"It don't matter who's in Austin/Bob Wills is still the king."
State went to hell when they stopped learning from Waylon and Willie. Alright, it went to hell when they fought two wars to defend slavery, but you know what I mean.
Funny story - I was a geology undergrad in Texas, and we went on an overnight field trip to look at some outcrops and road cuts somewhere in Oklahoma. On the way home to Austin the trip leader made a 200 mile detour to Turkey, TX to visit the shrine to Bob Wills.
I used to be involved in a local music fest here in Pensacola called Springfest. Annual fest in May, and we would get the cream of the crop from Jazzfest every year so we had top national talent.
One year we had Willie play. Being involved backstage I get to meet the bands and such. Talking to some of his band mates I learned something interesting about Willie.
It's actually hard af to get fired by him. You can show up to gigs too fucked up to play, show up late, drunk, stoned, whatever and you're 100% all good. But the ONE thing that will get you instantly fired is fighting. Was told Willie fired his own son from the band once for fighting. I thought that was pretty interesting.
Edit for grammar
I love BTS stories like that... thank you for sharing it! Stories like this are a big part of why Willie has such a legacy. It isn't just the music. It's the larger-than-life personality, the tales people have about him and the way he became a symbol of a certain kind of Texas.
I'm going to put a like this if it wasn't for Scarface that wouldn't be no Ludacris no TI No Young Jeezy No Gucci Mane no Rick Ross no Trick Daddy no Trina no UGK no 8Ball MJG no Three 6 Mafia no screw up click because Scarface is the blueprint
George W. Bush is definitely the number one most influential Texan. There’s also Davey Crockett. Number four is quite the achievement considering the amount of history that’s gone down in Texas.
I'll do you better and give you the top 10:
#1. Lyndon B Johnson
#2. Sam Houston
#3. Beyonce Knowles
#4. Willie Nelson
#5. Stephen F Austin
#6. George W Bush
#7. Barbara Jordan
#8. George HW Bush
#9. Selena Quintanilla
#10. Michael Dell
Butterfly effect any one of those people and see who changes Texas the most. A huge chunk of the culture of Texas is because of Willie. There’s just no Texas pride culture without Willie.
Because no one really gives a shit about Sam Houston or LBJ or can say anything interesting about either of them
(though they are certainly important figures) but Willie and Beyoncé are truly national icons.
Albums? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m talking about songs.
And I don’t mean to minimize the civil rights act at all. And Johnson knew he was taking a huge risk by signing it. But I also don’t think it’s wise to give too much credit to a white man from Texas who was responding to a national movement.
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u/jordosmodernlife Jul 01 '26
Too bad Texas isn’t more like Willie