Willie Nelson is lucky to have had good friends to help him face his demons.
In his new book Me and Paul: Untold Stories of a Fabled Friendship, the legendary country star opens up about his 65-year friendship with drummer Paul English, who passed away in 2020.
Read More: Willie Nelson Reveals Scary Covid Battle: ‘I Had I Pretty Rough Time With It’
The artist reveals in the memoir that early in his career, English helps steer him through a period of deep and dark depression.
“Looking back over my life, my early days in Nashville were a definite low point,” Nelson writes, in an excerpt published by People. “I’m not one to easily fall prey to depression, but depression had me in its grips.”
He recalls that during a night of heavy drinking, “I thought about an old song I’d heard Lightnin’ Hopkins cut back at Gold Studios in Houston.
In his new book Me and Paul: Untold Stories of a Fabled Friendship, the legendary country star opens up about his 65-year friendship with drummer Paul English, who passed away in 2020.
Read More: Willie Nelson Reveals Scary Covid Battle: ‘I Had I Pretty Rough Time With It’
The artist reveals in the memoir that early in his career, English helps steer him through a period of deep and dark depression.
“Looking back over my life, my early days in Nashville were a definite low point,” Nelson writes, in an excerpt published by People. “I’m not one to easily fall prey to depression, but depression had me in its grips.”
He recalls that during a night of heavy drinking, “I thought about an old song I’d heard Lightnin’ Hopkins cut back at Gold Studios in Houston.
- 9/19/2022
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
Willie Nelson will explore his many adventures with late drummer Paul English in his new book, Me and Paul: Untold Tales of a Fabled Friendship, set to be released Sept. 20 via Harper Horizon.
A member of Nelson’s band since 1966, English was renowned for his tough, outlaw style and served as the group’s de facto bodyguard in addition to his drumming duties. He adopted a persona called “The Devil,” matching the name with an evil-looking goatee and wearing a cape. He earned a reputation for fist fights as well...
A member of Nelson’s band since 1966, English was renowned for his tough, outlaw style and served as the group’s de facto bodyguard in addition to his drumming duties. He adopted a persona called “The Devil,” matching the name with an evil-looking goatee and wearing a cape. He earned a reputation for fist fights as well...
- 6/30/2022
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
On a quiet afternoon outside Texas’ oldest dance hall in 2013, Paul English sat in the back of his tour bus, counting money. Though he would be playing drums that night with his boss, Willie Nelson, the 81-year-old English also had other responsibilities: collecting payments from promoters, and handling sound, lighting, hotel bills, and payroll for Nelson and his 19-person traveling crew. This had been English’s job since the Sixties, back when they played dive bars. English, an intimidating character with a criminal past, made sometimes dodgy promoters pay up — occasionally using a pistol.
- 2/14/2020
- by Patrick Doyle
- Rollingstone.com
Paul English, Willie Nelson’s longtime drummer who was immortalized in Nelson’s road song “Me & Paul,” has died at 87. Nelson’s publicist confirmed English’s death to Rolling Stone.
Born in 1932 in Vernon, Texas, English joined Nelson’s Family Band in 1966 and continued to perform with Nelson up until his death, sharing percussion duties with his younger brother Billy English. Known for his tough but flamboyant style, English was not only Nelson’s drummer, but also his enforcer and de facto bodyguard. In a 2015 deep-dive feature for Oxford American,...
Born in 1932 in Vernon, Texas, English joined Nelson’s Family Band in 1966 and continued to perform with Nelson up until his death, sharing percussion duties with his younger brother Billy English. Known for his tough but flamboyant style, English was not only Nelson’s drummer, but also his enforcer and de facto bodyguard. In a 2015 deep-dive feature for Oxford American,...
- 2/12/2020
- by Joseph Hudak
- Rollingstone.com
Nearly 45 years after he ushered in one of the most influential music series on television in the last half-century, Willie Nelson returns this weekend to Austin City Limits for the 18th time.
In this exclusive clip from the upcoming episode, Nelson seems to be playing off those impressive figures and his history with the PBS series. He shifts the tone of the opening line of one of his most enduring tunes, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” from melancholy to celebratory, addressing the audience with a more spoken than sung “Well,...
In this exclusive clip from the upcoming episode, Nelson seems to be playing off those impressive figures and his history with the PBS series. He shifts the tone of the opening line of one of his most enduring tunes, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” from melancholy to celebratory, addressing the audience with a more spoken than sung “Well,...
- 1/23/2019
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Eric Church was among the guests at Saturday night’s all-star musical tribute to Willie Nelson, held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. For his turn on the stage, Church even sang one of the country’s legend’s great road songs, “Me and Paul.”
The title track from Nelson’s 32nd studio album released in 1985, “Me and Paul” nods to Nelson’s drummer Paul English — a devilish figure who wore an outlandish cape — and imagines the outlaw life to resemble something akin to that of a running and gunning country musician.
The title track from Nelson’s 32nd studio album released in 1985, “Me and Paul” nods to Nelson’s drummer Paul English — a devilish figure who wore an outlandish cape — and imagines the outlaw life to resemble something akin to that of a running and gunning country musician.
- 1/14/2019
- by Jon Freeman
- Rollingstone.com
For the latest episode of Dwight Yoakam and the Bakersfield Beat on SiriusXM, the Grammy winner sat down for a jam session with guest Lukas Nelson for a joyous cover of Willie Nelson’s 1971 classic “Me and Paul.”
Written about the elder Nelson’s mishaps with his drummer Paul English, “Me and Paul” first appeared on that year’s Yesterday’s Wine LP before later lending its name to the Red Headed Stranger’s 1985 album Me & Paul. (In between, Waylon Jennings added his own version, with a nod to fellow outlaw singer Tompall Glaser.
Written about the elder Nelson’s mishaps with his drummer Paul English, “Me and Paul” first appeared on that year’s Yesterday’s Wine LP before later lending its name to the Red Headed Stranger’s 1985 album Me & Paul. (In between, Waylon Jennings added his own version, with a nod to fellow outlaw singer Tompall Glaser.
- 10/1/2018
- by Jeff Gage
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Tech titans Wayne Chang and Paul English have launched Wicked Magic Productions. After seeding Silicon Valley startups, they will do the same in entertainment, and produce and co-finance features. Their first is Coup D’Etat, a satire that has been completed and will be shopped shortly for distribution with a cast that includes Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Jason Biggs, Seth Green and Odeya Rush. Political turmoil prompts a British-Caribbean dictator to flee his…...
- 4/6/2017
- Deadline
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