Born during the Great Depression and raised by his grandparents, Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten. During high school, he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player. After graduating from high school in 1950, he joined the U.S. Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems. After his return, Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music. During this time, he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky-tonks. Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he wrote "Family Bible" and recorded the song "Lumberjack" in 1956. He also worked as a disc jockey at various radio stations in Vancouver and nearby Portland, Oregon. In 1958, he moved to Houston, Texas, after signing a contract with D Records. He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey. During that time, he wrote songs that would become country standards, including "Funny How Time Slips Away", "Hello Walls", "Pretty Paper", and "Crazy". In 1960 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and later signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price's band as a bassist. In 1962, he recorded his first album, ...And Then I Wrote. Due to this success, Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year. After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin, Texas. The ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement, performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters.
In 1973, after signing with Atlantic Records, Nelson turned to outlaw country, including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages. In 1975, he switched to Columbia Records, where he recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger. The same year, he recorded another outlaw country album, Wanted! The Outlaws, along with Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, and Tompall Glaser. During the mid-1980s, while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like "On the Road Again", "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", and "Pancho and Lefty", he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen, along with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson.
In 1990, Nelson's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service, which claimed that he owed $32 million. The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s. In 1992, Nelson released The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?; the profits of the double album—destined to the IRS—and the auction of Nelson's assets cleared his debt. During the 1990s and 2000s, Nelson continued touring extensively, and released albums every year. Reviews ranged from positive to mixed. He explored genres such as reggae, blues, jazz, and folk.
Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman, followed by other appearances in movies and on television. Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which is in favor of marijuana legalization. On the environmental front, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the advisory board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas.
Nelson uses a variety of music styles to create his own distinctive blend of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk. His "unique sound", which uses a "relaxed, behind-the-beat singing style and gut-string guitar" and his "nasal voice and jazzy, off-center phrasing", has been responsible for his wide appeal, and has made him a "vital icon in country music", influencing the "new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s".
In 1969, the Baldwin company gave Nelson an amplifier and guitar with their "Prismatone" pickup. During a show in Helotes, Texas, Nelson left the guitar on the floor of the stage, and it was later stepped on by a drunk man. He sent it to be repaired in Nashville by Shot Jackson, who told Nelson that the damage was too great. Jackson offered him a Martin N-20 Classical guitar, and, at Nelson's request, moved the pickup to the Martin. Nelson purchased the guitar unseen for $750 and named it after Roy Rogers' horse "Trigger". The next year Nelson rescued the guitar from his burning ranch.
Constant strumming with a guitar pick over the decades has worn a large sweeping hole into the guitar's body near the sound hole—the N-20 has no pick-guard since classical guitars are meant to be played fingerstyle instead of with picks. Its soundboard has been signed by over a hundred of Nelson's friends and associates, ranging from fellow musicians to lawyers and football coaches. The first signature on the guitar was Leon Russell's, who asked Nelson initially to sign his guitar. When Nelson was about to sign it with a marker, Russell requested him to scratch it instead, explaining that the guitar would be more valuable in the future. Interested in the concept, Nelson requested Russell to also sign his guitar. In 1991, during his process with the IRS, Nelson was worried that Trigger could be auctioned off, stating: "When Trigger goes, I'll quit". He asked his daughter, Lana, to take the guitar from the studio before any IRS agent arrived there, and then deliver it to him in Maui. Nelson then concealed the guitar in his manager's house until his debt was paid off in 1993.
Nelson is widely recognized as an American icon. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998. In 2011, Nelson was inducted to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, for his labor in Farm Aid and other fund raisers to benefit farmers. In 2015 Nelson won the Gershwin Prize, the lifetime award of the Library of Congress. In 2018 The Texas Institute of Letters inducted him among its members for his songwriting. He was included by Rolling Stone on its 100 Greatest Singers and 100 Greatest Guitarists lists.
In The Jailhouse Now
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He's in the jailhouse now, he's in the jailhouse now
I told him once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice
He's in the jailhouse now
Well, I had a friend named Rambling Bob
Who used to steal gamble and rob
Thought he was the smartest guy in town
But I found out last Monday that Bob got locked up Sunday
He's in the jailhouse now, he's in the jailhouse now
He's in the jailhouse now, he's in the jailhouse now
I told him once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice
He's in the jailhouse now
Well, I went out last Tuesday, phone-up little-nosed Suzie
I told her I was the swellest man in town
She started to call me honey she started to spend my money
And we took in every honky-tonk in town
We're in the jailhouse now, we're in the jailhouse now
We're in the jailhouse now, we're in the jailhouse now
They told us once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice
We're in the jailhouse now, we're in the jailhouse now
The song "In The Jailhouse Now" is a classic country tune with lyrics about trouble with the law. The chorus "He's in the jailhouse now, he's in the jailhouse now" sets the tone as the singer tells the story of his friend Rambling Bob who was always up to no good; stealing, gambling and robbing. Bob thought he was the smartest guy in town, but he ends up in jail. The singer also finds himself in jail with his girlfriend Suzie, after spending all their money at the honky-tonks in town. The repeated line "I told him once or twice to quit playing cards and shootin' dice, he's in the jailhouse now" illustrates that the characters in the song were warned about their behavior.
The song is a cautionary tale about the consequences of bad decisions and the inevitability of getting caught. The upbeat melody and catchy chorus mask the seriousness of the lyrics and make it a favorite among country music fans. The song speaks to the universal theme of wanting to have fun and take risks, but ultimately having to face the consequences of those actions.
Line by Line Meaning
He's in the jailhouse now, he's in the jailhouse now
He is currently incarcerated
I told him once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice
I warned him multiple times to stop gambling
Well, I had a friend named Rambling Bob
I used to know a guy named Rambling Bob
Who used to steal gamble and rob
Bob was a thief and gambler
Thought he was the smartest guy in town
He believed he was the cleverest person around
But I found out last Monday that Bob got locked up Sunday
However, I discovered on Monday that Bob was arrested on Sunday
They got him in the jailhouse way downtown
He was taken to the prison situated far from the city's center
Well, I went out last Tuesday, phone-up little-nosed Suzie
On Tuesday, I called Suzie
I told her I was the swellest man in town
I boasted to her about being the most impressive guy in the city
She started to call me honey she started to spend my money
She began calling me affectionate names and took all of my money
And we took in every honky-tonk in town
We visited each and every bar in town
We're in the jailhouse now, we're in the jailhouse now
We are both currently in prison
They told us once or twice to quit playin' cards and shootin' dice
We were warned to stop gambling, just like Bob
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JIMMIE RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind