Never Get High With Willie Again

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South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) headliner Willie Nelson is best known for two things; making and performing some of the land's about enduring music, and weed. Lots and lots of weed. Millions of fans annually flock to his performances to relish both, including other famous marijuana enthusiasts, occasional smokers, and first-time potheads.

After participating in the Dripping Springs Reunion of 1972, Nelson started his own Austin-based music festival the following year. Playfully called "Country Woodstock," Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic quickly became a staple of the Texas music scene. It also provided a public platform for the musician'southward then-unorthodox opinion on marijuana.

Nelson opts for vaporizers instead of joints these days, merely this hasn't dampened his back up of numerous state and nationwide legalization campaigns. Nor has information technology lessened how oft he smokes, gets arrested, and who he smokes with. What follows are some cracking stories from musicians virtually getting high with Willie.

Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion?)

While promoting his collaborative albumHeroes in 2012, Nelson talked to GQ about the recording procedure, a recent holiday he took to Amsterdam, and his good ol' pal Snoop Dogg, who went by the moniker "Snoop Lion" at the fourth dimension. The 2 musicians joined each other in the Netherlands capital for some "coffee:"

GQ: Speaking of Snoop, I hear you lot shared some time together in Amsterdam.

Willie Nelson: Yah. I was in Amsterdam and I got a call from Snoop and he was, I recall, in New York or somewhere and didn't take anything to do. Then he merely flew over and we hung out for a few days.

GQ: I assume you two frequented a few of Amsterdam's famous coffee shops?

Willie Nelson: We had a cup of coffee or 2 [laughs]. We got to be expert buddies.

Both men told the aforementioned story on CNN, along with a little elaboration from Snoop in the to a higher place interview with Piers Morgan.

Dave Matthews

Rolling Stone garnered all sorts of extras for its September 2014 issue defended to Nelson. Ane of the funniest entries came from fellow singer-songwriter Dave Matthews, whose own live testify closely models Willie'south ain (many audience members light upwards, and the stands better resemble the stars.) Of course, Matthews told stories well-nigh getting stoned with his friend:

I remember the first fourth dimension that I met him, the band and I got on his bus and he started rolling joints and passing them around the coach. And at some bespeak, I got this sort of warm dull hum in my caput I retrieve everybody was sharing. Nosotros'd been chattering, and I don't know how many joints had been going around the coach, but he raised his manus and said, "Is everybody high?" And then everyone laughed. It was a great moment.

An even greater moment came when Matthews gave his mother, a longtime fan of Nelson, a photo of Willie with the members of the Dave Matthews Band:

Every fourth dimension I go to visit my mom, who is a huge Willie Nelson fan – every bit much for the person as for his music – at that place's a photograph that we took on the motorcoach and he but looks as bright-eyed as ever, but the rest of united states only look equally if we are and then fucking loftier. But my mom proudly displays this photo of me cross-eyed on Willie's bus.

Similar any practiced parent, Matthews'due south mom overlooked her son'southward poor photographic preferences and kept the photograph up. Then again, considering she's such a Nelson fan, she probably forgot Dave was in the picture.

Toby Keith

Dorsum in 2002, state music superstar Toby Keith released the albumUnleashed. It featured prominent radio hits like "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" and "Who's Your Daddy?" Yet, the album's biggest contribution was "Beer for My Horses," a collaboration Keith did with Nelson.

Around the same time, Keith — who's not much of a smoker — partook in Nelson'due south preferred pre-testify, during, and mail-testify activity while in Las Vegas:

I go over and see Willie, I get up and practise a couple of songs with him, I get ready to go out, and he hollers back phase and says, "Stay later the evidence a little flake. I want to talk to you."

Then I see him out on his bus. Of course everybody knows Willie's a big weed guy. Willie's got some existent chronic, medicinal stuff. I've never smoked much pot in my life. Information technology's not my loftier.

We sit down downwardly and he rolls one up, just me and him. And so when in Rome. Nosotros burned one, and I couldn't fifty-fifty role. It was the most hardcore weed I'd ever smoked, and I only hit information technology three or iv times.

Keith had originally planned to political party with Charles Barkley later on that dark, only Willie's weed knocked him out for the remainder of the evening. The following day, Keith thought to himself, "I'm never, ever smoking with Willie over again."

The experience sparked a song idea, and then Keith and his songwriting partner Scotty Emerick quickly wrote the lyrics and the music to accompany them. "Weed with Willie" was released every bit a bonus runway on Keith's followup toUnleashed,Daze'north Y'all.

Robert Earl Keen

Another country musician shares a similar "Weed and Willie" experience, but his stems from the famous Fourth of July Picnic. Robert Earl Neat, a "Texas Country" vocalist-songwriter best known in and effectually his home state, used to frequent Willie's picnic in its early on days. That'due south when living in the "Willie way" caused his machine to be destroyed by a fire.

Keen has told this story before, only he recently shared it with the host and panelists of NPR'due southWait Wait… Don't Tell Me:

SAGAL: As I was listening to your catalog, I came across this movie on your anthology cover "Picnic." And it'due south two cars and 1 of them, it seems, is on fire. And I found out that was not staged.

KEEN: No, no. I went to a Willie Nelson 2d picnic and my – I was there doing the Willie thing, you know, in the Willie way, every bit we all know. And I over did it and I took a nap in the afternoon. And I woke up to the emcees hollering out names and license plate numbers. And he said, "And the side by side winner is RHP997." And I said, "That'south my machine, human being." And everybody effectually me who was, you know, they hardly any clothes on. They said, "Wow, that'due south awesome." And they were clapping. And so I ran out in that location and there was my car. It was burnt to a crisp.

How did getting loftier at Nelson's picnic pb to an obliterated auto? Turns out, a fellow attendee (who was also "in the Willie mode") took a nap in his own car with the engine on. When someone tapped on his window, he spooked and striking the gas. The sudden exhaust kick sent sparks all over the dry out grass, which caught burn.

Despite the destruction, Peachy was treated by the event staff to a brief coming together with the picnic's headliner:

Somebody from the festival came to me and said, "You know, the least we could do is let y'all meet Willie." So I said, "OK, that's cool." So I went and met Willie and he said, "Pitiful about your car. I got to go jam with Leon Russell. I'll run across you next time."

Keen has since befriended and performed with Nelson numerous times.

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Source: https://uproxx.com/music/willie-nelson-smoking-stories/

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