It's a Long Story
My Life
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4.3 • 27 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Willie Nelson shares his life story in this "heartfelt" bestselling memoir of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms (Washington Post).
"Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned." . . . So say the publishers about this book I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it.
It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right. Of my childhood in Abbott, Texas, to the Pacific Northwest, from Nashville to Hawaii and all the way back again. Of selling vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias while hosting radio shows and writing song after song, hoping to strike gold.
It's a story of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms, with a musical sound track ripping right through it. My life gets lived on the road, at home, and on the road again, tried and true, and I've written it all down from my heart to yours.
Signed, Willie Nelson.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Meet Willie Nelson: farmer, father, husband (a few times over), activist, and country music legend. It’s a Long Story is as charming and self-deprecating as its title, recounting everything from his conservative, Depression-era Texas childhood to his early years as a Nashville songwriter to his eventual rebirth as the weed-loving godfather of outlaw country. Whether he’s recounting the origin story of his famous 4th of July picnics or detailing his infamous tax troubles in the ’90s, Willie spares no detail. Fiercely opinionated but open to every point of view, he shows why he’s the one musician just about everyone loves.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Picking up where he left off in 2012's Roll me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, Nelson shares intimate and entertaining details of his life behind the guitar, the ups and downs of his marriages, his infamous encounter with the IRS, and his deep love of making music. Nelson, a scrappy youngster whose schoolmates nicknamed him Booger Red, was raised by his grandparents and found music everywhere he went, from the songs of field workers picking cotton or baling hay to the sounds of his blacksmith grandfather's anvil. By the time Nelson was eight, he was writing songs and playing guitar, and his decision to be a wandering singer like his hero, Ernest Tubb, was set. Nelson spent his early years as a disc jockey, getting to know the music industry from outside the studio and learning about all styles of music. He shares stories of his close friendships with Ray Price, who advises Nelson to be prudent with his money; Waylon Jennings; and Leon Russell, who helps Nelson put together his Woodstock-style Fourth of July picnic on Nelson's ranch. Nelson offers a warm, friendly, and a deeply reflective glimpse behind the making of most of his albums as well as behind-the-scenes looks at some of his best-known hits, such as "Crazy" and "Yesterday's Wine." Reading Nelson's narrative is like sitting on the front porch chatting with an old friend.
