"Here I come, baby/Comin' to get you . . ."
Willie Nelson, 77, was arrested on Friday in Sierra Blanca, Texas for possession after a search of his tour bus at a checkpoint turned up 6 ounces of marijuana. Nelson, who claimed the marijuana was his, and two others (or three, depending on your source) were charged and released after posting a $2,500 bond. Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West told the El Paso Times that Nelson could possibly get 180 days in the county jail if convicted.
In an exclusive to CelebStoner.com on Sunday, the legendary country singer advocated for a new political movement. "There's the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party? Our motto: We lean a little to the left. Tax it, regulate it, and legalize it. And stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved." There's now a Teapot Party Facebook Page, which has already garnered over 4,000 fans as of this posting.
I've never toked in my life, so I don't really have an argument pro or con on this subject. All I will say is that it must have been an awfully slow day in that corner of Texas. I totally understand the principle of no one being above the law, but his predilection for marijuana has got to be one of the worst-kept secrets in the music business. And, too, as a friend of mine put it - who would have wanted to be the one to put the handcuffs on Willie Nelson?
"All the Federales say/They could've had him anyday/They only let him slip away/Out of kindness, I suppose . . ."
Update: Earlier today, the Huffington Post published Nelson's mugshot from his arrest. I will not post the photo here, as I find that sort of thing rather tacky. Instead, I will share these photos that I took during his recent concert at the House of Blues in New Orleans. Though I've been listening to him all my life, it's my only time to see him live so far, and it was certainly a night to remember.
After the concert was over, he did something I've never seen a performer of his stature do - he walked up and down the front of the stage, signing autographs and shaking hands. I count myself lucky to have gotten both my ticket signed (thanks in part to the young lady who was standing right in front of me) and a handshake. As he stretched his hand down to me, he realized that he couldn't quite reach me. Instead of giving up, he stepped up onto the very lip of the stage and leaned down until he could grasp my hand. A small thing, perhaps, but it touched me (no pun intended) to see him make that extra effort to connect with a fan. To me, it says volumes about who he is, and I'm glad that I had the chance to both witness and experience his generosity and spirit.
"Nothing was delivered/And I tell this truth to you . . ." If you want to arrest someone, arrest the asshole who walked into an Amherst, Massachusetts pizzeria after Bob Dylan's Nov. 19 UMass/Amherst concert, claimed to be a member of Dylan's entourage (as the security video shows, he was wearing some sort of tour credentials), ordered $3,900 worth of pizzas supposedly for Dylan and crew - and then never picked up the order. The owner was stuck with 178 pizzas he couldn't sell, and gave some of them away to homeless shelters while trashing the rest.
As someone who spent several years working in the foodservice industry, I understand the hurt this put on that establishment, especially in these uncertain economic times (to say nothing of using Dylan's name to legitimize this stupid prank). Granted, the manager admits that they didn't get a deposit on the order, which they absolutely should have done for one that expensive. The largest pizza order I ever delivered was for 40 pies, and they were paid for by credit card in advance. But they trusted the person who was wearing the authentic-looking passes, and what restaurant wouldn't be excited at the prospect of delivering food to Bob Dylan? I don't know what, if any, recourse there may be for the pizzeria, as nothing was actually stolen from them. But I DO know my sympathy is NOT with the prankster.
"Nothing was delivered/But I can't say I sympathize/With what your fate is going to be/Yes, for telling all those lies . . ."
"Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff . . ." Or not. In other Dylan news, his name has now been added to the popular download site Dime-A-Dozen's "Not Allowed Artists and Bands" list. According to a posting on one of Dime's forums, "an increasing archive of boot and official (concert) recordings shall soon be available on BobDylan.com."
They did this once before; there used to be a page on the old website that had quite a few live and archival recordings of songs hosted on it. I wonder if they will do that again, or offer some sort of free or subscription service for live performances, either to watch/listen to after the fact or in progress, similar to the Allman Brothers' Moogis site. Besides this old webpage - and, of course, the Bootleg Series - Sony/Columbia has made various live cuts available over the years on promo discs, to the point that I find it hard to believe that Dylan doesn't have every one of his concerts recorded. And too, every "official" release has sounded vastly superior to any fan-produced bootleg recording I've heard. I know a lot of fans will be disappointed at not being able to find "their" show online for free anymore, but I look forward to seeing what Sony/Columbia has to offer. If it allows us more live gems of this quality, I'll be happy:
While you're at it, darlings, how about an official, uncut version of Renaldo and Clara, pretty please?
"We always did feel the same/We just saw it from a different point of view/Tangled up in blue . . ."
Something that bobdylan.com IS now encouraging is for fans to "Review the Reviews" of recent Dylan concerts. I wish they'd post the one from NPR that I wrote about last week - now THAT would give the fans something to talk about! Heh heh heh . . .
"Disillusioned words like bullets bark/As human gods aim for their mark . . ."
Robert Plant is scheduled to appear as the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Dec. 9, according to hennemusic.com. He was also recently the subject of the BBC Two profile Robert Plant: By Myself, in which he discusses his life and career. It's no longer available on the BBC's website, but if you wish you may view it here.
It was announced last Thursday during the New Orleans Saints/Dallas Cowboys game that the Black Eyed Peas will perform during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show. To everyone who bitched about The Who this past year - I hope you're happy.
And just for that . . .
"But I know that the hypnotized never lie/Do ya?!"
Finally, if you missed the acclaimed new documentary LENNONYC on PBS this past week, you can now watch it online in its entirety.
Watch the full episode. See more American Masters.
No comments:
Post a Comment