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By GINA VIVINETTO
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 4, 2001
CLEARWATER -- Willie Nelson is the perfect American icon. Doesn't the legendary country singer have everything in common with our nation's forefathers? An outlaw through and through, Nelson has always spoken to plain folks as well as to the hippie contingent. He champions causes of the common man, such as Farm Aid. Like George Washington, he wears his hair long. And, as his legal battles in the early 1990s proved, Nelson, like the great men who founded this country, does not like to pay taxes.
Friday night found Nelson, who, unbelievably, turns 68 this year, charming a sellout crowd of more than 2,200 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Nelson delivered more than two hours worth of favorites, songs he penned, or songs the eclectic singer has made his own, all done inventively in two signature American sounds: country and blues, in honor of last year's Milk Cow Blues, Nelson's first entirely blues album.
Nelson walked onstage, in black jeans and T-shirt, hair to his behind, to a standing ovation before he had even strapped on his guitar. The crowd, not much younger than the singer, hooted and hollered. This bunch was down-to-earth and as rebellious in attitude as Nelson. Nelson and his band of seven musicians kicked into Whiskey River, then zipped through a medley that included Funny How Time Slips Away and Crazy, the song Nelson wrote, but Patsy Cline made a hit.
The ensemble fell into jams. Nelson's little sister Bobbie played delicious boogie-woogie piano, perfectly accommodating the curdling riffs of electric guitarists Jody Payne and Jackie King. When Mickey Raphael kicked in on harmonica -- well, the group soared.
One forgets how many tunes Nelson is known for. Or how many the daredevil singer has swiped and made his own. Once Nelson puts his spin on a song, it's his. Nelson's is a unique style. His singing, notoriously nasal, requires a kind ear, but it's filled with charm. His voice is unembellished, his phrasing completely askew; he can take a simple lyric and wring truth from it. His guitar playing, too, is challenging. Nelson did it all on Friday, including a delightful instrumental reading of Cole Porter's Night and Day. In true American spirit, Nelson is an artist unafraid of tackling new terrain, and for that, he remains not only vital, but necessary.