On this day in 1964, Willie Nelson made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry.
Before becoming a successful performer in his own right, Willie was a songwriter and penned a number of songs for Nashville musicians in the early 1960s including the Patsy Cline hit song “Crazy.” But Willie didn’t fit in well with the Nashville Sound that ruled the charts at the time. His languid, behind the beat, sprechgesang style did not generate him any individual chart hits. He relocated to Austin, Texas where he found a home in the burgeoning hippie community of the most liberal city in Texas. There he developed his own unique style combining spare arrangements with folk, rock, and western swing influences.
Willie also was a founding force in the Outlaw Country movement of the early 1970s. In 1975, Willie released the concept album Red Headed Stranger to great critical acclaim and cross-over commercial success. The story of a man on the run after murdering his wife, it was ranked as #1 on CMT’s list of the greatest country albums of all time.
Perhaps the most famous song from the album is Willie’s cover of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.”
Written by Fred Rose and first performed by Roy Acuff in 1945, Willie’s “Crying” hit #1 on the Billboard Country Charts and an impressive #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked “Crying” as the 302nd greatest song of all-time.
Here’s the original Acuff version.
Here’s Hank William Sr. doing “Crying” in 1951 on the Mother’s Best Flour Show.
“Crying” is the last song known to have been sung by Elvis before his death in 1977. Obviously no recording of the event exists, but he had recorded his own version in 1976.
And wrapping it up is Sheryl Crow explaining her love of “Crying.”
