Making Music with His Friends

From childhood, he has admired the straightlaced singing cowboy Gene Autry; he’s also the world’s most famous pot-smoking hippie. In the recently released docuseries Willie Nelson and Family, this might stand as the symbol of a great creative tension in the life of the country music star. Throughout his life, Willie has appreciated traditional country music. But flowing out of his hippie mentality, he also has a compelling drive to do things his own way. That combination was just what country music needed when Willie first emerged.