Editor’s Note: Decorated live event TV director-producer Don Mischer, a fifteen-time Emmy Award winner, has worked frequently with country legend Willie Nelson, who turns 90 today. The follow…
10 Seconds To Air: A Life in the Director’s Chair,On the Road With Willie Nelson: The Bus, The Rattlesnakes, Roadside Joints and Always The Music
Willie is easy going, never pushes his weight around, or puffs up his importance. Yet he is a prolific songwriter, and one of the most naturally gifted artists I’ve ever known. He once said to me, “Good or bad, I just have to keep writing songs.” He’s written 337 of them and 25 were number one hits. He could sing on any stage and with anyone. He never made a fuss, as long as he had his bus, the Honeysuckle Rose, his weed, and his music.
The runway at Lajitas was just a strip of graded gravel, with one windsock at the end of it. No terminal. No fuel tanks. No power. Not even a porta potty. The control tower where the pilot radioed to say we were landing was the reception desk at the town’s only hotel. As we approached the gravel runway, Bob radioed, “This is a flight coming in from Austin and we are about to land.
Several days later we were shooting a scene closer to Austin at one of Willie’s favorite hangouts on Lake Travis, Mona’s Yacht Club. But there were no yachts, no dock, just a rusty old rowboat with a hole in it, half underwater. We couldn’t even see the lake because of the surrounding brush. Willie loved hanging out at Mona’s playing dominos with his buddies, drinking Lone Star beer, and having an occasional greasy hamburger.
We decided to shoot the piece with the Woody Guthrie’s classic, “This Land is Your Land,” not in Woody’s folk style, but with much slower tempo, an anthem-like feel, with layers of rich harmonies. Willie loved the idea and suggested we shoot his part in Grand Teton National Park, with the stunning Teton peaks in the background.
Early the following morning we got Willie out there in his bus, in darkness, and rehearsed the shot in the dark using flashlights. We then returned to the bus. As the first rays of light appeared, I let Willie know that it was time to shoot. At that moment, three National Park service vehicles drove up and parked right next to Willie’s bus. I quickly realized that the Park Director was paying us a surprise visit, with five rangers in tow.
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