi-Lo Country with Woody Harrelson and a CBS made-for-TV movie due in January - Nelson knows the path his heart will choose to lead him on into the future. "I haven't really got anything definite to do for a while except wander around playing music." Another laugh - as musical as his songs - shows that this class act will find that path exactly to his liking on the roadmap to his soul. |