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Details
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (November 13, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0062193643 ISBN-13: 978-0062193643 Read More Think of the oddest musical pairing and see if you can top Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis. Jazz + Country? Somehow they got together and released Two Men with the Blues in 2008.....
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Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road is the new book from Willie Nelson. The book comes out this week (November 13th) from publisher William Morrow/Harper Collins, just in time for the holidays.
I wish there were more details on his interesting life, instead you only get glimpses of what made Nelson who he is: as a domino player, an encyclopedia book salesman, a farmer (although he spent most of his time on tour on the road), or his brief one-page on The Highwaymen (the all-star country super-teamup of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson.) I wish he would say more about the latter, but instead, I'll just sum it up for you: "The Highwaymen tours were the most fun I ever had before or since."
So what I like about Willie Nelson's writing is that he writes like how you would imagine him to talk. I don't know if this is poor editing, but often Nelson would refer to people by just their first name. For instance, Johnny Cash is simply referred to as 'John.' If you didn't know the context (or did research), it's a tough to understand who's who (especially because Willie Nelson has such a large family.)
Speaking of which, about half the book is written by Willie Nelson's close friends and family. To call this a Willie Nelson-written book is a bit misleading. Throughout the book are either testimonials or stories about Willie Nelson, as written by other people: Bobbie (sister), Annie (wife), Susie (daughter), Paul English (friend/drummer), Mickey Raphael (friend), David Anderson (friend), Micah (son), Raelyn (daughter), Lukas (son), etc. I will have to say that it is nice to get other people's thoughts, but it felt distracting sometime because I thought this was a Willie Nelson book, not a Nelson Family book.
Making up the rest of the book are photographs, art by his son Micah Nelson, dirty jokes and selected Willie Nelson lyrics, including the title song, "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die." Most of the songs have brief explanations from Nelson, and the one above the "Roll Me Up…" song is Nelson's thoughts on pot. He insists that if we were to legalize pot, tax it, and regulate it like tobacco, then you'll save thousands of lives… even though looking at the lyrics, it made no reference to marijuana.
Although it's fashionable to get this book on digital format, I should mention what you'll be missing: the book design and binding is just beautiful. It's one of the best-looking books with the dusk jacket to appear as a "burnt" hole on the cover (to reveal a Willie Nelson portrait by Micah Nelson).
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road is coming out November 13th, you can pick it up at most book retailers. It's light reading and fun, and you don't have to read it from start to finish to enjoy the book. Roll Me Up… is perfect for any Willie Nelson or country music fans.
"You are the sum total of all your thoughts. Remember you are who you wanted to be. If you're happy, thank God and move on. If you want to change, you can. Intentions are important, but remember you can kill yourself with good intentions. If everything fails, start over. Failure is not fatal. It's inevitable that you learn from your mistakes. If you fail, you start over. If you fail again, you start over again. If you fall seven times, get up eight."
This is not a typical autobiography (for that, you may have to refer to his first book, Willie: An Autobiography), instead Roll Me Up… is more or less Nelson's opinions. As Nelson puts it in his own words, "I shouldn't have a problem writing this book; I'm so opinionated that I can give you my opinion on anything, anytime, and I'm glad to do it because I'm just an a**hole. But they say opinions are like a**holes: everybody has one."
- Willie Nelson
I wish there were more details on his interesting life, instead you only get glimpses of what made Nelson who he is: as a domino player, an encyclopedia book salesman, a farmer (although he spent most of his time on tour on the road), or his brief one-page on The Highwaymen (the all-star country super-teamup of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson.) I wish he would say more about the latter, but instead, I'll just sum it up for you: "The Highwaymen tours were the most fun I ever had before or since."
So what I like about Willie Nelson's writing is that he writes like how you would imagine him to talk. I don't know if this is poor editing, but often Nelson would refer to people by just their first name. For instance, Johnny Cash is simply referred to as 'John.' If you didn't know the context (or did research), it's a tough to understand who's who (especially because Willie Nelson has such a large family.)
Speaking of which, about half the book is written by Willie Nelson's close friends and family. To call this a Willie Nelson-written book is a bit misleading. Throughout the book are either testimonials or stories about Willie Nelson, as written by other people: Bobbie (sister), Annie (wife), Susie (daughter), Paul English (friend/drummer), Mickey Raphael (friend), David Anderson (friend), Micah (son), Raelyn (daughter), Lukas (son), etc. I will have to say that it is nice to get other people's thoughts, but it felt distracting sometime because I thought this was a Willie Nelson book, not a Nelson Family book.
Making up the rest of the book are photographs, art by his son Micah Nelson, dirty jokes and selected Willie Nelson lyrics, including the title song, "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die." Most of the songs have brief explanations from Nelson, and the one above the "Roll Me Up…" song is Nelson's thoughts on pot. He insists that if we were to legalize pot, tax it, and regulate it like tobacco, then you'll save thousands of lives… even though looking at the lyrics, it made no reference to marijuana.
Although it's fashionable to get this book on digital format, I should mention what you'll be missing: the book design and binding is just beautiful. It's one of the best-looking books with the dusk jacket to appear as a "burnt" hole on the cover (to reveal a Willie Nelson portrait by Micah Nelson).
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die: Musings from the Road is coming out November 13th, you can pick it up at most book retailers. It's light reading and fun, and you don't have to read it from start to finish to enjoy the book. Roll Me Up… is perfect for any Willie Nelson or country music fans.
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