Sign-In
Cart
Picnic: Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Tradition
Hardcover
Series: Texas Music Series, Sponsored by the Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University
MusiciansCountry & FolkMusic Reference
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN13: 9781648431944
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: Apr 15 2024
Pages: 304
Weight: 1.55
Height: 1.20 Width: 6.20 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
In 1973, a forty-year-old country musician named Willie Nelson, inspired by a failed music festival the year before, decided he was going to hold his own party. He would stage it in the same remote and rocky field where the previous festival had withered. And he'd do it in July: not the hottest part of the Central Texas summer, but damn sure close enough, according to music journalist Dave Dalton Thomas. As unlikely as it seemed in 1973, Willie kept the event going, minus a year off here and there, for half a century.
Thomas has attended nearly every Willie Nelson Fourth of July Picnic since 1995, finding joy in an event some music reporters have compared to death marches and prison labor. For the last 20 years, Thomas has researched the history of the Picnic, chronicling the brutal heat and the quirky and sometimes illegal antics of fans, musicians, and others. Thomas has watched the Picnic evolve over the decades, as Willie and his audience have evolved. He has interviewed participants, including artists, organizers, promoters, and even a few colorful hangers-on.
While reviewing ten of the Picnics in detail--each chosen for its significance in the overarching development of the event--Thomas also includes basic facts about each gathering, from the beginning to the present, with the addition of pertinent information about the off years, when the Picnic was on temporary hiatus for one reason or another.
In his introduction, Thomas quotes country musician Johnny Bush as he recalls trying to talk Nelson out of the notion of holding the first Picnic. Willie, there ain't no way in hell a bunch of cowboys are going to come out in the hundred-degree heat to watch us pick our guitars. As Thomas records them, Bush's next words were he proved me wrong.
Also in
Country & Folk
The Little Guide to Dolly Parton: It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World
Hippo! Orange
Hardcover
Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever
Fairbanks, Brian
Hardcover
My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future
Randall, Alice
Hardcover
Dolly Parton All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
Benoît, Simon
Somville, Damien
Walker, Lalie
Hardcover
Truckload of Art: The Life and Work of Terry Allen--An Authorized Biography
Greaves, Brendan
Hardcover
100 Years of Grand OLE Opry: A Celebration of the Artists, the Fans, and the Home of Country Music
Grand Ole Opry
Hardcover
My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future
Randall, Alice
Paperback
A Chance to Harmonize: How Fdr's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression--One Song at a Time
Kaskowitz, Sheryl
Hardcover
Bound for Glory: The Hard-Driving, Truth-Telling Autobiography of America's Great Poet-Folk Singer
Guthrie, Woody
Paperback
Cold War Country: How Nashville's Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism
Thompson, Joseph M.
Paperback
Circle It, Dolly Parton Facts, Word Search, Puzzle Book (Large Print Edition)
Schumacher, Maria
Schumacher, Mark
Lowry Global Media LLC
Paperback
Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track Expanded Edition
Guesdon, Jean-Michel
Margotin, Philippe
Hardcover
In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985
Himes, Geoffrey
Paperback
Chopping Wood: Thoughts & Stories of a Legendary American Folksinger
Bernz, David
Seeger, Pete
Paperback
Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
Orr, Doug
Ritchie, Fiona
Paperback
Slave Songs of the United States: 136 Songs Complete with Sheet Music and Notes on Slavery and African-American History
Allen, William Francis
Paperback
Circle It, Willie Nelson Facts, Word Search, Puzzle Book (Large Print Edition)
Lowry Global Media LLC
Schumacher, Maria
Schumacher, Mark
Paperback
Love and Some Verses: A Collection of Lyrics, Photos, Art, and Ephemera from Iron & Wine
Beam, Sam
Hardcover
Rocky Mountain Highway: Stories and Photos of My 25 Years Traveling with John Denver
Norman, Lowell
Hardcover
Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival
Guarino, Mark
Paperback
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison: The Making of a Masterpiece, Revised and Updated
Streissguth, Michael
Paperback
Be a Diamond: Decades of Dolly Parton's Style (an Unofficial Coloring Book)
Dover Publications
Paperback
I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night: The History of a Classic American Labor Song
Smith, Craig
Paperback
My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future (Large Print Edition)
Randall, Alice
Hardcover
Fiddle Tab - Celtic Collection: 30 Celtic Fiddle Tunes with Easy Read Tablature and Notes
Robitaille, Brent C.
Paperback
Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music
Menconi, David
Hardcover
Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913
Wolff, Daniel
Paperback
Arhoolie Records Down Home Music: The Stories and Photographs of Chris Strachwitz
Selvin, Joel
Hardcover
Makin' A Joyful Noise: The Lives and Times of the (Slightly) Fabulous Limeliters
Ginell, Richard S.
Paperback
In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985
Himes, Geoffrey
Hardcover
John Duffey's Bluegrass Life: FEATURING THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN, SELDOM SCENE, AND WASHINGTON, D.C. - Second Edition
Moore, Stephen
Keplinger, G. T.
Paperback
The First 100 Picking Patterns for Guitar: The Beginner's Guide to Perfect Fingerpicking on Guitar
Alexander, Joseph
Paperback
Forever and Ever, Amen: A Memoir of Music, Faith, and Braving the Storms of Life
Travis, Randy
Paperback
Songs and Sounds of the Anti-Rent Movement in Upstate New York: Including Twenty-Two New Settings of Period Tunes
Newman, Nancy
Hardcover
A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks
Gill, Andy
Odegard, Kevin
Paperback
Boxing the Compass: A Century and a Half of Discourse About Sailor's Chanties
Schreffler, Gibb
Paperback
40 Old Time Bluegrass Songs - Tenor Banjo Songbook for Beginners with Tabs and Chords
Upclaire, Peter
Paperback
Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival
Guarino, Mark
Hardcover
Highways and Heartaches: How Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, and Children of the New South Saved the Soul of Country Music
Streissguth, Michael
Hardcover
Tommy Emmanuel's Fingerstyle Guitar Milestones
Emmanuel, Tommy
Alexander, Joseph
Pettingale, Tim
Paperback
The Martin Ukulele: The Little Instrument That Helped Create a Guitar Giant
Walsh, Tom
King, John
Paperback
Martial Sound: Drumming Empowerment in Diasporic Chinese Kung Fu and Lion Dance
McGuire, Colin P.
Paperback
Beginner Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar: The Complete Guide to Playing Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar
Pratt, Simon
Alexander, Joseph
Paperback
On the Road with the Oak Ridge Boys: Forty Years of Untold Stories and Adventures
Bonsall, Joseph S.
Paperback
Tin Whistle - A Complete Guide to Playing Irish Traditional Music on the Whistle
Ducke, Stephen
Paperback
Country Music's Greatest Lines: Lyrics, Stories and Sketches from American Classics
Braddock, Bobby
Paperback
Music in Pacific Island Cultures: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture
Diettrich, Brian
Freeman Moulin, Jane
Webb, Michael
Paperback
The Giant Book of Christmas Sheet Music For Violin: 66 Top-Requested Christmas Songs for Violin Music Book Vol 2
Ferguson, Jessica
Paperback
Barley Break: An Elizabethan Songbook with Arrangements for Appalachin Dulcimer
Lee, Lorraine
Paperback
Texas Ukulele: The Plucky History of a Hawaiian Instrument in the Lone Star State
Campbell, Jeff
Paperback