Willie Nelson concert review Macon, Georgia January 24, 2010

I recently outed myself as a big Willie Nelson fan in a post featuring concert photos of Willie from Arena Theater in Houston, Texas January 8, 2010. Well, that got me all excited to see the Red Headed Stranger again, so I road tripped to Macon, Georgia for his show at the Macon City Auditorium January 24, 2010.

I went with a friend and fellow Willie fan and we realized on the way down that neither of us had any idea how many times we had seen him live, but we both estimated it was between 12 and 25. Willie’s an odd cat because he can sometimes lapse into what my friend calls “Robot Willie,” which is sort of like autopilot or “phoning it in” and usually involves a lot of “talk singing.” Don’t get me wrong, Robot Willie is still Willie and is always worth the price of admission (Still is Still Moving for Willie!), but occasionally Willie gets a little juiced and steps up his game (often when performing with others, or when in Texas) and that’s exactly what happened Sunday night in Macon!

(Willie in Houston January 8, 2010 – Photo: Blaze / Flynet Pictures)

I don’t know if it was because his son Lukas Nelson (who’s band Promise of the Real opened the show) was playing guitar throughout the main show as well, or maybe it was because Willie has just finished recording a new album of country standards called Willie Nelson – Country Music (due out April 13) with T-Bone Burnett and he’s just in good vocal shape – either way Mr. Nelson was ON!

The show started off on a familiar note with with “Whiskey River,” a song Willie has been opening with since at least 1978 when it kicked of the fantastic Willie and Family Live double album. Willie’s vocals were a little rough and his guitar playing was just plain muddy. His son Lukas was playing guitar and singing and it took me a minute before I realized Jody Payne was missing! A Willie show without Jody Payne’s version of Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man’s Blues?!?” This night wasn’t going well at all.

Next up Willie burst into “Still Is Still Moving To Me,” which started out rough but by the end Willie had elevated his singing and playing to that fore-mentioned “stepped up” level.

The greatness continued through “Beer For My Horses” (and that’s not one of my favorite Willie songs) and into “Shoeshine Man,” which was “little sister” Bobbie’s first solo of the night, and she was just as great as ever!

Here’s Willie’s homemade video for “Shoeshine Man:”

I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. Willie was completely tinkering with the untinkerable Willie and Family setlist! And he was completely in the zone!

Next up was the Willie trinity medley starting with one of my absolute favorite songs of all time, “Funny How Time Slips Away.” It’s one of those wonderful tunes that seems on the surface to be rather simple – all you really hear is the title in the chorus and you assume the song is just about getting old a little too quickly. But, upon closer listening, you realize the song has everything: betrayal, love, hate, irony, revenge, sarcasm, forgiveness…

Well hello there,
my it’s been a long, long time.
How am I doin’?
Oh I guess that I’m doin’ fine
It’s been so long now
but it seems now
like it was only yesterday
Gee ain’t it funny
how time slips away?

How’s your new love?
I hope that he’s doin’ fine.
I heard you told him
that you’d love him till the end of time
Now that’s the same thing
that you told me
seems like just the other day
Gee ain’t it funny
how time slips away?

I gotta go now.
I guess I’ll see you around.
Don’t know when though,
never know when I’ll be back in town.
But remember
what I tell you
in time you’re gonna pay
And it’s surprising
how time slips away

Willie Nelson Country Music due out on Rounder April 13, 2010

After “Funny” were the other two songs written within the same week, “Crazy” and “Night Life,” the latter of which could only have been better if Ray Price had been there with him!

Bobbie transported us into the timeless saloons of purgatory by kicking off “Down Yonder” in her honky-tonk gospel style.

After that was the classic “Me and Paul” which Willie introduced with the blatantly obvious, but still funny intro, “A long time ago I wrote a song about me and Paul. It’s called ‘Me and Paul.'” I remember back when I was really getting into “older” Willie songs and I was trying to figure out at what point he changed over from that clean-cut dude with the whacked-out vocal timing to the Willie we know and love today. A lot of people seem to think Willie was always just like he is now, but he was just oppressed by the evil record label dictators until he broke free during the outlaw movement. But listening to those RCA recordings from the 1960s it seems to me that Willie was given quite a bit of freedom, but he was just as clueless what to do with himself as the label was.

Granted, by the time Willie did sort of settle into what would become the great pop singer with a nasally twang and country heart we’ve all grown to love, heading down to Armadillo World Headquarters and cutting loose was the perfect fertilizer.

Anyways, I digress. As I was working forward from the 1960s I had an epiphany when I heard Willie’s 1971 concept album Yesterday’s Wine, which included the first recording of “Me and Paul.” There are numerous moments on the record where it’s obvious he has found his inner Willie, and “Me and Paul” is clearly one of them! (The title track is another.) Yesterday’s Wine is a quirky concept album featuring narration by Willie conversing with God prior to his birth and often gets dismissed because of those idiosyncratic elements, but if you give the narrations the benefit of the doubt you’re left with one of Willie’s best efforts.

Here’s a drawing I did as part of a series called “Musings” in which I paid tribute to the people and artists that have inspired me in my life and my work:

What was I talking about? Oh yeah – The concert! After “Me and Paul” the Family took a break and Promise of the Real replaced them on “Texas Flood,” a blues number that allowed Lukas to show off his glittering guitar skills as he and Willie once again traded licks and vocals.

Hmmm… If I keep this up this post will never end. I’ll jump through to the new song:

Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground (Willie’s best song?)
On The Road Again
Always On My Mind (Maybe the best I’ve ever heard Willie do it)
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
I’ll Fly Away

And then he did “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” from the new album. I was searching around online for some photos from the show and I stumbled onto this recording made on an iPhone. The first part of the song is cut off, but what’s there sounds surprisingly nice! (I used to have a friend that bootlegged shows back in the day. All the efforts he had to go through to get his recording equipment into the shows just seems ridiculous now.) Anyway, here’s the end of “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” live from Macon, Georgia! The studio version of the song will appear on Willie’s new album Willie Nelson Country along with a batch of traditional country songs performed with the same group of folks that did Allison Krauss and Robert Plant’s critically acclaimed Raising Sand from 2007. (Willie Nelson – Country Music is due out on Rounder April 13)

(Willie in Houston January 8, 2010 – Photo: Blaze / Flynet Pictures)

And the rest of the songs:

If You’ve Got The Money (I’ve Got The Time) (Love me some Lefty Frizzell!)
Georgia On My Mind (First half of the Peach State doubleshot!)
Georgia On A Fast Train (Love me some Billy Joe!)
Bloody Mary Morning (With some wacked out guitaring by Willie! I’ve never heard him do anything like it!)

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain (Best country album of all time?)
Jumbalaya (On the Bayou)
Hey Good Lookin’ (The Hank Sr. fest continues!)
Move It On Over (No “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It?”)
Rainy Day Blues (Lightnin’ Hopkins meets Bob Wills!)
Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms
Superman (Tee hee hee!)
I Saw The Light

(Some notable absentees from the performance: “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer),” “Stardust,” “City Of New Orleans” and Kris Kristofferson! No “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” “Me And Bobby McGee” or “Loving You Was Easier!” Have Willie and Kris had a falling out? You heard it here first!)

The show was a little shorter than most I’ve been to, but Willie Nelson more than made up for it by giving each and every song his all! Seeing Willie live always leaves me feeling like I just had a spiritual oil change, but after this show I’ll be able go at least 6,000 miles! Thanks Willie. (Your show was even better than the overtime NFL playoff game between the Vikings and Saints.)

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