The one and only Willie Nelson, folks.
The living legend is one of music’s most beloved and iconic characters, and has truly lived a life that goes far and beyond most anything I’ve ever read in any book, fictional or otherwise.
And in the 2000 book Willie: An Autobiography, his close friend and former golf pro and promoter Larry Trader recalled some of the wildest times he experienced with, or heard from Willie, back in the 70’s, when Willie was leading the country outlaw movement alongside his friend Waylon Jennings.
Larry also detailed the time Willie was involved in a plane crash many decades ago in Brackettville, Texas, as Willie was flying into the landing strip near Happy Shahan’s Western town, which was previously used for the Alamo movie set.
Happy was previously an actor, and mayor of Brackettville, and Larry said he was always ready to call in the media for a big story. So when he saw the plane hit a “chug hole” when it was landing, he obviously knew it was Willie’s because it was landing on his property and he called everyone from radio stations, to newspapers and TV crews right away:
“Down at Brackettville one year, Willie was flying in to the landing strip near Happy Shahan’s Western town that they used for the Alamo movie set. Happy is watching the plane coming in, knowing Willie is on it.
The plane hits a big chug hole in the strip and flips over on its side and crashes. Happy likes news and publicity, you know, so the first thing he does is pick up the phone and call the radio stations, the TV, the newspapers.
Happy says, ‘Willie Nelson’s plane just crashed. Y’all better hurry.’ He jumped in a Jeep and drove out to the crash to pick up the remains.”
Doesn’t seem like he was too concerned with Willie’s, or the pilots, safety or well-being, but I digress..
Because Willie gave an all-time answer to the press, as he was seemingly completely unfazed by the incident, telling them that as far as he was concerned, it was “a perfect landing.” He added:
“I walked away from it, didn’t I?”
Touché… what a legend:
“And here comes Willie and his pilot, limping up the road. The media people was arriving by then. They started firing questions at Willie. How did he survive? Was he dying? Was he even hurt? Willie smiles and says, ‘Why, this was a perfect landing. I walked away from it, didn’t I?’
He’s accident prone. This is why you have to be careful around him at all times. I love the man, but you don’t never know when something might fall on him.”
I mean, look at this guy… does this 1974 version of Willie seem like anything at all good get to him? We’re talking about the same man who thought it would be fun to “test” the sense of humor of the IRS.
Long live the legend himself, Willie Nelson.
And I’ll leave you with absolutely incredible performance of Willie and the Family Band at Alliance Wagon Yard in Austin Texas back in 1974:
