Nelson rocks Honolulu with rare performance

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Can't get enough of Willie Nelson? There will be plenty of him to go around: He will headline an all-star concert in May, stage another "Farm Aid" concert (perhaps in September) and appear in the movie "The Big Bounce," which filmed on O'ahu. Gannett News Service Willie Nelson & Family 7:30 p.m. Saturday Waikiki Shell Reserved seats, $25, $35, $45; general admission, $22.50 ($18.50 in advance) 526-4400, 591-2211 Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with barbeque rib dinner plate ($7.50) and music by the Down Boys Blue Grass Band and the Backyard All Stars, featuring Dita Holifield, country fiddler Kevin Craven, Jan Brenner, Ginai, Lopaka Colön, Ells and John Basebase.

Yet the "r" word — retirement — occasionally slips into his vocabulary.

"I think about it every time I tour," said Nelson, who contemplates but clearly is not ready for the moth balls. "After you're out a month, you start thinking, what the hell, 'Why not go to Maui to relax?' "

Last week he was doing just that, taking a breather at his Spreckelsville home on the Valley Island. It was a mini vacation on the eve of yet another tour launch.

Yep, Nelson goes "on the road again," to quote one of his hit songs, with a rare and much-anticipated — and overdue — Honolulu concert Saturday at the Waikiki Shell. On Sunday, Nelson performs at a private function for Texas Roadshow Restaurants.

"I see no reason to quit now," he said. And that's happy news for his fans.

Nelson was on the other end of the telephone, relaxed and chatty, extremely happy to be here, mixing a round of golf with lazing in the sun.

The Hawai'i gig is the first of a new wave of one-nighters in a milestone year that will put him smack dab in the Broadway mainstream. That's when he headlines an as-yet-unannounced May shindig that will involve a coterie of names, from Norah Jones to Ray Charles to Shania Twain, and featuring the Paul Schafer Band. A live CD will result.

He's also vying for four Grammy Awards this month but won't be there, by choice, because he'll be touring. Nelson said he abhors awards show and the accompanying hype and competition. "Fortunately, I work that evening, so I don't have to sit with four others hoping to win one award. You always get one winner and four losers. I like to think we're all winners."

One of the most prolific, popular, influential and revered singer-composers in American music, Nelson is never out of season. His songs are seldom out of vogue. His nasal voice and trademark pigtails are readily identifiable. His name and image often pop up when least expected.

Take the recent Super Bowl. He was a main card in a televised commercial, bandanna on his head, braids framing his face, face lathered as if he were to lose his whiskers. He was working as pitchman for an H&R Block spot he taped some months ago in New York, which poked fun at his own troubles with the IRS and taxes.

"Many years ago, when I had that tax thing with IRS (he had to cough up $16.7 million to the IRS after a botched investment scheme), I was talking about an accountant who steered me wrong and told someone in an interview that the next time I file, I should call H&R Block. Well, last year, H&R called me and asked if I were interested in doing (the commercial). So I asked, 'Lemme see what you have in mind,' and I thought it was a funny concept, so I said OK. They lathered me up, but oh, no, the beard stayed. It was just lather."

Movie-makers periodically seek him out for roles big and small. In "The Big Bounce," the Shangri-La Entertainment/Warner Bros. feature starring Owen Wilson filmed last winter and completed in early January on the North Shore, Nelson was tapped for a part. "I play a prosecuting attorney, and had only three days of work. It was fun. I had some scenes with Morgan Freeman and Harry Dean Stanton. I know Kris (Kristofferson, a Hana resident and his friend) also had a part, but we never worked together in the film."

Nelson figures he's been lucky with his music, performing what he likes, singing thoughts that mean something, earning audience support along the way. "I know we'll play a lot of different kinds of music, a lot of pop, blues, country, a little bit of everything," he said of his song roster. "And there will be some things from 'The Great Divide,' " his Grammy-nominated disc.

"It seems to me, people basically like the same things as I do. Once you find out what they like, and if it's not too far from what you like, you're in business. Simply, I like to play what people want to hear. I got into that habit years ago, when I was growing up, playing for dances."

He has no format for composing and while it's often que sera sera when it comes to inspiration, his creative wells have never dried up. "Most of the time, I come up with an idea, a line; or somebody would say something and get the thought process going. Maui means vacation time, though, and I seldom write when I'm here; writing is work for me," he said.

As a counterpoint, work is happiness for the Texas native, even with some downs (pot arrests) with the ups (lots of awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, a Living Legends Award in 1989).

He's a guitar-strumming perfectionist, whose philosophy is to keep busy. His Web site includes a Bob Dylan lyric that links to Nelson: "He who is not busy being born is busy dying." In that respect, Nelson keeps busy in rebirth, mixing a solo career with one with the Highwaymen, a conglomerate that unites him with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kristofferson. And he surfs the musical seas, leaving his country roots and traipsing into uncommon territory for an artist of his reputation: blues, reggae, even gospel. Indeed, he can give a full Nelson twist to anything he desires to take on.

Consequently, Nelson has had a lion's share of hit songs, mostly on the country and pop charts, and sometimes in unusual company. His signatures range from "Crazy," which helped put Patsy Cline on the radar, to "On the Road Again," his hit from "Honeysuckle Rose," in which he co-starred. He's ventured into revivals, garnering pop accolades with "Let It Be Me" and "Star Dust." "You Are Always on My Mind" and "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" are typical of his earnest and simple country style, and "Good Hearted Woman," a duet with Jennings, is one of his many collaborations.

Then there's "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," with Julio Iglesias, which proves Nelson can seek out and steer a hit when he has the inclination.

As he tells the story: "I was in London, listening to the radio one night at 3 a.m., and I heard somebody named Julio. I never heard of him, but I liked what I heard, and I had my manager call his. Well, it was unknown to me that he had sold millions of records, and word got back to me that he'd love to do something together and he already had 'To All the Girls' lined up. The tracks were brought to my studio in Texas, and I put my vocals on. Julio was learning English at the time; he wanted to be so good. I thought it turned out great."

A musical giant with simple tastes, Nelson said he fell in love with Maui the first time he visited, some years back. "My manager and I decided to buy property, so we bought a couple of houses, but wound up selling one," he said. "I finally bought him out, to have this place in Spreckelsville. If you blink, you miss it," he said of his place in the sun between Kahului and Pa'ia.

His name also is associated with Whiskey River Bourbon, a partnership with Maui resident and veteran entertainment-biz mogul Shep Gordon. "When I drink, that's what I drink," he said. The Top Shelf Bourbon now is available in Hawai'i, and the label is sponsoring his tour.

Nelson has been a career do-gooder, always willingly committing to helping others, whether it's singing "America the Beautiful" for victims of 9/11 or giving a boost to his country people.

He's aiming to spearhead another "Farm Aid" concert, perhaps in September, to arouse awareness of the plight of farmers. "The situation is just as bad, if not worse than before, and we're still losing farmers. Our administration sucks, but it's doing a pretty good job helping corporations, but not the small business farms."

And no, Nelson has not yet filed his 2002 income taxes, but will, to stay out of trouble. "I always like to put it off till the last minute," he said.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.

The skinny on Willie

• Full name: Willie Hugh Nelson
• Birth date: April 30, 1933
• Birthplace: Fort Worth, Texas; raised in Abbott
• First guitar: Age 6
• First musical instruction: Mail-order courses
• First group: John Raycjeck's Bohemian Polka Band, when he was 10
• Early jobs: Selling encyclopedia, deejaying
• First recording: "No Place for Me," self-recorded in 1956
• Early chums: Hank Cochran, Mel Tillis, Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson
• Moved to Nashville: 1960
• First No. 1 hits: "Crazy," by Patsy Cline; "Hello Walls," by Faron Young, both in 1961
• Grand Ol' Opry debut: Nov. 28, 1964
• Moved to Texas: 1970
• Breakthrough album: "Shotgun Willie" (Atlantic), 1973
• Breakthrough hit: "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," from his "Red Headed Stranger" album, 1975
• Good deeds: Periodic "Farm Aid" concerts, launched in 1985 to bring attention to the plight of American farmers
• Little-known fact: Willie played bass for Ray Price.