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At Ease, The Battalion
Friday, November 12, 1982
Willie takes time to play at A&M
Red-headed stranger
comes to town
by Dana Smelser
Battalion Staff
The red-headed stranger is on
the road again, and on this tour
Willie and the boys will be pull
ing into G. Rollie White Col
iseum for a concert on Friday,
Nov. 19. _
Willie Nelson, is the 49-year-
old man who wears his long hair
in braids, has topped the music
charts in recent years with a
style of music that includes
country, rock, folk and middle-
of-the-road pop, without really
belonging to any of them.
Although Nelson is a re
spected musician who has re
ceived national acclaim, he was
singing honky-tonk music in
Texas roadhouses as long ago as
the 1950s. He ventured to Nash
ville in the 1960s, but his earthy
singing style seemed to go
against the grain of the slick
sound that was vogue during
that era.
Nelson decided to stick to
songwriting and his acceptance
as a songwriter came quickly.
The late Patsy Cline had a huge
hit with Nelson's "Crazy.”
Since, a variety of artists have
recorded Nelson's work, includ
ing Elvis Presley, Linda Ron-
stadt. Perry Como, Ray Charles,
Doris Day , Andy Williams and
Bing Crosby.
He wasn't satisfied with just
writing, so Nelson came back to
Texas in 1969 to find a market for
his music and singing style. He
realized that many young peo
ple had an interest in country
music but their hair was too long
to get into any country music
clubs. So, Nelson performed at
one of the most celebrated rock
clubs and tested his theory, and
he was right. Nelson was ready
to begin his new career.
Nelson continued to go un
noticed until 1975 when Red
Headed Stranger was released.
"Blue Eyes Cryin In the Rain," a
tune released from the album,
quickly went to the number one
spot. Later in the year, it won
Nelson his first Grammy Award
for Best Male Country Perfor
mer. His career took off.
Nelson's latest album. You're
Always On My Mind," is the
number one album on the coun
try music charts.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert
are $10, $11.50 and $12 and can
be bought at the MSC Box
Office.
Post offices are alive
with sounds of music
by David Hatch
Battalion Reporter
Recording doesn't only mean
big business for singers; it also
means big bucks for mail-order
businesses.
The two record clubs that
offer the most popular selec
tions also are two of the largest
mail-order businesses in the na
tion.
Because Columbia record and
tape club and the R.C.A. music
club offer a wide variety of re
cordings, they're able to gener
ate business from all parts of the
country.
The clubs attract business by
making introductory offers that
seem too good to refuse.
Columbia is offering the new
club-member 11 records or tapes
for a penny. By accepting this
offer, the customer agrees to
buy eight more records within
the three years at regular club
prices.
R.C.A. offers six records for a
penny, but the customer has
five years to purchase six other
records at regular prices.
When the invoice arrives with
the records, the new club mem
ber may find that even his ori
ginal penny purchase has
jumped to over a dollar. Club
members pay postage, handling
and insurance costs.
The club member is given 30
days to pay the bill before incur
ring a late charge and having
purchasing privileges blocked.
But the honeymoon isn't over
yet. The clubs continue to give
purchasing incentives to mem
bers, such as the buy-two-get-
one-free deal. Giving out special
bonus points that are go toward
the purchase of a stereo also is a
gimmick used to keep club
members interested.
A club member also may re
ceive free recordings and other
prizes by persuading others to
join.
The clubs offer disk records,
cassette, 8-track, reel-to-reel
tapes and a large selection of re
cordings. They have catalogued
virtually everv record ever re
corded and therefore are able to
offer oldie-but-goodies.
The record clubs place new
recordings into their inventories
soon after the albums are re
leased. Albums released in Sep
tember are now finding their
way on to both Columbia's and
R.C.A.'s order forms.
In order to offer lower-priced
albums, record clubs contract
with record companies — a fact
prominently displayed on the
record-jackets or tape labels.
Willie Nelson
For the
special look
you demand
846-4771
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Lnaoelet
230 00
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3731 E 29th
■ 846-4706
Bryan
707 Shopping Village
693-7444
College Station