There are different ways to look at this film. When I first saw it, I was a little indifferent at first, but I really loved the screenplay and the way it was delivered. I laughed my arse off and the ending with Kris ("Blackie") getting the loot from the guys holding up the ticket booth while Willie simultaneously double-crosses the evil record executive was very witty. The first thing you should think about is this: I can't say I've ever heard of a movie with the same plot where a songwriter becomes a producer in order to trick the evil record company producers and negotiate a trade for the contract of a girl performer he signed in order to regain the rights to publishing ownership of his songs which he previously lost because he previously didn't understand the contract he signed. It seems like excerpts from Willlie's personal journal about dealing with the record execs in Nashville who just stole his songs and his money and made him run home to Texas. Does anyone remember how he got sued not too long ago for over 20 million dollars for nearly everything he was worth for bad bookkeeping? Two years ago Austin and Texas mourned the double loss in the same year of two very important people that were in Willie's group for a long time: Stephen Bruton and Poodie Locke, both of whom are in this film. As a film it is pretty funny and the original music from Kris Kristofferson (he is not too an bad actor himself) got nominated for an Oscar. Rip Torn's character is really funny. The story is brilliant. Directing could have been better, but this is a really great movie.
Bobbie Nelson is Willie's sister and a very important member of the band, the piano player. How many TV ads have you seen that featured the unforgettable keyboard playing of Booker T. Jones on the Booker T. and the MGs' song 'Green Onions'? Probably dozens. This movie also has Mickey Raphael in it. In my mind, Mickey Raphael is one of the greatest country blues harmonica players ever. Did you ever just love the harmonica from the last 30 years of Willie Nelson? That was him. I'll have to watch again and look close to see if the part played by "Steve Fromholz" - 'Engineer' is THE Stephen Fromholz, Texas Poet Laureate and close friend to both Willie Nelson and Stephen Stills. Johnny Gimble is the - "fiddle player"!!! Johnny Gimble should be a household name (and he is in Texas -where I come from), but in case you didn't know, he started playing with Bob Wills band 'The Texas Playboys' in the late 1940s. Though he is not the only godfather of Texas fiddle music, he is definitely the most renowned of them all. He is credited with defining the fiddling of Western Swing music, which has its' foundation in Texas and Bob Wills. You might as well just call it Texas fiddle music, which is as different than the violin music of Europe as night and day. Texas fiddlers are renowned across the planet for versatility far surpassing any violinist. Some of you might not like fiddles I understand, but appreciation for the roots of American music is nice.
Bobbie Nelson is Willie's sister and a very important member of the band, the piano player. How many TV ads have you seen that featured the unforgettable keyboard playing of Booker T. Jones on the Booker T. and the MGs' song 'Green Onions'? Probably dozens. This movie also has Mickey Raphael in it. In my mind, Mickey Raphael is one of the greatest country blues harmonica players ever. Did you ever just love the harmonica from the last 30 years of Willie Nelson? That was him. I'll have to watch again and look close to see if the part played by "Steve Fromholz" - 'Engineer' is THE Stephen Fromholz, Texas Poet Laureate and close friend to both Willie Nelson and Stephen Stills. Johnny Gimble is the - "fiddle player"!!! Johnny Gimble should be a household name (and he is in Texas -where I come from), but in case you didn't know, he started playing with Bob Wills band 'The Texas Playboys' in the late 1940s. Though he is not the only godfather of Texas fiddle music, he is definitely the most renowned of them all. He is credited with defining the fiddling of Western Swing music, which has its' foundation in Texas and Bob Wills. You might as well just call it Texas fiddle music, which is as different than the violin music of Europe as night and day. Texas fiddlers are renowned across the planet for versatility far surpassing any violinist. Some of you might not like fiddles I understand, but appreciation for the roots of American music is nice.