If you know Uncle Larry at all you know that I am a big fan of Willie. I know and love the lyrics and melody to every song Willie recorded. Many of our favorite entertainment memories have been Willie concerts. Some time I’ll do a post on the time Marty, Jim and Judy Merola and I saw Willie in Chicago with “lawn seating.” We were late but lo and behold in the middle, front and center was an opening for our group of four. It was in the midst of a Hell’s Angels Club where no one dared to tread. We stopped and got refreshments for sixteen and we were safe as in our Mother’s womb. But that’s a story for another time.

Take a break from this post and the crazy ramblings of Uncle Larry and enjoy this video of Willie in 1965. If you only know Willie now you may be surprised at how the looked, sang and acted then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=W1bXdXWEKaE

That Willie Nelson seems like a totally different person from the one we know and some of us love today.

My question to you is this: What role, if any, did Willie’s discovery of MJ have on his career and development as an artist? If you happen to be opposed to the legalization of marijuana – MJ – Pot – Weed – Square Grouper or what ever name your generation put on it you may want to ask yourself how did the country bumpkin in this video turn into the Willie who sold millions of albums and sold out thousands of venues?

As Toby Keith sang – “I’ll never smoke pot with Willie again.” Willie was born with a gift for song writing. Some will say that the strange weed freed Willie from some of life’s restraints – which may not be all good – and reinvented him as a lone troubadour and interpreter of his own music.

I was born in 1945 and lived in the “sixties.” I spent a year in Vietnam where you could trade a can of Pepsi for a full bag of locally grown weed but unlike President Clinton I didn’t light it, inhale it or smoke it. I can’t really tell you why – maybe it was the role of my rank as Platoon Leader but somehow it just never seemed like the responsible thing to do – for me anyway.

Personally I am a fan of the “post pot” Willie but that’s just one person’s opinion and what, if anything does it have to do with your feelings about what should be our National drug policy as it relates to Mary Jane.

Uncle Larry