From the Vault – Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson Turns 90!!
We Celebrate with this Interview from 1997

In 1997, Willie Nelson returned to Vancouver, Washington, to play at the Clark County Fair. Nelson had been a disc jockey at KVAN radio in the mid-fifties (where I was working in 1997), and it had been 40 years since he had been back.

We kept in close touch with his agent and manager to see if we could get an interview with Willie. Nobody could promise anything. So it was an utter and complete surprise one afternoon when the receptionist came to tell me that Willie Nelson was on hold, and he was calling in to do an interview! I had never threaded a reel-to-reel tape so fast!!

We chat about his time as a disc jockey (he clears up the story of his firing), why his music endures, and the challenges of fame coming when you are young, as had happened to Leann Rimes (she was only 14 and had just scored her first big hit at the time of the interview). Plus, we get a health warning about caffeine!

It is an interview that I cherish, for the warmth and connection I felt with Willie, and the laughs we had. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

Click on the player below to hear the chat with Willie and Pam