1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,440 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Disgraceland is 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: a production of Double Elvis. The Ballad of Willie Nelson. 4 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: His trials and tribulations as an unorthodox songwriter in Nashville, 5 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,919 Speaker 1: his creative rebirth as a free spirited outlaw in Austin, 6 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: and his ascension into legend is so complex that we 7 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 1: needed two episodes to properly tell this story. If you're 8 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: just getting hip to this now, I suggest you hit 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: pause and go back to the last episode of Disgraceland, 10 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: part one of the Willie Nelson story. In this episode, 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: we get into Willy's Texas reinvention as the ultimate Outsider, 12 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: a metamorphosis from freak flag flyer to mainstream mainstein that 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: is rife with tales of drug smuggling arson in international 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: run ins with Johnny Law. We also get into his 15 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: association with grifters, con men, and thieves and how that 16 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: led not only to one of the most publicized busts 17 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: of a superstar in the twentieth century, but also to 18 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: an extended family fueled by karma and loyalty. This is 19 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: a story about how some of the greatest music of 20 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, not just country music, was made by 21 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,119 Speaker 1: a man who did what he damn well pleased because 22 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: he simply couldn't do anything else Unlike that music. I 23 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: played few at the top of the show that wasn't 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: great music. That was a preset loop for my melotron 25 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: called Boots and Cats MK one. I played you that 26 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: clip because I can't afford the rights to Ice Ice 27 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: Baby by Vanilla Ice. And why would I play you 28 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: that specific slice of queen bassline stealing cheese? Could I 29 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: afford it? Because that was the number one song in 30 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: America on November Nintheen ninety And that was the day 31 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: that federal agents placed Willie Nelson under arrest, officially turning 32 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: him from a superstar to an outlaw. On this the 33 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: second chapter of a special two part episode Outlaws and Outsiders, Grifters, 34 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: con Men and Thieves, Drugs, Arson, Johnny Law, and Willie Nelson. 35 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Willie Nelson was 36 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: a deadbeat, a lawbreaker, a modern day desperado. He owed 37 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: Uncle Sam something like fifteen million dollars. His tour bus 38 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: had the word hempmobile written on the side. And this 39 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: is in nineteen ninety, when marijuana was still one hundred 40 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: percent of the league to possess, even in small quantities. 41 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: He was practically begging to be put into handcuffs. He 42 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: surrounded himself with con artists and thieves, and that's so 43 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: called extended family staged a series of farm Maide benefit 44 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: concerts that forced the US government to cancel cutting back 45 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: aid to farmers. It made the government look like fools 46 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: while he, that shitkicking shit heel country singer was the 47 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: one getting all the love, and when it came to love, 48 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: Willie had none for his country. He sympathized with cop 49 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: killers and that shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 50 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: South Dakota, the one that left two FBI agent instead 51 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: Willian Nelson made his true allegiance known when he performed 52 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: a benefit concert not for the fallen g men, but 53 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: for Leonard Peltier, the Native American who allegedly pulled the trigger. 54 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: Willie Nelson served a different master, and now he was 55 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:52,920 Speaker 1: going to get what he deserved. The FEDS were going 56 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: to enjoy giving it to him as well. They were 57 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: going to savor every minute of this moment, and they 58 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: began the long, slow walk across the to where Willie 59 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: Nelson was playing nine holes. Willie teed up another ball 60 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,280 Speaker 1: and looked out over Perdanelle's country Club, the seventy six 61 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: acre property in Travis County, Texas he purchased eleven years 62 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: earlier in nineteen seventy nine. He saw the agents striding 63 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: across the green from a distance. Before we took his swing, 64 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: he told his latest favorite joke, what's the difference between 65 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: an IRS agent and a whore? A whore will quit 66 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: fucking you after you're dead. Willy's friends laughed, but their 67 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: smiles soon faded as the Feds got closer. This wasn't 68 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: a laughing matter, so serious shit was about to go down. 69 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: His friends felt around for the pieces stashed in their 70 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: belts and pockets. Willie told them all to chill. This 71 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: wasn't the time to make a stand or to make 72 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: a scene. He hit the golf ball with his nine 73 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: iron and exuded that patent had laid back. Vibe calm, 74 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: cool collected, and the agents were within earshot. Now one 75 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: flashed a badge. Willie Nelson, he asked, and then with 76 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: a smirks said You're under arrest. Nineteen seventy three, Austin, Texas. 77 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: Bobby Hedderman, the guy who booked the shows that the 78 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: Armadillo World Headquarters, or the Dillo as the locals called it, 79 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: was losing his patience. He was still sore about how 80 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: his staff had been treated at Willy Nelson's Fourth of 81 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: July Picnic, a music festival that was held that summer, 82 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: bossed around by guys carrying knives on their hips and 83 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,279 Speaker 1: pistols jammed in their socks, and that kind of bad 84 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: mojo only made the divide between the Rednecks and the 85 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: hippies worse, and now it was jeopardizing Willy's relationship with 86 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: the venue he'd been playing for almost a year. You 87 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: got to control your friends, Bobby told Willie. I cannot 88 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: them pushing around the staff and packing heat in the building. 89 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,799 Speaker 1: Bobby had a point. The Dilo wasn't some old timey saloon. 90 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: It was more film wore East than the wild wild West. 91 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: Willie could get behind all that. Life wasn't so black 92 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,119 Speaker 1: and white. It was a little good and a little 93 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,559 Speaker 1: bad in everyone, and life was also short. So Willie 94 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: Nelson was going to do what he wanted, even if 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,679 Speaker 1: that meant no more shows at the Dillo. It was cool. 96 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: You go your way and I go mine. Life goes on, 97 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: especially in Austin. Austin was unlike the rest of Texas. 98 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: Austin was weird and they kept it that way. Its 99 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: politics were progressive, and so was its music. Austin wasn't 100 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: just a country town stuck in the Cepia tone passed. 101 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: It was ground zero for the blues and R and 102 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: B Kunto and Diana in some far fucking out rock 103 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: and roll. Austin was Rocky Erickson taking the elevator to 104 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: the thirteenth floor. Austin was Towns van Zan living for 105 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: the sake of the song. Austin was Doug Som, living 106 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: off mushrooms and alapanos. Austin fit Willie Nelson like one 107 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: of the faded, well worn T shirts he had taken 108 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: to wearing. And when he moved back to Texas following 109 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: the fire at his ranch outside Nashville, the one where 110 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: he heroically saved two pounds of grass and his trusty 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: guitar trigger, it felt like a major chapter of his 112 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: life had closed. It also felt like he had failed 113 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,039 Speaker 1: at doing what he had set out to do. He 114 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: was pushing forty years old, and though the royalty checks 115 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: for his songs Crazy and Hello, Walls were still rolling in, 116 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: he hadn't penned a top ten hit in a decade. 117 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: His career as a performer was faring even worse. Liberty 118 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: Records didn't know what to do with him, and neither 119 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: did RCA. He didn't last long at either label. To 120 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: succeed in Nashville, you had to conform, and Willie Nelson 121 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: just wasn't the conforming type. In Austin, he could be improper, 122 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: none of this fancy showbish. Nashville could keep the nuty 123 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: suits and string ties and Austin chaos rolled. As long 124 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: as the chaos was laid back. You grew your hair up, 125 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: let your beard get good, and wily, wrap a red 126 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: bandana around your head, and no one was going to 127 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: say shit. This may seem quaint now in twenty twenty three, 128 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: but fifty years ago, in nineteen seventy three, Willie Nelson 129 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: was the ultimate outlaw on a scene full of outsiders, 130 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: just like his pals Waylan Merle and Chris. The way 131 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: they look, the music they played, the focks they didn't 132 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: give not everyone understood it did. Like Atlantic Records. Jerry Wexler, 133 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: the guy responsible for, among other things, reinventing the careers 134 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: of Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin at do or Die 135 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: moments and in their creative lives. There wasn't a living 136 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: ass at Atlantic. The k new country music er was interested 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: in it, Wexler later said. But he knew it and 138 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: it interested him, so he took the gamble as he 139 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: often did, and established a country division at the label, 140 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: and not just any country division like Austin Atlantic's idea 141 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: country music would be different. Doug Son was an easy get, 142 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: but signing Willy felt like that now the best kept 143 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: secret in the lone star state. First, Wexler brought Willy 144 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: to New York where he made Shotgun Willie, which, for 145 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: all intents and purposes, was the first truly brilliant album 146 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: of his career. Imagine that Willie Nelson was forty years 147 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: old before he released a stone cold classic LP. Next, 148 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: Wexer took Willy to Muscle Shoals, where he made Phases 149 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: and Stages, a song cycle about divorce, with the legendary 150 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: Swapper's rhythm section backing him up. The performances on VOE. 151 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: Both records were fast and loose. They were as relaxed 152 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: and comfortable as Willy's New Austin State of Mind. But 153 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: although Jerry Wexler's Gamble breathed new life into Willie Nelson 154 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: the performer, the records didn't sell enough to justify a 155 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: country outpost at Atlantic Records. The label shut it down. 156 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: Columbia Records was quick on the rebound. Columbia was still 157 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,719 Speaker 1: pissed at Wexer in Atlantic Chris stealing Aretha from them 158 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: back in the sixties, and this was karma. It was deliberate, 159 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 1: and with the help of Willy's new manager, Willie's new 160 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: deal with Columbia was unprecedented. For the first time in 161 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: his professional life, Willie Nelson had complete creative control, so 162 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,680 Speaker 1: he did what he wanted. WILLI had an idea for 163 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:40,839 Speaker 1: a new record based on an old song that he 164 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: used to spin when he was a DJ. The album 165 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: would tell the story of a preacher who comes home 166 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: to find that his wife has been unfaithful. The preacher 167 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: murders his wife and her lover in a fit of 168 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: blind rage, and then wanders from town to town as 169 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: a fugitive He told his band to lay back, cool out, 170 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,719 Speaker 1: play what you feel. Their performances sounded like how you 171 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: feel when he took a super big hit at Columbian Grass. 172 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: When Red Headed Stranger was released in the spring of 173 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Columbia was worried that they'd made a 174 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: huge mistake. This wasn't the sound of Willy's shit hot 175 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: live band. This was sparse and strange. Billy Cheryl, the 176 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: Nashville producer who helped to find the country Politan sound, 177 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: was blunter than most. He said, it sucked. What the 178 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: shit did some corporate suits in New York and Billy 179 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: fucking Cheryl know about what was happening In Austin, Willy 180 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: was preparing to stage his third annual Fourth of July 181 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: picnic on a day that Texas Senate have proclaimed would 182 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: be officially known as Willie Nelson Day. Blue Eyes Crying 183 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: in the Rain, Red Headed Stranger's first single, sat at 184 00:10:40,360 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: number one on the Billboard Country Chart. Willie played Doug 185 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: Weston's Troubadour in West Hollywood while Paul McCartney and Bob 186 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: Dylan watched from the audience. The following March in nineteen 187 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: seventy six, Red Headed Stranger was certified gold. Scuffles with 188 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,599 Speaker 1: Bobby Hederman at the Dillo were disparaging remarks of the 189 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 1: Nashville elite. These were the last things on Willie Nelson's mind. 190 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: Austin made really weird. It made him an outsider, but 191 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 1: it also made him a star. They're weirdos, outsiders, stars. 192 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: They all share one thing in common. They do whatever 193 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:43,839 Speaker 1: the fuck they want. The Feds didn't even let Willie 194 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: Nelson finishes around at golf. They wanted it all, and 195 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: they wanted it now, jewels, pricess artwork, luxury cars. But 196 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: first they take whatever cash was in the safe. Willie 197 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: walked them inside the Pedernawis Clubhouse, which he converted into 198 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: a recording studio, and the dial on the safe to 199 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: enter the combination, and swung the door open. The Feds 200 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: couldn't believe what they weren't seeing. It was empty. Where 201 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: is it? They asked, where's all the money? The money 202 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: was with Willie Nelson's people always had been, not just 203 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: the musicians on his payroll, or his ex wives or 204 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,080 Speaker 1: his current wife or his children. They were bus drivers 205 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: to pay stage managers, lighting directors, bodyguards, and groundskeepers and 206 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 1: golf pros and receptionists, nephews and half brothers and friends 207 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,920 Speaker 1: and friends of friends, and business advisors and attorneys and 208 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: other musicians who were cool and technically didn't have jobs, 209 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: but were allowed to live rent free on these breathtaking 210 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: rolling hills just eight miles away from Austin. Some said 211 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: it was too many people. The dishonest people fleeced Willy 212 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 1: on the regular, but even dishonest people could be loyal, 213 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: and loyalty was key in a time of need. I 214 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:53,199 Speaker 1: know they're stealing from me, Willy said, but at least 215 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: I know who they are. They have families to feed too. 216 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: I could clean them out. I get a whole new set, 217 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: and then I wouldn't know who they are. That came 218 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 1: down to it, Willie Nelson didn't mind getting conned as 219 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: long as he knew that the guy doing the conning 220 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:12,280 Speaker 1: had his back. Stick your head out the window and 221 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 1: I'll blow it off. Geno mccoslin was waving his pistol 222 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: at the cars as they crawled by. No one was 223 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: getting their money back. The investors, the other promoters, they 224 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: were all sol The box office receipts were gone, just 225 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: accept it. There were eighty thousand people here at ten 226 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: bucks ahead do the math Gino there had to be 227 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: cashed or recouped, didn't matter. Gino was running the show, 228 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: and Gino said it was gone, and now everyone else 229 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: needed to get gone too. So Gino waved his pistol 230 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:50,880 Speaker 1: some more. Show's over, Get the fuck out. Nineteen seventy six, Gonzales, Texas. 231 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: Willie Nelson's fourth annual Fourth of July picnic didn't go 232 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: as planned. First, there was one hundred degree heat in 233 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: heavy rains. Someone drowned in a nearby stock The Bandido's 234 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: Motorcycle Club, who were hired to run security, gave off 235 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: serious altamont vibes as a strong arm of the crowd. 236 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: People were stabbed and set on fire. And at the 237 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: end of a long day and an even longer night, 238 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: after performances by George Jones, Bobby Bear, David allen Coe, 239 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: Billy Joe Shaver, Doug Som and Leon Russell, who is 240 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:21,920 Speaker 1: eight am the next morning and they're out of time, 241 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: Willie didn't even get to play. But there was an 242 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 1: even bigger problem. Promoters were two hundred thousand dollars short 243 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: of breaking even maybe Geno mccauslyin knew where the money went, 244 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: and maybe he didn't. Willy didn't stress about it. Gino 245 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: was cool because Gino was loyal. Willie had known Gino 246 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: since way back. Gino promoted shows when Willi was a nobody. 247 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,120 Speaker 1: Mucho's respect and trust. Willi never forgot that, just like 248 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: WILLI never forgot the other couple of fast talking Texans 249 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: who got in early on his ascendants. Those guys could 250 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: do whatever the fuck they wanted in Texas. Willi didn't 251 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: care if they were taking a little off the top 252 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: or even a lot. In fact, he expected some skimming. 253 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: Even the con artists had to earn a living, so 254 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: we let four guys handle Texas. He told his manager 255 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: not to worry about it, don't look too hard at 256 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: the bottom line. And there were no complicated contracts, no 257 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: red tape. They just had an understanding, an understanding they had. 258 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:22,119 Speaker 1: Everyone benefited from Willy's altruistic ways, but no one benefited 259 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: more than Willi himself. And he didn't need a gun 260 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: in order to do what he wanted. He had other 261 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: guys for that. By nineteen seventy eight, Willie Nelson had 262 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: achieved an unprecedented level of success for a country artist. 263 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: His duet with Waylon Jennings Mamas, Don't let your Babies 264 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: go up to beat Cowboys, was a number one country 265 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: hit that crossed over to the Billboard Hot one hundred. 266 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: In his twenty second studio album, Stardust, a collection of 267 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: pop standards produced by his neighbor one time Stax house 268 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: band leader Booker T. Jones, was a smash. Willie liked 269 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: singing other people's songs. Writing was hard, Writing was Nashville. 270 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: Covers were half as hard to put together. Stardust didn't 271 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: leave the country charts for ten years straight. Now Willie 272 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: was on the cover of People magazine. He broke Frank 273 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: Sinatra's attendance record in Vegas. In fact, Old Blue Eyes 274 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: opened for Willie, not the other way around. His trademark 275 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: bandana and his guitar trigger were his iconic and easily 276 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: identifiable as the Nike Swooshe. Willie Nelson pulled this all 277 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: off in part by cutting down on the chaos. Chaos 278 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: set it once served to define the life of an 279 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: ousted outsider, now needed to be refined. In order to 280 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: push higher into the mainstream. Boundaries were set on drug use. 281 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: Cocaine was strictly prohibited. You're wired, You're fired was a 282 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: new mantra for Willy's posse. Weed was cool, and so 283 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 1: were uppers and downeries. WILLI knew all about needing help 284 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: to make it through the night, but coke was out. 285 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: People on coke and people on weed didn't mix, and 286 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 1: it turned gas paychecks into dust literally. Besides, Willie nelson 287 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: vibe was carefully constructed around one particularly legal substance, and 288 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: one substance only. Weed was a constant. It took the 289 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: edge off, made the world mellow and chill. The more 290 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: Willy smoked it, the more he realized how bad alcohol 291 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 1: had been for him in the past and how much 292 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: marijuana leveled him up. I don't smoke weed to get high, 293 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,159 Speaker 1: he said. I smoke weed to get normal. But in 294 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:30,240 Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies, smoking weed wasn't normal. He was transgressive, devian, lawless, 295 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: and a word of Willy's outlaw behavior followed him around 296 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: like smoke from a roach. When Willy and his tour 297 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: made and fellow tutsi's regular Hank Cochran stepped off a 298 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: plane in the Bahamas, only to find their luggage missing, 299 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: Willie didn't sweat it. There were worse things in the 300 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,280 Speaker 1: world than hanging out in paradise without a change of 301 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: clothes for a day or two. When he retrieved his 302 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: bags a few days later at the airport, Willy wasn't 303 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,159 Speaker 1: greeted by an airline employee. He was greeted by the 304 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: badge of a customs agent. Shit. Probably should have just 305 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,719 Speaker 1: let that suitcase go, but he was here now, a 306 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: big fucking star and a big fucking pickle. When the 307 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: agent held up a small baggy of grass, Willy knew 308 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: the one he was stashed in the pocket of a 309 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: pair of jeans and a suitcase. The Commonwealth of the 310 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: Bahamas didn't give a shit that Willy and Hank had 311 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,680 Speaker 1: a tour to resume, so Willie Nelson's next stop was 312 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 1: a jail cell. But what happened then, well, Willie sure 313 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: did regret it, but he knew just what he was 314 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: going to do. He was gonna get drunk, even if 315 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: it was behind bars. The Bahamian government let Willy sweat 316 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: it out for a bit, then they decided they'd made 317 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,639 Speaker 1: their point. A guard walked to Willie cell to deliver 318 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 1: the good news he was free. To go back home 319 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: as long as he never stepped foot in the Bahamas again. 320 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: But the guard unexpectedly found Willy already in a good mood. 321 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,440 Speaker 1: Empty beer cans were scattered at his feet, a smile 322 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: plastered on his face. Later, when Willie Nelson met President 323 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,240 Speaker 1: Jimmy Carter, he may have told him exactly how he 324 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: smuggled a six pack into a Bahamian jail cell. Or 325 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,719 Speaker 1: maybe he didn't. Either way, President Carter when Willy told 326 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: him about his little dust up and paradise during a 327 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: dinner in which Willy was guest of honor at the 328 00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 1: White House. President Carter was a fellow outsider, a peanut 329 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 1: farmer who was now leader of the Free World, and 330 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: like Willie, Carter didn't forget a favor. He didn't forget 331 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,679 Speaker 1: friends like Willy, who had lent their talents to his 332 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: grassroots campaign. So at the White House, Willie dined, performed 333 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: in the rose Garden, and then he and his wife 334 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,919 Speaker 1: retired to the Lincoln bedroom for the night, or so 335 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: he thought. In the middle of the night, there was 336 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,120 Speaker 1: a knock at the doors. Willie got out of bed, quietly, 337 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: went to the door and opened it slowly. Chip President 338 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: Carter's twenty seven year old, lovable burnout son smiled at 339 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: Willy from the other side. He held a joint in 340 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: his hand. Chip led Willy through a series of hallways 341 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: and then up all the way to the roof of 342 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: the White House, and they sat down and looked at 343 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: the Washington Monument. Pennsylvania Avenue was lit up like a 344 00:19:54,160 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: Christmas tree, and Willie took a deep hit on the 345 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 1: joint and exhaled, while the President of the United States 346 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,440 Speaker 1: slept somew were down below. No one was the wiser, 347 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 1: just the way Willy liked it. It was one thing 348 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,680 Speaker 1: to be a household name, a star, to be loved 349 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 1: by many like Chip Carter, and targeted by others like 350 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. But what bothered Willly was 351 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: what is safety? And thus the safety of his extended family, 352 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:22,199 Speaker 1: the family he worked hard to support, was threatened. In 353 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: those moments, he got impulsive. In those moments, he went 354 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: into true outlaw mode. In those moments, Willie Nelson fought 355 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: fire with fire. We'll be right back after this. We're We're, We're. 356 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: Willie Nelson's old buddy Zeke, pulled his pickup up to 357 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: the pump Willy jumped out of the passenger's side and 358 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: grabbed the gas can from the truck bed. He filled 359 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: it up with five gallons of regular, while Zeke ran 360 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: inside for a complimentary book of matches. As he twisted 361 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: the cat back on the can, ought some more about 362 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: this centennial shit. It really pissed him off. Sure, he 363 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: played a fundraiser to help his hometown of Abbot, Texas, 364 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: celebrate his birthday, but he didn't ask for this. His 365 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,480 Speaker 1: name in big bold letters on billboards over by Interstate 366 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,359 Speaker 1: thirty five, the home of Willie Nelson, they read shit. 367 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: Abbot was still the one place where Willie could slip 368 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: back into the old days, be his old self. I'll 369 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: worry about being hounded by people, the good, the bad, 370 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: and the ugly, the ones that either wanted his autograph 371 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: or wanted to put his hands in a pair of cuffs. 372 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: He still signed autographs, every last one of them, and 373 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: he always would no matter how famous he got. But 374 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: this was a step too far. They may as well 375 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: have drawn a giant fucking arrow on those signs and written, 376 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,360 Speaker 1: Willy is here, Willia and Zeke, We're gonna take care 377 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: of this. Like the couple of young at hard hell raisers. 378 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: They were they were going to burn those billboards to 379 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:55,280 Speaker 1: the ground. Zeke and Willie went way back. Zeke was 380 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: the guy who showed Willy how the only way to 381 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: live was on the edge. Zeke taught Willie poker, and 382 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: our life wasn't much different than bluffing at a card table. 383 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: But this wasn't nineteen forty nine. This was nineteen eighty one. 384 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 1: Willy was forty eight years old, well on his way 385 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 1: to becoming the highest grossing concert act in the world, 386 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 1: and he was currently a tossing gasoline at the legs 387 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: of a huge billboard. They lit a match, the flames erupted, 388 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,200 Speaker 1: the fire began to crackle at the base of the sign. 389 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 1: A wind blew in, the flames dimmed, and the fire 390 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: went out. They lit another match and tossed it and another. 391 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: Each time the flames started up again, and each time 392 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: they quickly died out. The longer Willi and Zeke stayed there, 393 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: the higher the chances were that the one cop car 394 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:40,760 Speaker 1: and abbot would roll up and catch them in the act. 395 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: Sometimes life didn't let you go out on the edge, 396 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 1: no matter how hard he tried. The next morning, the 397 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: billboarder was burning again, only this time it was really burning. 398 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,480 Speaker 1: Abbot PD arrested a local kid. Willy didn't know if 399 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: the kid had finished what Willy started or if the 400 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: billboard simply started burning again. In this sport had a 401 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 1: reputation bad enough to be the scapegoat. Either way, Willy 402 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: wasn't about to let some kid take the fall. He 403 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: called the station. I was the one who burned the 404 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,919 Speaker 1: fucking sign, he said. The town accepted his confession, as 405 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: well as the logic that the billboard was his to 406 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: burn since he funded it. Abbot didn't have the heart 407 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: to argue with its most famous son, but not everyone 408 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: in Abbot was about to give Willie Nelson a free pass, 409 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 1: especially when it came to murder. Margie Lundy was an 410 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 1: old pal. She owned a honky tonk called the night 411 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 1: Owl just south of Abbot years back. The night Owl 412 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: was one of the few places you could catch at 413 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: Willi nelson gig before Nashville or the rest of the 414 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: world knew who the hell he was. Margie Lundy had 415 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: Willie's respect and his loyalty, so when she was arrested 416 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 1: and charged with the murder of her brother in law, 417 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: Willie didn't hesitate to testify on her behalf as a 418 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: character witness. She said she killed the guy in self defense, 419 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: and Willie believed her. If Margie killed them, WILLI told 420 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: the jury he must have had it coming. The prosecutor 421 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: didn't hide his contempt for Willie. What kind of witness 422 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 1: was this guy anyway? A dope smoker, a womanizer, an arsonist. 423 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: In the end, the jury agreed with Willie and with Margie. 424 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,600 Speaker 1: Authority figures like the prosecuting attorney just didn't see how 425 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: to eye with Willie Nelson, and that was okay because 426 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:29,360 Speaker 1: the feeling was mutual. Nineteen ninety Petronawis Country Club, Texas. 427 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: Seeing as there was no cash in the safe, the 428 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: feds took everything else, framed gold and platinum records, spools 429 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,920 Speaker 1: of recording tape, golf cards, photographs. They padlocked the whole place. 430 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,479 Speaker 1: They seized luck the phony western town built on Willy's 431 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: property for the nineteen eighty five movie adaptation of Redheaded Stranger. 432 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,880 Speaker 1: They seized Willie's assets in California, Hawaii, Alabama, and then 433 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,520 Speaker 1: they put everything on the auction block. Everything but trigger. 434 00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,400 Speaker 1: Willy's trusty guitar was the only thing he couldn't stand 435 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: to lose. And exactly how did Willy's most quintessential valuable 436 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: assets stay out of the hands of the Feds. That 437 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: was a trade secret, a trick Willy learned early on 438 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: in life. It was a bluff at the poker table. 439 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: It was how he was able to smuggle a six 440 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: pack into the Behamian prison cell, or how Gino mccauslin 441 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: and the boys were able to make thousands of dollars 442 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: disappear from the till everything else was just stuff. Willie 443 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: had come from nothing once before. He could do it again. 444 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,120 Speaker 1: So he got himself out of the jam with the Irs, 445 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: the way he got himself out of every other jam 446 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: in his life with his music. With Trigger. In the 447 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen ninety one, Willy released the IRS tapes 448 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,119 Speaker 1: Who Will Buy My Memories, a two CD set featuring 449 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: just Willy and his guitar playing some of the biggest 450 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: songs of his career. Maybe you saw commercials for the 451 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: album on TV. You could only order it over the phone. 452 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: It was probably the first and only album ever recorded 453 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 1: with the sole purpose of being a revenue stream for 454 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: the federal government, and by nineteen ninety three. Following sales 455 00:25:59,359 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: of the Double Disc and auctions of his belongings, the 456 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: Irs declared Willie's debt officially settled. He should have been 457 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 1: left with next to nothing, But Willie Nelson was a 458 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: man who led a life by karma. It was loyal 459 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: to those around him, no matter if the rest of 460 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: society viewed them as bad people. His friends, his fans, 461 00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: his extended family. The farmers at the federal government had forsaken, 462 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: and that Willy helped year after year with farm aid. 463 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: There were nothing if not loyal. They bid on many 464 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: of the items on the auction block and made sure 465 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: that when the dust settled, Willy got back what he deserved. 466 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 1: And then he got back to doing what he did, singing, touring. 467 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:38,199 Speaker 1: He was busy, as busy as he'd ever been, just trying, 468 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: as he so modestly put it, to pay the rent 469 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: and keep the lights on. It was all he knew. 470 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,520 Speaker 1: It was therapeutic. It helped him forget about the things 471 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: he didn't want to think about. His mind was full 472 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: of other things, other people, including someone who needed help. 473 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: But the one time Willy wasn't able to give it. 474 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: Don't call him Willie, call him Billy. Billy was his 475 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,879 Speaker 1: own man. He wanted to be known for his own accomplishments. 476 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: He could sing, he could raise hell, and he could 477 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: do both without holding on to his daddy's coat tails. 478 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,360 Speaker 1: But wherever he went, they all said the same thing, 479 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: there goes Willy Nelson's boy. Billy Nelson was the third 480 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,119 Speaker 1: of Willie Nelson's seven children. Like his father, Billy was 481 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: a musician, but his addictions were always landing him in trouble, 482 00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: and his dad was frequently coming to the rescue. Not 483 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: physically because Willie was off and away from home on 484 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,200 Speaker 1: the road doing what he had to do to pay 485 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: the rent, but he helped financially, like when Billy's condo 486 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:56,680 Speaker 1: at the ped Andales Country Club was burned to the 487 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: ground as a result of a blotch drug deal. Willy 488 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: had the place and gave Billy fifty grand to get 489 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: a shit together. But Willy wasn't always able to help, 490 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: especially not in nineteen ninety one when every last cent 491 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,359 Speaker 1: he made was funneled directly to the irs. Billy, at 492 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,919 Speaker 1: the time was at a tailspin. He still wasn't over 493 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,200 Speaker 1: his mother's death from two years earlier. He was heartbroken 494 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: when his wife left him and took their only daughter. 495 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: He was arrested four times for drunk driving. He was broke. 496 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 1: His famous father had fallen from grace. In the eyes 497 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,680 Speaker 1: of many. Willy's tax was turned him into a punchline 498 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 1: on late night talk shows. All Billy had was the 499 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: solace of that old plot of family land out in Ridgetop, Tennessee. 500 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: Ridgetop was full of good memories of his mom, his sisters, 501 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: his aunt Bobby Lee and Paul English, who kept his 502 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,920 Speaker 1: daddy's worlds. He checks coming in steady. Everyone had what 503 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,959 Speaker 1: they wanted, no one went without. Life was simpler then. 504 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: It was at Ridgetop that Billy Nelson was found on 505 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: Christmas of nineteen ninety one, almost twenty one years to 506 00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,280 Speaker 1: the day since the house fire that served as the 507 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: catalyst for his father's return to Texas. He was hanging 508 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: from the ceiling of his log cabin home, a cord 509 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: wrapped around his neck. He was thirty three. Willie was 510 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,000 Speaker 1: devastated for a parent to lose their child. The pain 511 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: and sorrow Willy wrote about when he was his son's age, 512 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: none of it compared to this, The ache, the misery, 513 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: It was like part of him was gone. It was unbearable. 514 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: Willie found no solace in spirituality. He'd long believed that 515 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: death was not the end, that after your body dies, 516 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: some part of you, your soul, your consciousness, your spirit, 517 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: lives on. He hoped that believing in reincarnation would make 518 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: grieving a loved one's death easier. But when it came 519 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:45,480 Speaker 1: down to it, when it was time to put that 520 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: theory to the test in the real world, believing or 521 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: not believing it didn't do a damn thing. There was 522 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: only one thing Willie Nelson could do. It felt good 523 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: to be on the road again. The road stretched out 524 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: the horizon. It took you far away from here. Sometimes 525 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 1: there were shows to play at the end of the road, 526 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: and other times there were records to cut. Johnny Cash, 527 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: Toby Keith, and Kenny Chesney were all waiting in various 528 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: city sure, but so was everyone. Toots in the may Tellers, Winter, Marsalis, 529 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: Fish Snoop DOGG, We're Can Go Star. Willie Nelson's extended 530 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: family was beholden to no one genre. On November twenty six, 531 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: twenty ten, the day after Thanksgiving, Willie Nelson was on 532 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: I ten, headed back to Austin from California. Around nine am, 533 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: his tor bus approached a border patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas. 534 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,960 Speaker 1: The bus slowed down and came to a stop. This 535 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,840 Speaker 1: was twenty years after the IRS bust and his bus 536 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: no longer read hepmobile on the side. But the authorities 537 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 1: still didn't like what the outlaw William Nelson stood for. 538 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: The dogs were first to board the bus. Their noses 539 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: led them right to it six ounces of weed. Willie 540 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: didn't deny that it was his. It's kind of surprising, 541 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: said the county sheriff, while seventy seventy year old Willie 542 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: Nelson sat behind borrows in a local jail. But we 543 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: treat him like everybody else. He could get one hundred 544 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: and eighty days, and if he does, I'm going to 545 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: make him cook and clean. Of course, Willie Nelson didn't 546 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 1: cook or clean for anyone. After the prosecutor ridiculously suggested 547 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: that he perform Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain in 548 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:20,520 Speaker 1: lieu of a penalty, Willie Nelson paid a five hundred 549 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: and fifty dollars fine and walked away. It didn't sit 550 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: well with the judge. Anyone else would have been charged 551 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: with a felony, but not Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson walked 552 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,480 Speaker 1: away from a possession charge in the Bahamas, he walked 553 00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: away from an arson charge in his hometown. In the 554 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: eyes of the judge, the law made a habit of 555 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: look in the other way for Willie Nelson, and that 556 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 1: was not fair. So in twenty twelve the judge reopened 557 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 1: the case, and over ten years later, it remains open. 558 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: Over a decade after he was busted for six ounces 559 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: of weed, Willie Nelson, now eighty nine years old, remains 560 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: one of the most beloved men in popular music and 561 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: an outlaw in his home state of Texas. In that 562 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:08,280 Speaker 1: would be a disgrace if it wasn't so badass, I'm 563 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan in this this Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by 564 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,479 Speaker 1: Yours Truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. 565 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 566 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: notes page at disgracelamdpod dot com. 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