By Billy Bucher
I’ve had the honor of meeting or interviewing a great number of famous people in my life. But the one I enjoyed meeting most was Willie Nelson. And actually, when I met him in 1973, he wasn’t all that famous. At that point he’d returned to Austin from Nashville and though he was well known in Texas, having written “Hello Walls” and “Crazy” which Patsy Cline made famous, he didn’t have the national or international recognition which he has today.
But there was already a quiet mystique which proceeded him. The fact that we knew that Willie was going to put out a song on the Kerrville Folk Festival recording showed that, as yet, he wasn’t the established artist he would become. That’s where I met him. My band, The Ewing Street Times, put a song on that recording, too.
Ewing Street played right before Willie and I remember looking over at him while the group was playing a Shake Russell song called “Deep in the West.” The expression on his face was intense. He was paying attention to us!
Then it was his turn to perform and he was joined on stage by a number of musicians, including Paul “The Devil” English on drums, Mickey Raphael on harmonica and Willie’s sister, Bobbie, on the piano. It was certainly a treat to watch them perform.
After the show, the stage manager invited all of us in the band to a party at Coach Darrell Royal’s Kerrville Ranch for a night of jamming, barbeque and long neck beer. Now that’s an offer no one could refuse. We made a caravan and followed someone to the ranch where the party was already in full swing. Of course, there were some really beautiful woman there and everyone was taking turns jamming with different people, but most of the time Darrell and Willie were just sitting on the couch and telling each other stories. Every so often Willie would get up and walk over to the guitars and pick his up and play a couple of tunes before sitting back down with Coach Royal again. They seemed an unlikely pair, but by the way they addressed each other you could tell the bond between them was genuine and filled with a lot of mutual respect.
Interestingly, Willie would usually jam with harmonica player Mickey Raphael. We knew Mickey because he hung out with the band at the place on the lake where we rehearsed. He was playing with another group at the Kerrville, but soon he went on the road with Willie, and is still traveling with him to this day.
At the party, Ewing Street was asked to play at the first annual Willie Nelson Picnic. We had all been to the Dripping Springs Reunion the year before so that made the invitation doubly sweet. The first picnic would be at College Station and it was comparable to the “Hotter Than Hell” bicycle ride in Lubbock in August.
The party went on all night and about five in the morning we headed home. There were six of us in the car and I was driving. The motel we were staying at was outside of Kerrville and, although I wasn’t speeding, all of a sudden I realized there were flashing lights behind me. I wasn’t at all pleased with this fact. I wouldn’t say we were drunk, but I’m not sure we were totally sober, either. Even though I’d always been told to stay in the car, this time I decided to get out. Our guitar player, Michael, did too.
“Y’all are out pretty late,” came the gruff voice of the officer. He was holding his ticket book in his hand. He studied us with a scowl on his face.
I decided to let the truth speak for itself and I said, “Yes, we played for the Kerrville Folk Festival and after that Coach Darrell Royal invited Willie Nelson and some of the bands who had played over to his ranch for a jam.”
The demeanor of the officer suddenly changed.
“Are you telling me that you know Coach Royal and Willie?”
“That’s who we’ve been jamming with.”
“Well, I’ll be. If that don’t beat all. Is Willie just as nice as he is supposed to be?” he asked.
“He is.”
“And does Coach Royal have a nice ranch?”
“That he does.”
As he put the note pad back into his rear pocket, he asked where we were headed. I told him it was an old motel down the road we were on.
“Oh, I know where that is,” he exclaimed. “Well, you all have a safe drive and have a good night.”
He headed back to the car shaking his head and I think maybe this was the only time in history mentioning Willie’s name to the law kept somebody out of trouble.
I sure was proud to have that distinction.