It was a glorious, picture-perfect night for Willie Nelson’s triumphant return to Baylor University. Not that Willie has ever really been away. He may have resettled in Austin, but his roots and heart are still in the blackland prairie soil of Central Texas — nourished in the rich loam of countless honky-tonks and SPJST halls.
Thousands packed the stands and field seating of the Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark on the banks of the Brazos River on Thursday, May 14. The adoring, good-hearted crowd, dressed in the ever-present red bandanas and jeans, accessorized with cowboy boots, buck skin fringe, turquoise chains, and rhinestone-studded shirts, roared their affection with every song.
They came from across Texas to welcome Willie “home.”
As Todd Copeland’s definitive essay on Nelson’s single semester (from March to July 1954) foray at Baylor in the Spring 2001 issue of The Baylor Line reminds us, Willie stayed in Waco just long enough to sing at a few clubs, wander in and out of Ralph Lynn’s class, and play a lot of dominos.
It doesn’t really matter, of course. Willie is the most beloved of all Texas icons, the gnomic elder statesman who personifies an older Texas of myth and memory, and whose songs provide the soundtrack for several generations.
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Nor did it matter that the 93-year-old fought a valiant, the-show-must-go-on battle with fatigue and the chronic emphysema that robbed his haunting cracking tenor of all but the gentlest of tones. He even pitched a couple of songs to his superb band, just to catch his breath.
We loved him just the same.
He sang the hits — from the classic opener “Whiskey River” through “Stay All Night (Stay a Little Longer),” “Bloody Mary Morning,” “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys,” “On the Road Again,” “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground,” “You Were Always on My Mind,” “Good Hearted Woman,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” and others all the way to the closing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” — some half-spoken, some performed as singalongs, and some barely whispered.
There were surprises, as well. The opening, a professionally crafted (and emotionally stirring) video, “Living in the Promised Land,” was instantly memorable, a powerful call for inclusivity, tolerance, and diversity in a fractured time.
Willie conserved his voice throughout the concert and only spoke near the end when he mentioned his short time at Baylor and performed a short ditty either written while in Waco in 1954 or maybe just inspired by his time here at Bethlehem on the Brazos — “Jesus was a Baylor Bear.” The song prompted delighted howls from the packed crowd with its slightly scatological references and a gentle defense of outsiders. Like Willie himself.
Jesus was a Baylor Bear
Jesus wouldn’t cut his hair
His helmet didn’t fit, but he didn’t give a shit
Jesus was a Baylor Bear
Seeing and hearing a decidedly frail Willie, even amid the continued out-pouring of love and applause, it was tempting to hear some of the songs almost as benedictions, as if this might truly be his last tour, his last time in this piece of the “promised land.”
And despite its defiant lyrics, one of the few recent songs in the set, Tom Waits’ “Last Leaf on the Tree,” had a valedictory feel — “I’m the last leaf on the tree/the autumn took the others/but it won’t take me.”
But it is unwise to bet against Willie Nelson. For nearly 80 years, he has defied critics, expectations, and fickle audiences in an industry that routinely crushes its brightest lights and souls.
Besides, he’s vowed to keep touring as long as his beloved and supremely battered Martin acoustic guitar “Trigger” still plays. And Trigger sounded pretty good Thursday night on the Brazos.
