Willie Nelson on Django...

Lango-Django

"Me and Sister Bobbie: True Tales of the Family Band" 

by Willie Nelson and Bobbie Nelson with David Ritz

Random House, New York, 2020

p. 69-70

"Before boot camp in San Antone [1951], I'd discovered Django Reinhardt, the Romani guitarist who grew up in Belgium. No other musician has had a greater influence on me. Some local guys who fought in World War II in France, where Django gained his fame, brought back his records. They knocked me clean off my feet. He had a style all his own. It was swing, it was jazz, but it was also something I'd never heard before. I felt like his guitar was talking to me. Django filled every song he played--- even sad songs--- with pure joy. His songs were like little short stories.

"Then when I heard Django's personal story, he became like a folk hero to me. At eighteen, he was almost killed in a caravan fire. His legs were burned so badly that he was told one had to be amputated. He refused. Two of the fingers on his left hand also suffered severe burns to the point of paralysis. They told him he'd have to give up guitar. Never, he said. Not only did he keep playing, but he found a way to turn the handicap into an advantage. He reinvented his guitar by soloing with only two fingers. He got better.

"I followed Django's fortunes. I read how Duke Ellington invited him to New York and how jazz stars as different as Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie praised him to the sky. When they asked him which camp he was in--- traditional or modern--- he said both. His main partner was Stephane Grappelli, a fiddler. In country, guitars and fiddles go together like ham and eggs. Same was true in Django's sound. Musically, he and Grappelli talked to each other like old friends. That's the feeling I was always looking for. It reminded me of the musical rapport I had with Bobbie.

"I knew that Django had absorbed many influences--- ragtime, Dixieland, big bands, even bebop--- and found a way to capture them all in his own style. He was the first instrumentalist who taught me what it means to have your own voice. After two notes, you knew it was Django. He taught me that every solo you take can be heartfelt and simple.

"I had this fantasy that the air force would land me in Paris and I'd get to meet Django. I got no further than Mississippi..."

**************************

My wife found this book on remainder and bought it for me.

I'd never been a Willie Nelson fan, and thus had never realized that his older sister, pianist Bobbie Nelson, who died in March, 2022 at the age of 91, was not only a longtime member of his backup band, but a lifelong musical influence on him.

After reading this book, I have to say that I am now an official Willie Nelson fan!

Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Will

ChrisMartin

Been a fan of Willie since I first heard Red Headed Stranger back in '76 and I caught his shows a few times when he was in London. Since then I have been listening to so many different guitarists and I guess we all soak up some influences here and there, maybe without even being aware of it, but sure Willie's playing has always been around my house along with Django, Hendrix, Wes and all the rest. Pretty good singer too, but I would recommend anyone who has not heard the connection to check out his Nuages or some of his little instrumental intros like Ou Es Tu Mon Amour or Matador; Willie certainly listened to Django but took it somewhere else.

flaco

This is why Willie plays his famous nylon string guitar, Trigger. He knew Django wasn't playing a steel string acoustic, but he wasn't sure what Django was playing. The nylon string Martin played with a pick was the closest thing he could find. Not long before Merle Haggard passed away Willie and Merle released an album called "Django and Jimmie" about their two biggest influences: Django for Willie and Jimmie Rodgers for Merle. I would think most people on this site would enjoy Willie's album "Stardust" which is mostly jazz standards.

Buco

I also never knew about Bobbie and their lifelong collaboration.

@ChrisMartin there it is, a perfect example of a musician who's antithesis to the ones spoken about in the other, 50 years after joke thread, a person who had an enormous influence from Django but went to do something entirely their own.

tomcunn

i first heard Willie on Austin City Limits in perhaps its first season - 1975? The show featured songwriters, and 6 or 7 of them sat in a circle and did their tunes. many couldn't sing very well, and willie was the only instrumentalist (at least that i remember). he played guitar for each of them, and i was amazed at how good he was. i immediately bought a bunch of his LPs and they were all overproduced schlock.

when he left nashville around that time his sound got cleaner. But i never heard him play like that again and i would love to see that Austin City Limits again to see if he was as good as i recall.

ChrisMartin

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/112092#Comment_112092

Exactly my point; influenced by, but not just copying Django.

ChrisMartin

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/112095#Comment_112095

Indeed Tom, Willie was that good. I don't think I have seen that ACL show (I will look it up on Youtube though) but yes it was around the mid-70s that he left the Nashville production line and went back to Texas to do it his way and thus the so-called 'Outlaw' sound came about with Waylon, Tompall and others. His records improved certainly although there always was a mix of his own songs and Sinatra like collections of standards, the only difference being that Willie would tackle such material with even more elastic timing and phrasing than Sinatra, sometimes seemingly a week behind the beat. Since then Willie went on the road with his 'Family' band, Bobbie on piano, Paul English, Bee Spears, Mickey Raphael, Jody Payne, even Grady Martin on guitar too back in the day. Many years and miles on the road developed his sound into something new although not all subsequent records featured as much guitar playing as his live set did. I have many of his CDs and records but for the purposes of showing the guitar playing I would recommend starting with Spirit or Teatro; even on these some are straight ballads with only a few licks to color the song but the influence shows nonetheless. The 1999 album 'Night and Day' has his take on Nuages as well as many other jazz-influenced standards. To see Willie in full flight you will do better to search Youtube for some live shows or possibly excerpts from the film Honeysuckle Rose.

ChrisMartin

Some Youtube Willie..........

A couple of songs from a British TV show in the ‘90s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9ElYF7XLM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSJotJSKPLM

This from the first Asutin City Limits show in ’74, note he only got Trigger in around 1970, but four years later he has already carved a hole in it with his pick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn8A72wnOZM

And even at 80 years old he was playing like this; a good example of how he mixed, country, blues and jazz all into the one style; Willie-style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr8fNOxdSAM

with a tremolo to equal Stochelo thrown in.

Some Nuages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwJfNbpwrG4

Nuages at Austin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2RZHKGivCQ

and there are many more versions on Youtube.

Or how about Vous et Moi with a solo from Bobbie and Jackie King guesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTJ7_xhC_CY

But as for the Austin City Limits show referred to, it seems Willie was a regular on there since the first show in '74 and there are a helluva lot on Youtube. Take your pick.

tomcunn

thanks for that info. i looked up the ACL and it was episode 3 of season 5, so a little later then i remembered. but i don't think it is available anywhere. if anyone reading this knows where to find it, let me know.

listening to night and day now. the thing about his playing is the swing. a special talent.

wim

I'd never been a Willie Nelson fan, but with such high praise here I decided to give another chance. Nope, still not a Willie Nelson fan 😀 The phrasing is sloppy, and that nylon string tone just sounds like duck farts. Actually I'd prefer to listen to another Django "copycat"..