Those were the days! Willie, Waylon and the boys.
Here I am working in Phoenix, AZ. on a newspaper. I have my own column. I am single, footloose and fancy free.
During the day I write stories about things that interest me, everything from reviews of restaurants like Bill Johnson's Big Apple, to feature stories about the Thunderbird Country Club or a discovery of gold at the Garden of Allah Ranch near Wickenburg.
Someone sends me a letter about a musician named Waylon Jennings at J.D.'S River Bottom in Tempe.
"He's good," the letter writer says. "You gotta check him out." And so I do.
Waylon turns out to be a decent clean-shaven cowboy type who hits a mean note on country music. The girls love him. Night after night he packs the country western place. I write a couple of reviews about him. We become friends.
On weekends I play poker at the casinos in the Valley of the Sun. Poker leads to money, money leads to girls. My social life soars like a rising Chinese rocket!
I begin handicapping the horses at Turf Paradise. A typical Saturday has me at the race track from noon until 5 p.m., then off to Talking Stick, Wild Horse Pass or the American Legion Post One which has a poker game in the back room three times a week. Life could not be better.
The biggest night club in Phoenix is Mr. Lucky's. On weekends the joint has a country band upstairs and a wild rock band downstairs. The parking lot has space for 6,000 cars and on weekends you need to find a place off the lot to park.
My sister Debbie has a job as cocktail waitress at Mr. Lucky's. She keeps me posted on who is coming to town - Glen Campbell, George Jones, Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson. She even finds out where they are staying and provides me with their room numbers so I can arrange interviews with them.
That is how I meet Willie Nelson. We do an interview and I discover he has teamed p with Waylon Jennings to do an album together.
"He's a nice guy," Willie says. 'Very talented. I like him."
It doesn't take long but Waylon changes. His hair grows long and he starts growing a beard. His music changes, too. It takes on a defiant outlaw sound he never had before. His fame explodes as he and Willie become the kings of the outlaws.
During an interview at Mr. Lucky's, Willie reveals to me he has smoked marijuana with his daughter. Being a drinker of beer and chardonnay in those days I have trouble believing it and challenge him on the subject.
"Son, don't knock it til you've tried it," Willie tells me. "It got me off booze and made me a lot more creative."
And so I try it and, dang me, Willie is right! I curtail my drinking, turn to the blessed herb, and find it even helps my poker play.
The years pass. Waylon passes away after having his feet amputated. But Willie Nelson keeps going.
He is scheduled to appear in Charleston, S.C. where I live with my daughter and grandkids on Jan. 9. I plan to try to arrange for another interview with him. I want to talk to him about his friendship with Waylon. I hope he'll grand me that interview.
My daughter and her new boy friend Ken have been learning how to play poker. They plan to accompany me to Jacksonville, FL. and the BestBet poker room this weekend. They will play in a no limit Texas Hold'em tournament. I have big hopes for their success.
Even if they don't win, we'll have fun!
Hey, Willie told me it was okay to smoke ganja with your daughter.
I wonder how he feels about playing poker?
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
