Friday, December 07, 2012

ROLL ME UP AND SMOKE ME WHEN I DIE


Love the title !!

Two great storytellers - singer/songwriter Willie Nelson and author Kinky Friedman - team up to deliver a heart-warming, colourful, and wild holiday tale of faith, hope, hard work, and redemption which may well become a seasonal classic.

Nashville 1971. As the year drew to a close, Willie Nelson wasn't exactly feeling the spirit of the season. A stalled career, music executives hounding him for a formulaic “Nashville Sound” hit, and, consequently, an unsettled personal life all contributed to his holiday blues. One day, he wrote, "What Can You Do to Me Now"? The next day, his house burned down. Willie saw it as a sign that things had to change, and from that moment on, he vowed he would blaze his own path, with his music and his life - no matter if anyone else understood or approved. 

After that life-changing period, Willie began making music his own way. Heading back to his native Texas, he reinvented himself and resurrected his career, got back on the road, and penned songs that miraculously brought hippies, bikers, and rednecks together in one audience for the first time. That success would propel him to the top of the “outlaw movement” - an authentic “rebel” sound and attitude that defied Nashville’s traditional law-and-order authoritarianism - and seal his status as a beloved American folk hero. 
 ROLL ME UP AND SMOKE ME WHEN I DIE recounts that special holiday season and the inspiring results that followed that watershed moment. But unlike other seasonal tales, it features wild, colourful tales of Willie’s hijinks, told in his unique voice.

About the Authors: Born in Abbott, Texas, on April 29, 1933, Willie Nelson is one of the most popular, prolific, and influential songwriters and singers in the history of American music. 
Kinky Friedman is an author, musician, defender of strays, cigar smoker, and the Governor of the Heart of Texas.

Wm.Morrow (Harper Collins) - NZ RRP: 36.99

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