The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End


The Highwaymen: Friends Till the End

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Transcript


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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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SONG: Highwayman

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# I was a highwayman

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# Along the coach roads I did ride... #

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Well, I had three of my favourite people out there.

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I loved them all like brothers. We all got along good together.

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We had fun together, we made a movie together.

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We toured the world a couple of times.

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It was just some of the best times of my life.

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# The bastards hung me in the spring of '25

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# But I am still alive

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# I was a sailor

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# I was born upon the tide... #

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These were the icons of American music.

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Not just country.

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Popular American music, you know?

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They had built empires of their own.

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# I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow

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# And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed... #

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For me, it was heaven.

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I was up there on stage with my heroes.

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They were people that I worshipped.

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# I was a dam builder

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# Across the river deep and wide

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# Where steel and water did collide

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# A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado

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# I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below

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# They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound

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# But I am still around

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# I'll always be around and around... #

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The thing that was worth the price of admission

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was to see those four characters walk out on stage.

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It has been said before.

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It truly was the Mount Rushmore of country music.

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It was special.

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# I fly a starship

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# Across the universe divide

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# And when I reach the other side

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# I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can

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# Perhaps I may become a highwayman again

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# Or I may simply be a single drop of rain

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# But I will remain

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# And I'll be back again and again

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# And again and again and again

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# And again and again... #

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We did nothing we didn't want to do.

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We stood up for things that we believed in.

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It was a beautiful life that way.

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Well, it really all started when John was doing a Christmas show

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in Switzerland and we all just happened to be there.

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# Making music with my friends

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# I can't wait to get on the road again... #

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The Johnny Cash Christmas Special

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from Montreux, Switzerland, was announced.

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It was going to be Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson,

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and Johnny Cash.

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This was the very beginning. The Genesis of The Highwaymen.

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It just started with the fact that everyone enjoyed

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being together as friends.

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It was there in Montreux, Switzerland,

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that The Highwaymen really began.

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We probably are as unlikely a group of team-mates

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to appear together as you will ever see,

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because each one of us has achieved whatever we have done

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by going our own way and speaking our own words.

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The show was incredible.

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I don't know anybody that wasn't just blown away by it.

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# I hear the train a comin'

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# It's rolling round the bend

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# I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when

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# I'm stuck in Folsom Prison... #

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My father was... In many ways, he was a rebel.

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He was the ultimate image of cool,

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and still is to many who know the man in black and whatever.

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But there is a greater mystery beneath the surface.

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# When I was just a baby

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# My mama told me, son

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# Always be a good boy

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# Don't ever play with guns... #

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He has always been larger-than-life.

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I mean, he has been this dark, driven force, you know,

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he was probably the most exciting performer

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that I had seen in my life at that time.

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A lot of people down there in Nashville

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did not appreciate Johnny Cash,

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because he did not represent the status quo.

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He was a visionary.

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I think when he was at his best and he was right within himself...

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If you look back at the Folsom Prison record, to me,

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which was the unlocking of the worldwide Johnny Cash.

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All of a sudden, the whole world was looking at this town

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because of Johnny Cash. So he had to be reckoned with.

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He was able to come into your home as a mainstream artist,

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telling you truths about the rights of Indians,

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the rights of prisoners.

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# I know I can't be free... #

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These were hot-button topics

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that only a guy of his stature

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could have gotten away with, and had the courage to stand up for.

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I didn't really particularly strike out in a country direction,

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but that is the place where I felt at home, where I belonged.

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It was a kind of music that I was raised on.

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All of us have been kind of hard to label.

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I probably identified as much with Bob Dylan as Hank Williams.

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Bob Dylan idolised John.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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I met him backstage at the Opry when I was still in the Army.

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When I went to Nashville on leave.

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I saw this guy walk in. He looked like a panther,

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and he was messed up, as he often was in those days.

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He was skinny as a snake,

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but he had an electricity about him in that was...

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That was just...

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It may be the reason I decided to quit the Army

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and go back to Nashville.

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Kris was amazing.

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He was a Rhodes Scholar, he was a boxer,

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he was a helicopter pilot,

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he was a football player and a dedicated songwriter.

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He had given up everything to be a janitor so that he could be around.

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# And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad

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# So I had one more for dessert

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# Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes

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# Found my cleanest dirty shirt... #

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I was a janitor in a recording studio where John recorded.

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I almost got fired one time

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because a couple of songwriters crashed the session.

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They were trying to pitch him a gospel album.

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For some reason, the woman who was the secretary to the producer

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blamed me for letting them in there

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and tried to get me fired.

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The next night, my boss came down and said,

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"I don't think you should go to John's session tonight."

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I hid down in the vault of the recording studio.

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I was erasing tapes down there, doing some kind of busy work,

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and John appeared down there in the basement.

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He said, "I understand you are not coming to the session."

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I said, "No, I've got a lot of work to do down here, I can't."

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He said, "Well, I just wanted to tell you

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"I am not going to record until you come up there."

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So I had to go up and sit on the floor.

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Here, I was the janitor, right?

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I am sitting on the floor, and this woman - who tried to get me fired -

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was watching me the whole session.

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It was the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life,

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but I thought that was the measure of the man.

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He also recorded the first big song for me.

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The most famous recording of that song

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was live on The Johnny Cash Show.

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The television network had asked my father,

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"Please do not sing the line,

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"'I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.'

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"Will you sing, 'I'm wishing, Lord, that I was home'?"

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My father went to Kris.

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Kris said, "Well, I don't know, John,

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"it's really not the same thing. Whatever you think."

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So he climbed up in the balcony,

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Kris was watching the show.

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On live television, of course, my father went ahead

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and stood out and sung, "I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned",

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and looked up at Kris in the balcony.

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I do believe Kris nearly fell out of the balcony.

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ALL: # On a Sunday morning sidewalk

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# I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned

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-JOHNNY:

-# Cos there's something 'bout a Sunday... #

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Imagine, though, the hero of your life

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makes you what you are.

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Your hero turns your life around.

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ALL: # There ain't nothing short of dying

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# Half as lonesome as the sound

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# Of a sleeping city sidewalk... #

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I find it amazing today

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that the janitor had the audacity to be there in the first place,

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but that he would become my best friend.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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I guess these guys, when we did The Highwaymen,

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their solo careers weren't really hitting on all cylinders

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at the time.

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CBS records dropped Johnny Cash

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because he was not making enough money.

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Once you get to be a certain age,

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and you get to be a certain intelligence

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of how things are working,

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they don't want to deal with it.

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It is much cheaper to get some young kid who you can say,

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"Hey, you know, we'll give you 30,000

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"and alleviate you of this publishing responsibility."

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That's the kind of shit they did.

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They didn't understand John.

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It would be like dropping Dylan from your label or something, you know?

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There were certain people that are up and beyond the rules.

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There was no soul left in Nashville.

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They didn't care about Johnny Cash any more.

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It's not limited to Johnny Cash, it's also Willie and Waylon.

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To hear somebody tell me that they want...

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That they had a truck and they would back it up to the record company

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and they would take them all and dump them in...at the dump.

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That, to me, was more than I could handle.

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Some people were counting my dad as out.

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They saw that he was possibly at the end of his career, in some ways.

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But you could not count out Johnny Cash.

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# Well, a long time forgotten

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# Our dreams are just fell by the way

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# And the good life he promised

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# Ain't what she's living today

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# But she never complains of the bad times

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# Or the bad things he's done

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# She just talks about the good times they've had

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# And all the good times to come... #

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-CASH:

-I met Waylon the first time in the early '60s at a club in Phoenix.

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June and I were working there.

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This was before June and I were married.

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We went out and watched him.

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Well, you know, Nashville was the only music community

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that I really knew anything about,

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so June and I encouraged Waylon to come over and move to Nashville

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and start recording and get his career going.

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Cos, you know, I wasn't half into the show

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until I knew that here was a man who had a whole lot more to offer

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to the world than 400 or 500 people

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that might come into a Phoenix nightclub.

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# He likes the nightlife

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# The bright lights

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# And his good timin' friend... #

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He asked me, "Do you think I should go to Nashville?"

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I said, "how much money are you making here?"

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I think he said, "400 a week."

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I said, "Stay here."

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# Their teardrops and laughter

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# They're passed to this world hand-in-hand

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# A good-hearted woman in love with a good-timing man... #

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He came in, looked right up front,

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he bucked against the Nashville music community

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and the way things were cut and dried.

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Country music was kind of pretty at that time.

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You had Marty Robbins singing his beautiful cowboy ballads,

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and Eddie Arnold, and Ray Price, and, you know,

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with a lot of strings backing them up.

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So Waylon was raw.

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It was a whole different movement

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from what was going on in the norm in Nashville.

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The old world of Nashville was perhaps comparable

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in a farm club kind of way, in a country kind of way,

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to the studio system in Hollywood.

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Every label had its stars, every label had manufactured stars.

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Everybody was assigned producers.

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The publishing industry was tight knit.

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It was pretty much a good-old-boy-run town.

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Things were just kind of set up that way from the foundation up.

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I mean, he had come off a marvellous job here,

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you know, running the roost, so to speak.

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It was a bust.

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John ended up moving to Nashville, and so did Waylon.

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Together.

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That was another nightmare.

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In those states, both of us were pretty well hooked on pills.

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But we can honestly say we never gave each other drugs.

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Never. We hid it. We thought we were hiding it convincingly.

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-LAUGHTER

-We never did.

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See, I knew he couldn't handle it.

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So I had to protect him.

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I think he was thinking the same thing.

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You know, when you grow up in Texas, you are taught

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that you are a little bit bigger and a little bit better

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and a little bit tougher

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and a little bit smarter than anybody else.

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Willie and I were both taught that.

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Now, I don't know about Willie,

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but it was rough on me when I got out in the world

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and found out I wasn't.

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# In the twilight glow I see them

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# Blue eyes cryin' in the rain... #

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All of the highwaymen, of course, were outsiders.

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Willie Nelson sort of wrote the book on being an outsider.

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# When we kissed goodbye and parted... #

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The establishment, you know, they said, "The guy can't sing.

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"Maybe he should be a songwriter."

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He played incredible guitar.

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His main influence was this French gypsy guitar player

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named Django Reinhardt.

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# Love is like a dying ember... #

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So, he was different,

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and it might have put people out of their comfort zone

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for listening to this guy.

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NELSON: All of us, in our own way, compromised in some ways

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and tried to do it their way for a while.

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Not only was it not really that much fun, it just wasn't working.

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It just wasn't clicking.

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He got frustrated with Nashville, moved back to Texas,

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which was where he was from originally, it was his home.

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He moved to Austin, because he heard that

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there was a lot of new music coming out of Austin.

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Originally, the audiences were young University of Texas

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and young hippie...

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But then the rednecks were going, "Well, Willie Nelson is there.

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"What is going on over there?" Or, "Look at all the young girls.

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"Maybe we can meet some of them young girls

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"that are at that concert."

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Willie saw he could go into these places.

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He looked out into the audience,

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and there were cowboy hats and longhairs.

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They were getting along.

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You can't put enough emphasis

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on what Waylon and Willie were to Austin.

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Waylon said it before, you know, Willie called and said,

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"You need to come out here. I found something."

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That was the whole start of it.

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You have got to remember, 1971, '2, '3, '4, '5, in Texas,

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you could get your ass kicked and killed

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and your hair cut just by having long hair and being a hippie.

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They would flock to this place cos they were safe.

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When I first came to work,

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the band was still wearing brocade tuxedos,

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but Willie was growing his hair long

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and was wearing a long brown leather shirt

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with big billowing pirate's sleeves

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and a beard and long hair and a cowboy hat.

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I remember once, a promotion man said,

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"We love what Willie is doing, we don't want him in a tuxedo.

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"We like the clothing - the sneakers and the long hair."

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I said, "It is guaranteed that he won't go the tuxedo way."

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you very much.

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The Outlaw movement was started by Waylon and Willie.

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More so Waylon, because he was the first one to say,

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"Hey, I'm not going to do the things the normal way."

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He said, "I'm going to do them my way."

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So, one time Willie was in town and I said,

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"Willie, come on, let's go cut an album."

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I said, "I want to cut this album. I've got it ready."

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He had a couple of songs. I said, "I want you to play guitar on it.

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"Let's have some fun with it."

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I went over and I cut the album - This Time.

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When I got through with it, I took it to the record company,

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and they said, "Well, that's wonderful.

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"Now we've got to go into the studio and cut it." I said, "No."

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I said, "That's all you've got."

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So they tried every way in the world, even trying to get them

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to allow this one to be released, and finally they released it.

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That more or less broke the system in this town,

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where the record companies own the studios.

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I think anybody that has any artistic freedom in their contracts

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in record deals today owe that to Waylon Jennings.

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Willie was just a little bit more laid back.

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He was just always grinning all the time, picking and singing,

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saying, "Let's go."

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Waylon, he was the bull trying to knock down all of the doors.

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Willie was just like, "Oh, you kicked another door in?

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"I will walk through there with you."

0:19:470:19:49

Well, the Outlaw thing started selling.

0:19:490:19:51

They really didn't understand that,

0:19:510:19:53

because we were breaking all of the rules,

0:19:530:19:56

doing it wrong, using our own bands.

0:19:560:19:59

I think the first record that he did for Columbia

0:19:590:20:01

was Red Headed Stranger.

0:20:010:20:03

The deal was that Willie could just do what ever he wanted,

0:20:030:20:05

pick the songs, pick the band -

0:20:050:20:07

he picked his road band, which is never done -

0:20:070:20:09

and just turned in a finished product.

0:20:090:20:11

When he did, it was so sparse...

0:20:110:20:13

I mean Red Headed Stranger was basically Willie and the band

0:20:130:20:16

sitting around in a circle, and he was playing these new songs,

0:20:160:20:19

and while we were recording it was the first time we heard the songs.

0:20:190:20:22

They are pretty sparse.

0:20:220:20:23

We are mainly just listening to what he was doing

0:20:230:20:25

and playing very lightly on it.

0:20:250:20:27

Well, when he turned it in, the guys at Columbia said,

0:20:270:20:30

"You know, this is a great demo,

0:20:300:20:32

"why don't you recut it or we will put some strings on it?"

0:20:320:20:34

Willie said, "No, you've got to put it out like it is."

0:20:340:20:37

Reluctantly, they did. It was a hit.

0:20:370:20:40

I don't know how many weeks it has been on the charts, but for years.

0:20:400:20:43

They broke down the system

0:20:430:20:44

and gained their own control by having success.

0:20:440:20:47

The Outlaws, which was Willie, Waylon,

0:20:470:20:49

Tompall Glaser and Jessi Colter,

0:20:490:20:51

was the first country record to go platinum.

0:20:510:20:54

It broke down boundaries.

0:20:540:20:56

People who used to not listen to country music because it wasn't cool

0:20:560:21:00

started listening again, because it looked dangerous.

0:21:000:21:03

At that time, cocaine was a really popular drug

0:21:030:21:06

and everybody was doing it.

0:21:060:21:08

Willie didn't like it, because he liked to relax.

0:21:080:21:10

He liked to smoke pot and just relax.

0:21:100:21:13

Cocaine made us all jacked up and play really fast and loud

0:21:130:21:17

and not listen to each other. So, Waylon did like cocaine.

0:21:170:21:20

That was kind of a part of his lifestyle.

0:21:200:21:23

He would take drugs and stay up in the office and go and cut records.

0:21:230:21:26

I'm not saying that he didn't ever do anything

0:21:260:21:28

that didn't challenge our marriage,

0:21:280:21:30

but basically he was working.

0:21:300:21:34

That is what he liked.

0:21:340:21:35

# Cowboys ain't easy to love

0:21:350:21:38

# And they're harder to hold

0:21:380:21:40

# They'd rather give you a song than diamonds or gold

0:21:430:21:49

# Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levi's... #

0:21:520:21:56

The Highwaymen voices blended together great.

0:21:560:21:59

A lot of the time, it was just two of them at a time singing.

0:21:590:22:02

It was like duets.

0:22:020:22:03

Then, on the choruses, all of them would sing together. So, it was...

0:22:030:22:08

It just got bigger than life.

0:22:080:22:10

ALL: # Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

0:22:100:22:15

# Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old trucks

0:22:170:22:21

# Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such... #

0:22:210:22:26

There is four movies right there.

0:22:260:22:28

There is four folk heroes,

0:22:280:22:30

there is four great lives that have been lived.

0:22:300:22:34

It must have been a weary spot for any of them.

0:22:340:22:37

It is a wonderful thing to be a star,

0:22:370:22:39

it is a wonderful thing to be a legend,

0:22:390:22:41

but at some point, you know, you are a human being, too.

0:22:410:22:44

You know, when you can back up against three other oak trees

0:22:440:22:47

that understand and nothing has to be discussed,

0:22:470:22:50

there is bound to be peace in that.

0:22:500:22:52

# Little warm puppies and children and girls of the night... #

0:22:520:22:57

-Woof woof.

-Woof woof.

0:22:570:22:59

WILLIE: # Them that don't know him won't like him

0:23:000:23:02

# And them that do

0:23:020:23:04

# Sometimes won't know how to take him

0:23:040:23:08

# He ain't wrong He's just different

0:23:080:23:09

# But his pride won't let him

0:23:090:23:11

# Do things to make you think he's right

0:23:110:23:14

ALL: # Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys... #

0:23:170:23:23

These men were, you know, icons of our culture and whatever

0:23:240:23:30

they may have been, you know, to the public, but they were buddies.

0:23:300:23:33

They were laughing and just enjoying their time together.

0:23:330:23:37

Any time I hear a live Highwaymen show,

0:23:370:23:40

it is a visceral thrill for me.

0:23:400:23:42

Am I dreaming this? Did it really happen?

0:23:420:23:45

It is almost too much to take, I am so proud of it.

0:23:450:23:48

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:23:520:23:55

You know, because these guys were so popular,

0:23:550:23:58

the movie deals started coming in.

0:23:580:24:00

I guess they did Stagecoach.

0:24:060:24:08

-I didn't catch your name.

-Well, his name is Doc Holliday.

0:24:100:24:14

Is that right? I heard you were pretty handy with a gun.

0:24:160:24:19

I am still alive.

0:24:200:24:21

They wanted him to cut his hair to play Doc Holliday.

0:24:210:24:25

First, I didn't want to cut Willie Nelson's hair, and secondly,

0:24:250:24:29

I didn't see a need.

0:24:290:24:31

When I met him, he was sitting in a chair and I said,

0:24:310:24:35

"Mr Nelson, the producers and director would like me to ask

0:24:350:24:38

"if you would be willing to cut your hair for this part."

0:24:380:24:41

I remember him looking up at me from the chair and saying,

0:24:410:24:44

"What do you think?"

0:24:440:24:45

I said, "I think it is ridiculous.

0:24:450:24:49

"To be perfectly honest, I don't see the need."

0:24:490:24:51

He said, "Let's tell them no."

0:24:510:24:53

I just saw this smart-ass twinkle.

0:24:530:24:57

I went, "Yeah, OK. That's kind of cool."

0:24:570:25:00

I tell everybody we marry what we need.

0:25:000:25:02

Kris married lawyer and I got a make-up girl.

0:25:020:25:04

When my father was a little boy,

0:25:060:25:08

he would always go see the film down the road at the local theatre.

0:25:080:25:13

Typically on a Friday night,

0:25:130:25:15

it would more often than not be a Gene Autry film.

0:25:150:25:18

Gene Autry was always my father's favourite,

0:25:180:25:20

because he loved to see the singing cowboy.

0:25:200:25:22

It was later on, in the 1990s,

0:25:220:25:24

that he actually got to spend some time with Mr Autry.

0:25:240:25:28

-How have you been, John?

-I'm doing fine. I'm doing just fine.

0:25:280:25:32

Just make yourself comfortable.

0:25:320:25:34

I'll do my damnedest.

0:25:340:25:36

Gene came to the Oceanway Studio,

0:25:360:25:39

and just like the same little kids at that theatre, their eyes lit up.

0:25:390:25:44

There's the cowboy.

0:25:440:25:46

-Hey, Willie, sit down there.

-Nice to see you.

0:25:460:25:48

God, I haven't seen you in so long.

0:25:480:25:51

-Excuse me.

-You don't come back out here like you used to.

0:25:510:25:55

No, sir, I don't come as much as I ought to.

0:25:550:25:58

They were the singing cowboys. They would make their music,

0:25:580:26:02

ride their horse, they'd act in films,

0:26:020:26:05

they'd have their shows.

0:26:050:26:07

They were real cowboy stars.

0:26:070:26:11

ALL: # Whoopi-ty-aye-oh

0:26:110:26:14

# Rockin' to and fro

0:26:140:26:16

# Back in the saddle again

0:26:160:26:20

# Whoopi-ty-aye-eh

0:26:200:26:23

# I go my way

0:26:230:26:25

# Back in the saddle again. #

0:26:250:26:28

-GENE:

-We should have recorded that.

0:26:320:26:35

I think we did.

0:26:350:26:36

# I'm gonna steal me

0:26:380:26:40

# A silver stallion... #

0:26:400:26:42

They had ideas. They wanted to play colleges.

0:26:430:26:46

We played colleges. They wanted to go to Europe. We went to Europe.

0:26:460:26:49

They wanted to go to Asia. We went to Asia.

0:26:490:26:52

It was as if these guys had been on the road together for ever.

0:26:520:26:55

It was a huge band, it was a huge production, but it was a family.

0:26:550:26:59

It was so comfortable.

0:26:590:27:02

It was, sort of, just every time we went out, it was a reunion.

0:27:020:27:05

In the middle of airports.

0:27:050:27:07

In airport lounges all over the world.

0:27:070:27:09

It could have been a little complicated travelling with

0:27:090:27:12

39 people, including infant children,

0:27:120:27:16

but it just worked itself out.

0:27:160:27:18

Willie would get down on the ground and play blocks with our kids,

0:27:180:27:21

and make funny jokes and do little magic things with them.

0:27:210:27:26

Waylon just love to carry our daughter around everywhere.

0:27:260:27:29

My memory is that they are always on the ground with the kids,

0:27:290:27:32

which is strange for men with such huge stature.

0:27:320:27:35

They were just little boys grown tall.

0:27:350:27:38

They wore boots.

0:27:380:27:40

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:27:400:27:44

# Maybe I didn't love you

0:27:470:27:50

# Quite as often as I could have

0:27:530:27:56

# Maybe I didn't treat you

0:27:580:28:01

# Quite as good as I should have

0:28:050:28:08

# If I made you feel second best

0:28:110:28:14

# Girl, I'm sorry I was blind

0:28:170:28:20

# But you were always on my mind... #

0:28:240:28:28

When Willie cut Always On My Mind, he called me the night he cut it.

0:28:290:28:33

He said, "Listen to this." I heard it over the phone.

0:28:330:28:36

I went, "Wow, that's a smash."

0:28:360:28:39

That band was the same band that toured with Highwaymen every night.

0:28:400:28:46

Chips put together a lot of material, a lot of musicians,

0:28:460:28:49

he's a great producer.

0:28:490:28:50

He put together the band behind us for all the records.

0:28:500:28:55

We couldn't have done it without Chips.

0:28:550:28:57

The way it came to pass with the musicians was that everyone

0:28:570:29:01

agreed that they would bring in

0:29:010:29:03

one or two musicians from their own bands

0:29:030:29:06

and the rest were studio musicians -

0:29:060:29:09

they were the best at what they did.

0:29:090:29:12

The Highwaymen band was a big band that started with the core

0:29:120:29:15

being the Memphis Boys.

0:29:150:29:17

During a five-year period that we were together,

0:29:170:29:20

the Memphis Boys cut 120 chart records, hit records.

0:29:200:29:24

For me, personally, I went into it because Bobby was there.

0:29:240:29:28

Most fun thing I have ever done.

0:29:280:29:31

Reggie Young loved playing live. We all did.

0:29:310:29:34

It was a family organisation, you know, we all loved each other

0:29:340:29:37

so much that there was nobody that could fill in for somebody else.

0:29:370:29:41

# You were always on my mind

0:29:450:29:53

# You were always on

0:29:530:29:59

# My mind. #

0:29:590:30:05

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:30:050:30:07

We were at Norman, Oklahoma, at the University, near Oklahoma City,

0:30:120:30:16

and we're here for a concert tonight that Willie brought together

0:30:160:30:21

to aid the farmers that are kind of down and out.

0:30:210:30:25

Willie is farm-made, and me and everybody

0:30:250:30:28

are kind of just his helper, really.

0:30:280:30:31

Willie should really get the Nobel Peace Prize for Farm Aid.

0:30:310:30:37

People are becoming aware that people have to get involved.

0:30:370:30:40

I don't think we can sit back and rely on our politicians

0:30:400:30:43

to take care of problems that they are not taking care of.

0:30:430:30:47

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:30:480:30:50

# I've always been crazy in trouble

0:31:050:31:08

# And it's put me through

0:31:080:31:10

# I've been busted for things that I didn't

0:31:130:31:17

# I didn't do... #

0:31:170:31:19

My father and Waylon were both open

0:31:190:31:21

about their struggles with addiction.

0:31:210:31:23

My father, of course, was on amphetamines in the 1960s,

0:31:230:31:26

but it was later on, in the 1980s,

0:31:260:31:28

that he developed an addiction to painkillers.

0:31:280:31:31

He straightened up, actually, in early 1983.

0:31:310:31:35

Waylon also gave up his drug of choice, which was cocaine.

0:31:350:31:39

# With one foot over the line

0:31:390:31:42

# Winding up somewhere

0:31:450:31:47

# One step ahead or behind... #

0:31:470:31:51

He had tried three times to dry out.

0:31:520:31:55

He could get me up all times, days and night.

0:31:550:31:57

He was dealing with the frenzy that comes

0:31:570:32:00

from trying to come off a drug.

0:32:000:32:01

He called me up one morning, says, "Come out here and sit with me."

0:32:010:32:05

We were out watching the sun rise,

0:32:050:32:07

which was never anything he wanted to do.

0:32:070:32:10

But I guess that was the moment that he knew, you know?

0:32:110:32:15

He had made a decision.

0:32:150:32:16

Shortly after he'd tell me, because he had...

0:32:160:32:19

They had coke out on the bus.

0:32:190:32:21

At one point, he said,

0:32:210:32:22

"Jessi, you can go throw that down the toilet."

0:32:220:32:25

# Never mind I ain't found a rhyme or a reason to change

0:32:280:32:33

# I've always been crazy

0:32:360:32:38

# It's killing me from going insane

0:32:380:32:41

They supported each other in their recovery.

0:32:430:32:46

June had thrown Waylon a sobriety party at her house.

0:32:460:32:50

So Johnny says, "Jessi, June has given Waylon a sobriety party.

0:32:530:32:58

"Will you give me one?" I said, "Yes, Johnny."

0:32:580:33:01

So they really stood behind each other

0:33:040:33:06

throughout their endeavours of sobriety.

0:33:060:33:08

With those four guys,

0:33:230:33:25

the way they all messed with each other was amazing.

0:33:250:33:27

I think Willie was up for anything. Willie just wanted to stir up shit.

0:33:270:33:30

He just liked a little tension going on.

0:33:300:33:33

Waylon didn't like any tension and was always paranoid about it.

0:33:330:33:37

Kris was ready to stir up anything for his causes.

0:33:370:33:41

Kris, at one point, had a Lebanese flag or an Iraqi flag or something.

0:33:410:33:46

I don't even remember what it was.

0:33:460:33:48

Johnny Cash started up with Waylon about that flag.

0:33:480:33:52

John knew what buttons to push with Waylon, and Waylon would get upset.

0:33:520:33:55

Then he would realise, "Well, John was just messing with me.

0:33:550:33:57

"I am upset over nothing."

0:33:570:33:59

See, Waylon... Waylon is going to worry about something.

0:33:590:34:04

-We'll see to it.

-We'll see to it.

0:34:040:34:07

Really, they all stood for the same things,

0:34:070:34:09

but their delivery was a little different.

0:34:090:34:11

A really revealing glimpse into their life philosophies

0:34:110:34:14

can be found in the way they each decorated their vocal booth.

0:34:140:34:17

Johnny Cash, he draped his in black and put a big rainbow in it.

0:34:170:34:22

Beneath that man-in-black persona was a sweet, optimistic guy.

0:34:220:34:27

Willie... Willie put a Texas flag in there.

0:34:270:34:30

Waylon went for a desert motif, but he also, in the garbage

0:34:300:34:34

somewhere on one of his trips, found a velvet painting of Willie.

0:34:340:34:38

He hung that in there, too.

0:34:380:34:41

Kris asked me to bring a picture head of Noam Chomsky

0:34:410:34:45

to hang it in my house.

0:34:450:34:46

I think there is a picture of Che Guevara...

0:34:460:34:48

Those were the personas they chose, in a way, you know?

0:34:480:34:51

They grew into those characters.

0:34:510:34:54

Listen, my name is Waylon.

0:34:540:34:56

His ain't, his ain't, and his ain't.

0:34:560:34:58

LAUGHTER

0:34:580:35:00

That's all you need to know.

0:35:000:35:02

They are not playing against each other,

0:35:020:35:05

they are playing with each other, but they are still competitive,

0:35:050:35:09

and so there is just a kind of swagger

0:35:090:35:14

to each entertainer.

0:35:140:35:17

# It's the same old tune

0:35:170:35:19

# Fiddle and guitar

0:35:190:35:21

# Where do we take it from here?

0:35:210:35:24

# Limestone suits and new shiny cars

0:35:240:35:29

# It's been the same way for years

0:35:290:35:31

# Somebody told me when I first got to Nashville

0:35:360:35:39

# Oh, you've finally got it made

0:35:390:35:43

# Old Hank made it here

0:35:430:35:44

# Now we're all sure that you will

0:35:440:35:46

# But I don't think Hank done it this way

0:35:460:35:50

# Did old Hank really do it this way...? #

0:35:500:35:53

Each time they'd get up to do a show -

0:35:530:35:55

"This is the last time, but we are going to give it hell."

0:35:550:35:59

This is what great athletes do.

0:35:590:36:00

Willie is the outlaw coyote, Waylon is the riverboat gambler,

0:36:110:36:15

I am the Revolutionary Communist, radical,

0:36:150:36:19

and John is the father of our country.

0:36:190:36:21

LAUGHTER

0:36:210:36:22

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:36:290:36:31

They were all able to have the greatest respect

0:36:330:36:36

for each other as artists.

0:36:360:36:38

The sum of the parts was just humongous.

0:36:380:36:40

Kris, I think, being a songwriter,

0:36:400:36:43

he never considered himself a singer.

0:36:430:36:46

He's a songwriter.

0:36:460:36:47

So to him it was like, you know, the same thing -

0:36:470:36:49

"How did I get in with this bunch of singers?"

0:36:490:36:52

When I first heard Bobby McGee, I said,

0:36:520:36:53

"Well, why didn't I write that?"

0:36:530:36:55

It has all the ingredients of the things that I like to see

0:36:550:36:58

and hear in a song -

0:36:580:37:01

from all about freedom and travelling,

0:37:010:37:04

and even down to the red bandana,

0:37:040:37:07

so naturally I related to that song a lot.

0:37:070:37:10

# Busted flat in Baton Rouge

0:37:100:37:14

# Headin' for the trains

0:37:140:37:17

# Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans

0:37:170:37:20

# Bobby thumbed a diesel down

0:37:230:37:26

# Just before it rained

0:37:260:37:28

# Took us all the way to New Orleans

0:37:300:37:33

# I took my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana

0:37:360:37:42

# I was blowin' sad while Bobby sang the blues

0:37:420:37:48

# With them windshield wipers slappin' time

0:37:480:37:52

# And Bobby clappin' hands

0:37:520:37:54

# We finally sang up every song

0:37:540:37:57

# That driver knew... #

0:37:570:38:00

Kris is the best songwriter I know. And has been since he showed up.

0:38:000:38:05

I don't think that I could put into words the effect that

0:38:050:38:09

Kristofferson had on country music

0:38:090:38:11

better than Bob Dylan's speech at MusiCares,

0:38:110:38:15

where he called Kris the game-changer.

0:38:150:38:18

Nashville had never seen anything like Kris when he showed up. Never.

0:38:180:38:23

He probably scared the hell out of those people.

0:38:250:38:30

# From the coalmines of Kentucky to the California sun... #

0:38:300:38:36

I found out that I could express myself in songs,

0:38:360:38:41

and that was what I was supposed to do with my life.

0:38:410:38:45

The fact that I got to do it with the heroes

0:38:450:38:50

would be like finding out I could go out and write poems

0:38:500:38:52

with William Blake or something.

0:38:520:38:54

ALL: # Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose

0:38:570:39:04

# Nothing ain't worth nothing

0:39:040:39:06

# But it's free

0:39:060:39:07

# Feelin' good was easy, Lord

0:39:100:39:13

# When Bobby sang the blues

0:39:130:39:15

# And, buddy, that was good enough

0:39:160:39:19

# For me and Waylon and Johnny and Willie

0:39:190:39:23

ALL: # Good enough for me and Bobby McGee... #

0:39:230:39:26

When were travelling with a band, we would pull off at truckstops

0:39:280:39:33

periodically for the guys to get food.

0:39:330:39:35

They would all get their biscuits and gravy and bacon and eggs

0:39:350:39:38

and all the stuff that they love at truckstops.

0:39:380:39:40

Kris would get off the bus,

0:39:400:39:41

and instead of going inside the truckstops,

0:39:410:39:43

he would just start running for an hour in that direction.

0:39:430:39:46

Then, when the guys were all done eating,

0:39:460:39:48

we would get back on the bus.

0:39:480:39:49

We would go down the highway and pick him up wherever he was.

0:39:490:39:53

My father maintained he did the best he could,

0:39:530:39:55

but he never was one for exercise,

0:39:550:39:57

whereas Willie and Kris were always exercising,

0:39:570:40:00

whether it was golf or jogging or whatever,

0:40:000:40:03

they were very, very physically active.

0:40:030:40:05

Johnny was not the healthiest person.

0:40:050:40:09

He had had some implants, some dental implants,

0:40:090:40:12

and the doctor had broken his jaw putting these things in.

0:40:120:40:15

He would still come out and do the show,

0:40:150:40:18

but he was just not a happy camper.

0:40:180:40:20

He did all that in excruciating pain and was still so gracious.

0:40:200:40:27

He didn't make a big deal about it. He hid his pain well.

0:40:270:40:31

The only time he said that he ever felt good

0:40:310:40:34

in the course of a day or night with this problem

0:40:340:40:38

was when he was on stage, when he would sublimate it.

0:40:380:40:42

Just sing over the pain.

0:40:420:40:44

Waylon was having a bypass surgery done.

0:40:450:40:47

My father went and visited him in the hospital.

0:40:470:40:51

The doctors wanted to check him out when he was there,

0:40:510:40:53

because he didn't look quite right.

0:40:530:40:55

It was determined that my father also had a blocked artery, too.

0:40:550:41:00

So he had to have a bypass surgery also.

0:41:000:41:03

So Waylon and my dad were really almost roommates once again

0:41:030:41:06

because they were right down the hall from each other.

0:41:060:41:08

So I'm sure there were some jokes being passed back and forth,

0:41:080:41:11

some old memories that came back because there they were again,

0:41:110:41:15

after all those years.

0:41:150:41:17

# Look here, is that you I see?

0:41:170:41:22

# You sure seem down to me... #

0:41:220:41:25

Waylon, I think he was spiritual down to the bottom of his feet.

0:41:270:41:31

He was able to express it to me in his music.

0:41:310:41:37

Everything that came out of his throat, to me,

0:41:370:41:39

sounded like it was a religious song.

0:41:390:41:42

# Everyone gets crazy now and then

0:41:420:41:47

# I know those empty nights get lonely... #

0:41:500:41:55

My father was an ordained minister. He was a student of the Bible.

0:41:550:41:58

He was able to say, "I've been to the darkness,

0:41:580:42:01

"I've come out the far side and the light is my point.

0:42:010:42:05

"The goodness is what I stand for."

0:42:050:42:07

# I guess these troubled times get scary

0:42:070:42:11

# But that's just ordinary

0:42:110:42:15

# Everyone gets crazy now and then

0:42:150:42:20

# And who can say they'd never stumble... #

0:42:230:42:28

All four of The Highwaymen were very spiritual guys in their own sense.

0:42:300:42:34

Willie was like a yogi. Very spiritual.

0:42:350:42:39

Not in-your-face, he didn't try to convert anybody.

0:42:390:42:42

You just kept your mouth shut and listened to Willie

0:42:420:42:44

or listen to his songs - there's all kinds of lessons in life and love.

0:42:440:42:48

They did a song called Everyone Goes Crazy Now And Then.

0:42:550:42:58

They sang the crap out of it.

0:42:580:43:01

I mean, Kris will just break your heart on it.

0:43:010:43:04

# I get crazy just like you

0:43:040:43:09

# Lost and lonely, too

0:43:090:43:12

# Like some old flag left flying in the wind

0:43:120:43:17

# Time has taught me this for sure

0:43:210:43:25

# Time is the only cure... #

0:43:250:43:29

It was very healing for the four guys to be together.

0:43:290:43:32

They had their families on tour, so it was a win-win situation,

0:43:320:43:36

even though each of them had specific...

0:43:360:43:39

Had their own health problems.

0:43:390:43:41

Together, as a unit, you know, it was a very helpful thing.

0:43:410:43:46

-WAYLON:

-You better grin, Kris, or I will hate you.

0:43:460:43:48

LAUGHTER

0:43:480:43:50

# Living legends are a dyin' breed and there ain't that many left

0:43:520:43:56

# To tell the truth, I ain't been feeling

0:43:560:43:58

# Real hot lately my damn self

0:43:580:44:00

# I ain't old and I ain't bitter

0:44:000:44:02

# And I ain't mad at anyone

0:44:020:44:05

# So don't go taking seriously what's poked at you in fun

0:44:050:44:08

# But if you have ever been to Nashville

0:44:100:44:12

# Then I think you might agree

0:44:120:44:14

# We've seen a lot of changes

0:44:140:44:16

# Things we never thought we'd see

0:44:160:44:18

# A rock and roller with a banjo

0:44:190:44:21

# Now that I might recall

0:44:210:44:23

# But...

0:44:230:44:25

# A country singer with a briefcase

0:44:250:44:27

# Beats all I ever saw. #

0:44:270:44:29

LAUGHTER

0:44:290:44:30

They laugh all the time.

0:44:300:44:33

They laugh constantly, they crack each other up.

0:44:330:44:36

They respect each other so much that they can also sit in a room

0:44:360:44:39

and have a smoke and not have to say a thing.

0:44:390:44:42

They communicate on a level that I don't speak that language.

0:44:420:44:47

We are friends for ever, as they say.

0:44:470:44:50

All right.

0:44:500:44:52

-Let's play golf.

-You got a deal.

0:44:520:44:53

I can beat you any day of the week.

0:44:530:44:55

Let's have lunch sometime.

0:44:550:44:56

-You are no golf-playing son of a bitch...

-No way.

0:44:560:44:59

Remember... Remember the Linda Ronstadt hit...

0:44:590:45:04

Blue Bayou?

0:45:040:45:06

LAUGHTER

0:45:060:45:08

That's the way it will be, all day long. Blew by you.

0:45:110:45:15

We did four tours.

0:45:150:45:17

There were some three or four years between each tour.

0:45:170:45:19

Maybe after the last tour,

0:45:190:45:22

I don't know if everybody's health was up to speed.

0:45:220:45:25

My father and Waylon seemed to be beginning to suffer physically.

0:45:250:45:28

ALL: # Like desperados waitin' for a train

0:45:280:45:32

# Like desperado waitin' for a train

0:45:340:45:39

# He's a drifter

0:45:440:45:46

# And a driller of oil wells

0:45:460:45:49

# An old-school man of the world... #

0:45:510:45:53

Waylon, he was still battling diabetes. It had gotten pretty bad.

0:45:550:46:00

He did have heart failure. Towards the end, he would lose his breath.

0:46:000:46:03

But his attitude never, ever showed that he was willing to give up.

0:46:030:46:09

We kept working. It's like... It just didn't change our life.

0:46:090:46:12

That part of him was still the same. He was still a worker.

0:46:120:46:15

# Like desperados waitin' for a train

0:46:150:46:19

# Like desperados waitin' for a train

0:46:210:46:25

-CASH:

-# One day I looked up and he's pushin' 80

0:46:310:46:34

# And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin

0:46:370:46:41

# To me, he's one of the heroes of this country

0:46:430:46:48

# So why's he all dressed up like them old men...? #

0:46:500:46:54

-KRIS:

-As soon as Waylon went into intensive care,

0:46:540:46:57

John went into intensive care.

0:46:570:46:58

I guess I was in denial.

0:47:000:47:02

I thought John went into the hospital sometimes just to rest.

0:47:040:47:09

It wasn't. They really were dying.

0:47:140:47:16

In 1997, my father actually retired from the road for good.

0:47:180:47:22

Even though his friendship, of course,

0:47:220:47:24

with Waylon, carried on, Waylon's health also began to decline.

0:47:240:47:28

Waylon came out to my studio not long before he passed -

0:47:280:47:31

a couple of years.

0:47:310:47:33

He said he wanted to record some songs.

0:47:330:47:35

He said, "I want you to finish them someday."

0:47:350:47:37

So, when he passed, I was hurt,

0:47:380:47:40

because Waylon was as much family to me...

0:47:400:47:43

I mean, I still get emotional. I miss him every day of my life.

0:47:430:47:46

I really do. He was a great man. He really was.

0:47:460:47:50

# Lord, help me, Jesus

0:47:510:47:55

# I've wasted... #

0:47:550:47:57

When Waylon passed away,

0:47:590:48:02

my father really felt like he had lost his best friend.

0:48:020:48:05

Dad and Waylon always laughed together.

0:48:050:48:07

Losing Waylon was in many ways like, you know, losing a brother.

0:48:070:48:11

They were that close. But my dad persisted.

0:48:110:48:16

He never turned loose of the music.

0:48:160:48:18

He was chasing songs till the day he died.

0:48:180:48:22

He may be the most spiritual person I have known,

0:48:220:48:26

because he was conscious of his own mortality and his own weaknesses.

0:48:260:48:33

But he used his life to raise the perception

0:48:330:48:38

of other people into the infinite.

0:48:380:48:40

I hope that younger musicians will look at the example

0:48:470:48:50

that The Highwaymen give us and realise

0:48:500:48:53

that if we stay true to what we believe,

0:48:530:48:56

if we follow our dreams with our hearts,

0:48:560:48:58

we can stand together a whole lot stronger.

0:48:580:49:01

That is what The Highwaymen did.

0:49:010:49:04

It is like being in a beautiful dream and not wanting it to end,

0:49:040:49:10

and yet, when the notes of the final song hit,

0:49:100:49:14

you know that it's...

0:49:140:49:17

This isn't for ever.

0:49:170:49:20

# Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas

0:49:200:49:23

# With Waylon and Willie and the boys... #

0:49:230:49:27

I think that The Highwaymen influenced

0:49:290:49:31

so many other young artists...

0:49:310:49:34

as to maybe follow your heart.

0:49:340:49:36

The Highwaymen is like the first dream team in basketball.

0:49:360:49:39

You put Cash and all those guys together and it is like...

0:49:390:49:43

You can't repeat that. That's kind of the Mount Rushmore deal.

0:49:430:49:46

# Out in Luckenbach, Texas

0:49:460:49:49

# Ain't nobody feeling no pain... #

0:49:490:49:52

Everybody has limitations on what they can do,

0:49:540:49:57

how close they can get to the dreams.

0:49:570:50:00

I believe that it is what we are supposed to do -

0:50:000:50:04

live up to our better instincts.

0:50:040:50:06

# This coat and tie are killin' me

0:50:080:50:10

# And in your high society

0:50:100:50:13

# You cry all day

0:50:130:50:16

# We've been so busy keeping up with the Jones... #

0:50:170:50:21

Their spirit lives on, and that type of constitution

0:50:210:50:25

that these guys had,

0:50:250:50:27

they stood for something that most people just don't have in them.

0:50:270:50:33

It was four of the last great American heroes

0:50:400:50:43

from the 20th century that rode into town,

0:50:430:50:45

that made us love country music, that made us love American music.

0:50:450:50:50

You know what? It was a victory lap, and everybody won.

0:50:500:50:54

Especially us, the listener.

0:50:540:50:55

For every detractor, every record company executive who ever

0:51:010:51:08

sold them short or felt that they were irrelevant or over the hill,

0:51:080:51:15

all of those people are out of this business.

0:51:150:51:17

These guys are still in the business

0:51:170:51:19

and their music is still being played.

0:51:190:51:22

It will be played for hundreds of thousands of years.

0:51:220:51:26

ALL: # Hank Williams pain songs

0:51:260:51:27

# ..train songs

0:51:270:51:29

# Blue eyes crying in the rain... #

0:51:290:51:33

They are still honorary, lonesome and mean.

0:51:350:51:40

LAUGHTER

0:51:400:51:42

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:51:490:51:50

# Well, I taught the weeping willow how to cry, cry, cry

0:52:050:52:09

# And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky

0:52:090:52:14

# And the tears that I cried for that woman

0:52:140:52:16

# Are gonna flood you, Big River

0:52:160:52:18

# Then I'm gonna sit right here until I die

0:52:180:52:22

# I met her accidentally in St Paul, Minnesota

0:52:230:52:28

# And it tore me up to hear her when she'd drawl that Southern drawl

0:52:280:52:32

# Well, I heard my dream went back downstream cavortin' in Davenport

0:52:320:52:37

# But I followed you, Big River, when you called... #

0:52:370:52:40

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