Willie Nelson is first country star to receive Gershwin Prize

In 1984, Willie Nelson embarked on his first tour of Japan. In every city, throngs of fans greeted the country star and his band.

Harmonica player Mickey Raphael, who’s been in Nelson’s band, the Family, since 1973 and is as much a part of his sound as Nelson’s beloved, battered guitar Trigger, remembers that some audience members would try to mimic the way they thought Nelson — a native Texan — dressed.

“There was a guy in the hotel in Tokyo who was wearing those big, wooly chaps, a 10 gallon hat, a vest and a toy gun,” Raphael remembers. “I go, ‘What’s your name?’ He puts his hands on his hips and he goes, ‘Tex.’”

Such is the influence of Willie Nelson. His work crosses oceans, genre boundaries and generation gaps. At 82, Nelson has been in the music business for six decades, written some of the most enduring songs of the 20th century and won nearly every award a songwriter and performer can win.

On Wednesday, he will add one more honor when he receives the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The prestigious award honors a living performer and/or composer whose contributions to popular music exemplify the standard of excellence associated with George and Ira Gershwin. Nelson is the first country music artist to receive this award; previous recipients have included Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and Carole King.

His legendary career will be celebrated in Washington's DAR Constitution Hall by a collection of stellar artists, including Paul Simon, Neil Young, Alison Krauss, Raul Malo of The Mavericks, Jamey Johnson, Rosanne Cash, Edie Brickell, Leon Bridges, Ana Gabriel, Promise of the Real and Buckwheat Zydeco. (The concert will be taped and is scheduled to air on PBS on Jan. 15.)

In many ways, says the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Michael McCall, Nelson is a true American success story. “He showed people that you don’t always have to follow the formula in order to be successful," McCall says. "Willie’s been a pioneer, followed his own muse, and had success at that, which encourages other people to do so.

“One thing that people don’t always realize is how much of a hustler he was," McCall adds. "If you look at his early life, he did every kind of work there is before he moved to Nashville. He was a bouncer, made saddles, sold auto parts, worked in the oil fields…he always went after things. It’s such an American thing, to find your own way like that. He found his way outside of the system and eventually made the system work for him.”

These days, Nelson’s bandanna and long, red braids are his trademark, but promo photos taken of him after he arrived in Nashville in 1960 depict a clean-cut young man in a cardigan. In Nashville, he found a place among songwriters like Hank Cochran. Nelson found success as a songwriter when Faron Young’s recording of his “Hello Walls” topped the charts in 1961 and Patsy Cline recorded her heartbreaking rendition, “Crazy,” soon after, but his own recordings didn’t perform nearly as well.

In the early 1970s, Nelson moved back to Texas. He formed his backing band, the Family, and began making a name for himself as a performer. His music drew on Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz and the classic country sounds of Lefty Frizzell. “The clubs down there had both cowboys and hippies,” remembers Raphael, and Nelson’s music appealed to both demographics.

Nelson decided to try making records again, but this time, he’d do it his way. His 1973 Atlantic Records debut, “Shotgun Willie,” would establish him as one of the keystones of outlaw country, a movement that was a direct response to the lush, string-heavy Nashville Sound and slick countrypolitan recordings coming out of Music City. “Shotgun Willie” would be followed by gem after gem, including the sparse concept album, “Red Headed Stranger;” the tribute record “To Lefty, From Willie,” and “Stardust,” a collection of standards. “I think he really opened up the idea of what you could do with a country song just as much as Johnny Cash or Hank Williams had done before him, and Kris Kristofferson afterwards,” says McCall

Since his breakthrough as a recording artist all those years ago, Nelson has become a music legend and cultural icon. He's written books, starred in movies, been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and championed various social causes, all while touring relentlessly and recording with everyone from Waylon Jennings to Ray Charles to Norah Jones to Snoop Dogg.

His timeless songs have touched multiple generations, and at live performances, the audience ranges from grammar school kids to their grandparents. According to Raphael, who's had the best seat in the house for 42 years, part of the appeal lies in the universality of Nelson's lyrics: "Everybody knows that the night life ain’t no good life, everybody knows that love can make you crazy, and everybody wants to go on the road again," he says.

Most men his age would retire, but Nelson is still as prolific and relevant as ever. This year he and Merle Haggard released a chart-topping album called "Django and Jimmie" and his annual Farm Aid benefit concert celebrated its 30th anniversary; he's also played approximately 100 dates this year, including performances at the Ryman Auditorium and Pilgrimage Festival. Next year he'll reportedly release at least one new album and perform two nights at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

“I think he’s just getting better as an artist and as a guitar player,” says Raphael. He adds, “When I first started playing with him we’d play a lot of country dances…he’d still be doing the same thing if he didn’t have the major success that he’s had, because he truly loves to play. He’ll do it as long as there’s somebody to listen.”

GERSHWIN PRIZE RECIPIENTS

2007: Paul Simon

2009: Stevie Wonder

2010: Paul McCartney

2012: Burt Bacharach and Hal David

2013: Carole King

2014: Billy Joel

According to the Library of Congress website, when selecting a recipient of the Gershwin Prize, Librarian of Congress James Billington (who held the position from 1987 until Sept. 2015) "consulted leading members of the music and entertainment communities, as well as curators from the Library’s Music Division, American Folklife Center and Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division."