Crazy: Demo Sessions

When Willie Nelson, driving a beat-up green 1941 Buick with five overdue payments, first came to Nashville from Houston in the spring of 1960, he wasn't exactly met with open arms. The Buick made it as far as downtown Nashville before it belched a puff of smoke and died. After years of paying his dues in the honky-tonks of Fort Worth and Houston, Nelson's singing style was a mix of one part Frank Sinatra, two parts Bob Wills and three parts all Willie. At an early age, he had been impressed by Sinatra's phrasing, and he listened to Sinatra's radio broadcasts at ever opportunity. Growing up in Texas in the 1940's, Willie was exposed to such artists as Hank Williams, Floyd Tillman, Lefty Frizzell and Ernest Tubb. Much of Nelson's early style was patterned after these performers.

Willie had a few contacts in Nashville and soon called country star Billy Walker. Walker first took Willie to Starday Records in hopes of landing a record deal for his friend, but the label passed. Soon, Nelson's wife Martha arrived with the kids, and the family moved into a trailer park. Martha got a job as a waitress while Willie tried to land a job as a singer and songwriter. He began hanging out at the legendary Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, a watering hole located across the alley from the Ryman Auditorium. Songwriters and musicians frequented the place, and some Opry stars were known to slip across the alley for a quick drink between shows. At Tootsie's, Willie met Hank Cochran, another promising young writer. Cochran recognized Willie's songwriting talent and took him to Pamper Music, where Cochran had recently signed a writer's deal. Pamper's owners liked Willie's songs enough to sign him for the standard salary of $50 per week.

Thrilled, Willie quickly got to work, starting a remarkable writing streak. In less than a week he wrote "Hello Walls," "Night Life," "Crazy" and "Opportunity to Cry." After country star Faron Young recorded "Hello Walls," it shot up the charts to #1 and stayed there for nine straight weeks. Willie's very first writer's royalty check was for $20,000, and when it arrived, he drove immediately to Tootsie's, found Faron at the bar, and kissed him square on the mouth. Almost overnight, Willie was part of an elite group of young writers who dominated Nashville in the early 60's. The all-star group consisted of Harlan Howard, Roger Miller, Mel Tillis, Hank Cochran and Willie Nelson.
In 1961, most demos were cut live to two-track stereo tape. Though better equipment was available, not all studios could afford it. "We could cut fifteen, sometimes twenty songs in one session," remembers Willie in a recent interview. "The publisher would make us wait until we had that many songs before we'd be allowed to go into the studio. My demos were always better, I thought, than the records that came out. After all the voices and the strings had been put onto the record, it wasn't anything that I could reproduce live onstage anywhere. It sounded beautiful, but it wasn't me. I wasn't comfortable doing it, and it didn't sell."

Thanks to a lucky discovery in the Sony Music vaults in 1994, over two dozen of these priceless demos have been discovered. The tapes sat on a shelf even after they were discovered in 1994 because they were thought to be poor quality solo demos. Finally, producer Steve Fishell picked 15 of the songs from the reel and prepared them for commercial release. Working closely with Nelson and the staff at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Fishell was amazed at the quality of the demos.

Now, on Feb. 11 on Sugar Hill Records, fans can hear exactly how Willie sounded in the early 1960's. Titled Crazy: The Demo Sessions, the 15 track CD will include three bonus songs added as ghost tracks. The sessions are live, relaxed one-take studio efforts that offer a firsthand look at Nelson's genius at work before Chet Atkins could ruin his songs with a stupid orchestra. Nelson would perfect this sparse sound again in 1975 for his classic Red Headed Stranger album.

Many of the songs found on the Crazy album would be re-recorded by Nelson years later on some of his best albums. Here's a look at what's included on this unique collection. The CD begins with the beautiful "Opportunity To Cry," an extremely rare one-track recording rather than the usual two-track versions recorded during this time period. Even today, it ranks as one of Willie's finest songs. "Three Days" was recorded by Faron Young before Willie released it on his own album titled …And Then I Wrote. He would redo the tune again in 1998 for his acclaimed Teatro album.

"Undo the Right" was written with the help of friend Hank Cochran. This rare song featured Jimmy Day on pedal steel guitar. Willie handled guitar, bass and vocals on this version. Hank Cochran helped write "What Do You Think Of Her Now," a song heard here for the first time. While Willie played bass for Ray Price, they wrote "I've Just Destroyed The World," a song Price would cut in 1962. This demo is the earliest known version of another tune Willie would revive for Teatro in 1998. "Permanently Lonely" features some of Nelson's most unique style of songwriting and this 1961 version is brilliant. He would re-record it again in 1965 with Chet Atkins.
Friend Buddy Emmons had the title for "Are You Sure" and Willie wrote the song. Ray Price would put the song on his Night Life album in 1962. The version of "Darkness On The Face Of The Earth" included here has never been available. Nelson featured reworked versions on Country Willie in 1965 and Teatro in 1998. "Things To Remember" was recorded by Faron Young in 1961 but until now was never on a Nelson album. When Willie started his own label in 1978, he included "A Moment Isn't Very Long" on his Face of a Fighter album.

When Patsy Cline first heard Willie's song "Crazy," it was this demo version, brought to her by mutual friend Hank Cochran. Nelson recorded "The Local Memory" for several albums, but this early version remains the best. "I Gotta Get Drunk" is a concert favorite, but this rare cut shows how strong it was in the studio. "Something To Think About" features Nelson with a full band, including Hargus Robbins on piano. "I'm Still Here" has never been heard in any form until it was included on this album. Three rare ghost tracks, "Save Your Tears," "Half A Man" and "Within Your Crowd" were added to this already full CD to give fans more vintage Nelson to enjoy. As the CD clearly proves, Nelson was years ahead of his time, it just took the world 10 years to catch up.