Willie Nelson — Live in Austin
Recorded 1975
Alliance Wagon Yard · Austin · 
United States
Featuring Sammi Smith
Setlist
Wrong timestamp?
“To see Willie Nelson and Sammi Smith in an Austin club during the filming of the 1975 Texas TV series.”
Context
In 1975, an Austin bar can also serve as a television studio. The Alliance Wagon Yard hosts Willie Nelson and the Family for a recording tied to the Lone Star Cross Country Music Specials project. After the move to Texas and the records for Atlantic, Nelson finds in the clubs a base for his music.
On stage, Funny How Time Slips Away, Crazy and Night Life form a run of compositions that already carried his signature before this Texas phase. Bobbie Nelson takes the spotlight on Pinetop's Boogie Woogie, and Mickey Raphael is featured on Goin' Fishin'. Sammi Smith joins Willie for three consecutive numbers, among them Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
The footage's destination runs through regional television: in October of that year, the series airs a program with Nelson, Smith and Kenneth Threadgill, sold to fourteen markets. The recording holds this link between clubs and cameras, without relying on the size of a festival. The Austin visit is preserved as a meeting of band, guest and repertoire.
- Bobbie Nelson and Mickey Raphael get numbers of their own among Willie's songs.
Lineup at this show
The lineup of this performance — not necessarily the current one.
- Willie NelsonVocals and acoustic guitar
- Bobbie NelsonPiano
- Mickey RaphaelHarmonica
- Jody PayneGuitar and vocals
- Bee SpearsBass
- Paul EnglishDrums
- Sammi SmithguestVocals
Trivia
Sammi Smith shares three consecutive numbers with Willie Nelson: Will the Circle Be Unbroken, When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder and Last Thing on My Mind.
Bobbie Nelson gets a featured number with Pinetop's Boogie Woogie.
The recording is part of the TV project Lone Star Cross Country Music Specials, filmed in Texas clubs.
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