Nashville Wanted Willie Nelson's Songs. Not His Voice.

Willie Nelson wrote some of the biggest songs in country music, but other singers made them famous. Patsy Cline had Crazy, Faron Young had Hello Walls, Ray Price had Night Life and Roy Orbison had Pretty Paper. In 1960 Nashville wanted Willie's songs. It did not want his voice.

This is the story of ten songs Willie Nelson wrote that became hits for someone else. It starts with Family Bible, which he sold for $50 and which went out without his name on the label. It covers Night Life, sold for $150 and released under a fake name, and the $500 Faron Young refused to take for Hello Walls before Willie paid him back with a prize bull. It also covers the Christmas song written about a Fort Worth street vendor who never knew it existed, and the one song Willie took in return, Whiskey River. The story builds to 1975, when Red Headed Stranger proved Nashville wrong about the voice it had spent fifteen years working around.

Willie Nelson is 93 and still on the road. These are the songs that got him there.

#WillieNelson #CountryMusic #ClassicCountry #PatsyCline #OutlawCountry #CountryMusicHistory #Nashville #FaronYoung #RoyOrbison #WaylonJennings #songwriter

1. Family Bible (song) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Bible_(song)

2. Night Life (Willie Nelson song) - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Life_(Willie_Nelson_song)

3. Who was Claude Gray? - Bear Family
https://www.bear-family.com/gray-claude/

4. Hello Walls - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Walls

5. Faron Young and Hello Walls - American Songwriter
https://americansongwriter.com/65-years-ago-today-faron-young-was-on-a-long-run-at-no-1-with-the-song-that-established-willie-nelson-as-a-hit-songwriter/