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.
Mr. Record Man
Willie Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There was someone blue singing 'bout someone who went away
Just like me, his heart was yearning for a love that used to be
It's a lonely song about a lonely man
Like me
There was something about a love that didn't treat him right
And he'd wake from troubled sleep and cry her name at night
It's a lonely song about a lonely man
Like me
I was driving down the highway with the radio turned on
And the man that I heard singing sound so blue and all alone
As I listen to his lonely song, I wonder could it be?
Could there somewhere be another lonely man?
Like me
There was something about a love that didn't treat him right
And he'd wake from troubled sleep and cry her name at night
Mr. Record Man, get this record for me, won't you please?
It's a lonely song about a lonely man
Like me
In Willie Nelson's "Mr. Record Man," the singer is looking for a song that he heard on the radio that really resonated with him. He describes the song as being about a man who has lost love and is feeling the intense loneliness that comes with heartbreak. The singer identifies strongly with this lonely man, recognizing that they are kindred spirits in their struggles with love and loss.
The lyrics of "Mr. Record Man" convey a deep sense of empathy and understanding between the singer and the lonely man in the song. Both are searching for something to ease the pain of their heartache, and both turn to music to find solace. The singer's request for the record is not just a simple request for a song – it is a plea for connection and understanding across distance and time.
Overall, "Mr. Record Man" is a beautiful meditation on the power of music to transcend feelings of isolation and bring people together across divides of heart and circumstance.
Line by Line Meaning
Mr. Record Man, I'm looking for a song I heard today
I am searching for a song I heard today and need your help finding it, Mr. Record Man.
There was someone blue singing 'bout someone who went away
The song I heard was about someone who is feeling down and singing about a person who left them behind.
Just like me, his heart was yearning for a love that used to be
Like the singer of the song, I too am longing for a love that is no longer there.
It's a lonely song about a lonely man
The song I heard is about a man who is feeling alone and blue, just like me.
There was something about a love that didn't treat him right
The song talks about a love that didn't treat the singer well, causing them pain.
And he'd wake from troubled sleep and cry her name at night
The singer of the song would wake up from bad dreams, calling out the name of the person who hurt him.
Mr. Record Man, get this record for me, won't you please?
Please get me this record so I can listen to it again and feel the emotions that the singer of the song felt.
I was driving down the highway with the radio turned on
I was in my car driving and listening to the radio when I heard the song.
And the man that I heard singing sound so blue and all alone
The singer of the song sounded sad and lonely, making me feel a connection to him.
As I listen to his lonely song, I wonder could it be?
I wonder if there could be someone else out there feeling the same emotions and loneliness that I am.
Could there somewhere be another lonely man?
Is it possible that somewhere out there, there is another man feeling as lonely as I am?
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ed Netherton
For the ones of who grew up listening to Willie, this music is just sweet to hear. No doubt an Icon in American Music history.
J. B. Hogan
This is absolutely one of Willie's greatest records. Every song is outstanding.
ANNA MERRELL
I love this one also. Keep on singing, Willie!
Toots C
I got this record in my Dad's collection when he passed away. What a classic, the song & my Dad.
T4TEXASTOM JOHNNYCAT
In the 1960s, my family & I raced horses & went rodeos all over East & Central Texas. This song by Willie AND the other songs on this LP plus many other Willie songs were ALWAYS blaring over the rodeo & horsetrack speakers. What a great writer & absolute splendid guitarist he is.
Jeff Mikulin
My dad played this song. He was a guitar player. This is my favorite Willie song.
John Pinney
What a song... Reminds me of one of my first hunts with my dad, grandpa mike, uncle neil and uncle brian. We listened to this whole album basically on repeat all weekend. Shooting dove drinking beer and listeing to some good old outlaw old school country
tim h
THe is one of Willie's greatest albums even if he didnt like the production in nasheville. he rises above any flaws or corporate nonsense!Hope he lives forever.
Ronald Montano
THANK YOU WILLIE FOR OVER 60 YEARS
Jewel Dotson
Heard this many mornings while driving to work back when it first came out, loved it love it all these many years later, Willie is the greatest