Arkansas Blog

No.
But we have tickets for Bob Dylan next month!

Willie is a burned out old 71 ex-hippie. I don't even watch his movies.

er, I meant 75 YEAR OLD.......

Big crowd. Probably 6,500-7,000. Boiling hot until sundown, when it got bearable. Both BB and Willie show their age and aren't exactly dynamic. But those there were ready to cut them some slack and just be happy to be seeing two bonafide legends, maybe for the last time. All in all, enjoyable, but an 82-year-old and 75-year-old aren't exactly balls o' fire.

Will Mick and the stones quit rockin at 70? Jagger is 5 years away.

Willie has COPD which means he's operating on less than 50% oxy and besides
this is all he knows how to do.

No, I wasn't there but would have been worth enduring the steam bath of
L.R. to attend.

It disappoints me to read some of the comments on this page. Willie Nelson and BB King are musical icons. Too old to perform? Are you kidding me? These men can still bring a crowd to their feet just by picking a guitar. The nostalgic atmospere that surrounds them is larger than life, and the crowds that come to support them range from young children to senior citizens. That in itself is a testament to the wide variety of fans that these artists touch with their music. I saw thousands of people last night that didn't mind the heat...they were just happy to be in the presence of these great legends. I am trully thankful that I had the opportunity to be there last night. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Willie Nelson is still fun to go see and listen too. you kow its gonna be a quite and relaxing good time.

Night life indeed....

This is a LOL hoot I just ran across.

clicky

Sorry Cato, your comment sounds like "sour grapes" from someone who missed the party.

Willie is an original and the first country-western performer who convinced me that the genre wasn't all beer-bloated, gun-toting, whining about the wife/husband leaving or cheating. And B.B. is my third favorite blues guitarist.

I'm sorry I missed it, but I couldn't miss a birthday party.

click the handle for an illustration of the comments

Saw Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristopherson, and of course, Johnny Cash once in Greenwich Village< Colorado, but the town has a sound ordinance because the wealthy and powerful from the Denver area live there and don't want any noise in the evening. Could barely hear them from the eleventh row. Bought the tickets for my Dad and Stepmom, but good ol' Dad didn't want to go. So the night of the concert Dear old stepmom shows up with tickets in hand asking if my wife and I wanted to go. I hated to waste the money I spent on the tickets for Dad's birthday, so we made the thirty plus mile drive in from Kiowa, Co. and watched the "Highway Men". I'm sure it would have been better if the sound had been at least a little louder. My mother's favorite song before she passed away was, "An Angel Flying to close to the ground." Ah what fun, such memories! The Stones were better at B-Line Speedway in Phoenix, Az. when I was eight. At least I can hone4stly say, I saw them back then!

I first saw BB in 1982 or 83 above 7,000 feet elevation outside Santa Fe... tiny little outside shell of an amphitheater (Paulo Solarium?) on what felt like the top of the world under this biggest sky imaginable... John Lee Hooker opened up for him.. When John Lee walked out on the platform stage below us.. I thought to myself.. that guy may not live long enough to get to his microphone in the middle of the stage.. Little did I know in less than a couple of years time.. I would be invited into John Lee's home christmas party.. with none other than John Lee and Van Morrison sitting around the living room playing songs...but that is another story.

Anyway, John Lee and BB both ripped the Blues a new one, on top of the world that night. Heck I would pay money to sit with BB in silence while meditating on the Blues... the man is both a living legend and a master.

God save the King and Lucille!

I LOVE this comment about sitting in silence and meditating on the blues with BB. And, you know, Willie Nelson is great Artist. All this balls 'o fire nonsense is nothing compared to the wisdom that comes from a great musician in later years. It is truly too bad that there's anybody out there who wouldn't have the ears to hear that, but I remember hearing Duke Ellington live on his last concert tour. I was very young and I didn't get it, couldn't hear it, couldn't assimilate it for beans. Decades later I realized what a genius he was and still is.

The best outdoor concert in downtown Little Rock was Tina Turner in probably 1992. Her last, big hit album was out...she had about three songs on the radio. She just rocked that night in Little Rock. She owned the crowd....we were in the second row down front and it was just a magical night. The Eagles at War Memorial was a pretty good show also.....

Forget Viagra, give me whatever Willie and BB are taking. 10 or 12 years ago I had the great accidental pleasure to attend Charles Browns last public performance in Eureka Springs at their Blues Festival. I have to admit I didn't even know who he was that night. They brought him to the auditorium by ambulance and carried this old shriveled black man up to the grand piano on stage. The minute his hands touched the keys, 50 years rolled off his age. He gave the most gorgeous musical performance I have ever had the opportunity to witness life. 30 seconds into his first number I became a big fan.

Mr. Brown was smoother than STP on black velvet and all his years of experience had taught him that less is so often much more. I'll never forget that night. They carried Mr. Brown off the stage to a standing ovation and he was dead within a month. So cheers to all you who got to see not one, but two living legends last night. There likes will never come again.

I saw Willie two years ago at Farm Aid in Camden, N.J. He ended the show with a bunch of others on stage with him, including Neil (Let's Impeach the President for Lying) Young.
My favorite blues shows were seeing Albert King at Hank's Doghouse in the early-mid 80s. My cousin knew him and we went to the dressing room before the show. It was awing.

Eureka, how lucky. John Lee Hooker and BB King. WOW!

Willie is great. I need to keep up with LR happenings. I'm missing out.
StrangeTImes, I imagine Ms Tina is out of this world. Hell those legs are incredible at any age.
I regret not going to see Elton John a few years ago. they say he was awesome.

**sigh**...I need to get out more.

Who is John Lee Hooker??????????
Must admit I don't know much about country music, but love most everything Willie ever
did........but, I wouldn't call him pure country.
His, *City of New Orleans,* is my fave...........can listen to it over n over n over.........

jazzy! John Lee Hooker? Hum Hum Hum How! "City of New Orleans" was written by late, great Steve Goodman. Steve also gave David Allan Coe one of his big hits, "You Never Even Call Me By My Name."

Back in my Chicago days, I loved seeing Steve Goodman, John Prine, and the lesser-known Jim Post play together. Jim Post had a novelty song, "Brain Damage," that Dr. Demento frequently played on his radio show.

Sure Willie Nelson, 75, and BB KIng, 82, ain't what they once were, but they were worth every effort to see and they still commanded from the steamy audience the respect their stunning carreers and talent deserve.

I noticed one didn't have to sneak around to shoot pictures and video at the show. Cell phone, digital cameras, and cell phone cameras were blazing during songs like bic lighters in the '70's show.

There's some YouTube very raw footage of Willie & BB together along with a a couple of Willie songs from Friday night's concert.

Thanks Happy Camper.

cato, willie only made a few movies. don't comment on things you don't know about.

Oh, I love Willie! I have seen him many times. I also love Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Kris, George Jones, all the older stars.
We'll see Merle next weekend in Melbourne at the Ozark Throwdown. Totally looking forward to it.