This week in Texas music history: Willie Nelson records ‘Shotgun Willie’ and ‘Troublemaker’

In April 1972, Willie Nelson departed Nashville for Austin, returning to the Texas scene that nurtured him. That same year, he left his contract with RCA after meeting Atlantic Records mogul Jerry Wexler at a house party.

Wexler, known for his groundbreaking work with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, was branching out into the sort of progressive country being forged in Austin at the time. He already had a relationship with Doug Sahm and was reaching out to Texans Freda and the Firedogs, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Asleep at the Wheel, and Lou Ann Barton.

Unlike the Nashville majors, Atlantic afforded Nelson the creative autonomy he desired. Wexler encouraged Nelson’s rootsy sound and idiosyncrasies that grated against Nashville norms.

So, in early February 1973, Willie Nelson and his Family Band, along with guests Doug Sahm, Waylon Jennings, and Jessi Colter, traveled to New York City to record not one, but two Nelson albums in quick succession: “Shotgun Willie” and “The Troublemaker.”

The first album recorded was “The Troublemaker,” a gospel compilation recorded in honky-tonk style over the span of just two days. Nelson used his band alongside Doug Sahm’s to add breadth to the album’s sound.

Unfortunately, Atlantic chose not to release it. The label wanted mischievous, countercultural country, but maybe not in the form of gospel that framed Jesus as the original outlaw. It only came out in 1976 after “Red Headed Stranger” had launched Willie into superstardom.

They recorded “Shotgun Willie” later that same week. A combination of originals and covers, including Willie’s definitive version of Johnny Bush’s “Whiskey River,” the album was a statement of Willie’s new image: The raucous rebel and good-timing buddha, poignant songsmith and reluctant leader – a breakthrough album in every sense of the word.

Sources

Joe Nick Patoski. Willie Nelson: An Epic Life. New York: Little, Brown, 2009.

Jan Reid. The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock. Second Edition. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004 [1974]. Austin Powell, “Last of the Breed,” Austin Chronicle, February 6, 2009. Travis Stimeling, “The Creation of ‘Texas Music’: Doug Sahm’s Atlantic Sessions and the Progressive-Country Era,” Journal of Texas Music History, 2012.

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