I heard the rumor, but I just couldn’t believe it. It just couldn’t be true. But there it was, but there was a sliver of doubt in my mind. “Yes, based on past behavior, this could be true.”
And then there it was.
Kenny Chesney Producing Willie Nelson’s Album.
Kenny Chesney! WTF! Willie, in your long and prestigious career you’ve become known as a serial collaborator. Some of these collaborations were brilliant – George Jones, Ray Price, Ray Charles, Kristofferson, Cash and Waylon with the HighwayMen, Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois on the brilliant “Teatro” and recently with Ryan Adams on this years release “Songbird.”
And some were a bust – Don Was on the Reggae disaster “Countryman” and though the duet with Julio Iglesias “To All the Girls I Loved Before” might have sold a lot of records, it is total schmaltz. Ditto Toby Keith, sold a lot – total crap!
Your a living legend in Country music and nothing is ever going to change that, but I don’t get the upside for you in this arrangement. You get introduced to a demo that wouldn’t know a Hank Williams song even if it was covered by Rod Stewart on one of his saccharine “standards” products? You don’t need that kind of exposure. They won’t appreciate you anyway. Your not young, pretty or slick enough and you use drugs openly. The soccer moms that eat up country pop garbage like Chesney are not going to want an old hillbilly hippie around their SUV.
You have something that Chesney and that crowd will never have – you have a legacy. Why not use that legacy to bring other great talent recognition and into the spotlight. Artists that embody the outlaw spirit that ledyou out of Nashville and back to Texas and changed the industry forever and made you an icon.
William Elliot Whitmore, Scott H. Biram , Wayne Hancock could all benefit from sitting at the side of the Texas Yoda. And the last two even live in Austin!
Chesney and all the other Nashville hat-acts are the products of everything you walked away from in Nashville back in the 70’s. You were right to do so. It was the best career move you ever made. Don’t now offer your legendary status to the highest bidder and give undeserved prestige on undeserving and mediocre talent.
Shocking… I wonder who is fitting the bill. That is a double digit million $ paycheck for Willie somehow.
Pat Green toured with Kenny most of last year and I walked out of Pat’s show two weeks ago at Billy Bobs after 20 minutes. Texans needs to stay away from this loser.
yeah well…Pat Green ain’t tuning out much better.