C&I’s celebration of Willie Nelson's magnum opus album, Red Headed Stranger, begins with the story of who Willie was before and after being struck by life-changing lyrical inspiration.
Fifty years after the release of the classic country album, Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson and his landmark record are being celebrated around the world. The City of Garland, Texas, is where Red Headed Stranger was recorded in a single room in a state-of-the-art studio — befitting the triumph of minimalism that served as a hallmark of Willie’s escape and freedom from the gawdy excesses of Nashville. There is a multi-day event there scheduled this weekend to honor the anniversary, complete with an opening-night screening of the TV movie version of Red Headed Stranger.
By the time Red Headed Stranger emerged as a made-for-TV movie on CBS, the “new” Willie had become a whole lot more than a popular country singer. He was an icon. Between the time Red Headed Stranger was released as an album in 1975 and as a movie in 1986, Willie had recorded no fewer than 10 No. 1-selling country albums, the most popular being Stardust, which since its release in 1978 has sold more than 5 million copies.
Jimmy Carter served as U.S. president from 1977 until Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981, casting Willie’s net even wider by inviting him to the White House and making sure that the guy from Abbott, Texas, was known far and wide as the 39th president’s favorite musician.
Future President Carter invited Willie to sing Ray Charles’ “Georgia on My Mind” on the campaign trail in 1976 and in 2002 in Oslo, Norway, where Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
“I think as much as any performer who has ever lived, Willie has had an intimate and natural relationship with working people,” Carter said.
“When I was in trouble in the White House or needed to be alone, just to relax — I’m a fly fisherman, and I would tie flies in my study, where Truman used to work, while Willie Nelson songs played on the hi-fi. So, all the good things I did or, of course, all the mistakes I made, you could kind of blame half that on Willie.”
Red Headed Stranger transformed not only Willie’s career but also his life. And yet, its history might not have happened had it not been for a woman named Connie Nelson (nee Koepke), who became Willie’s wife in 1971. They remained married, she says with a laugh, “for 20 years and six days. I really loved him and threw myself in 100 percent.”
Connie says the musical transformation soon extended to Willie’s looks. That, too, unfolded in 1972, when Connie traveled to a car dealership in Big Spring, Texas, to pick up the couple’s new Buick. During the trip, Willie’s then-wife stopped by a record store in Big Spring, where an album playing over the speaker prompted her to say, “Whoa, whoa, who is that?” It was a record called Carney, by an artist named Leon Russell.
Connie was so mesmerized by Carney that, after buying a cassette of it, she pulled up to a phone booth and frantically called Willie just to play it for him. He, too, reacted with a “Whoa!” Soon, Connie and Willie found themselves at a Leon Russell concert, becoming not only big fans but also fast friends. And therein lie the seeds of another transformation. Inspired by Russell, “Willie started to let his hair grow,” Connie says, soon morphing into a man that stood a world apart from the blue blazer-Howdy Doody dude seen at live shows just months earlier.
“Willie hated his dimples,” Connie says, “which became a good reason for him to grow out his beard.”
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Connie’s legacy as Willie’s wife is now chiseled into the history of Willie folklore, in particular her role in helping him punch a ticket to transformation. The seeds of Red Headed Stranger were sewn on a road trip to the Rocky Mountains, when Willie and Connie were driving home to Texas from a skiing trip in Steamboat Springs, where the Nelsons had gone to visit a friend of Willie’s, an Olympic alpine gold medalist named Billy Kidd. On the return trip to their new home in Austin, Willie opened up, telling Connie he had a deadline looming for an album, his first on the legendary label, Columbia Records. He wanted it to be special. But at the moment, there was nothing in his head to suggest even the beginnings of a record. He was not unlike a college kid, who, the night before the final, has yet to crack open the book.
So, on a dime, Connie hatched a plan. Willie had entered the marriage with Connie as a father of three. Together, he and Connie produced two more, both girls. With all five — he’s now the father of eight — Willie loved to sing them to sleep, a favorite story-in-a-song being “Tale of the Red Headed Stranger,” written years earlier by Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith. Willie knew it well, having also sung it while hosting a radio show in Fort Worth.
He murmured to Connie, somewhat in desperation, “Help me think of something.” To which she replied, “Why don’t you do ‘Tale of the Red Headed Stranger’? Put a bunch of songs around it and make it come alive. And that’s when he said, ‘Grab a pen and some paper.’ ” ...
EDITOR'S NOTE: Of course, this is only the beginning of the legendary story of Red Headed Stranger. Get ready for more on Willie Nelson and his magnum opus album in an upcoming issue of C&I.
Order a copy of Red Headed Stranger and other Willie Nelson merch here.
Where They Laid It Down ...
Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Willie Nelson’s Red Headed Stranger in Downtown Garland, Texas, May 16–17, 2025. On Friday, catch a screening of the 1986 Red Headed Stranger film at the Plaza Theatre, followed by a panel with journalist Michael Granberry, Willie's costar Morgan Fairchild, biographer Joe Nick Patoski, and artist Joshua Ray Walker (7 p.m., $15). Saturday features free Fringe Concerts downtown (3–6 p.m.), memorabilia exhibits, and a star-studded tribute concert at Granville Arts Center (8 p.m.) with Ray Benson, Rhett Miller, and more. All events support Garland’s official designation as a Texas Music Friendly City. Full details and tickets at GarlandArts.com.
Photography: (Featured image) Excerpt from a piece by Robert Tanenbaum, from the poster for the film adaptation.
