Willie Nelson is like royalty to the music industry. He has been an architect to the business.

So what was the starting point for Willie? As near as I can tell, it was writing the song "Family Bible'.

Nelson began writing the song in 1957, while he enjoyed success as a disc jockey at KVAN, in Vancouver, Washington. After being denied a raise by the station, he moved to Houston, Texas.

Next when he was in need fiancially, he sold the song to Paul Buskirk. Buskirk took the song to Claude Gray, who recorded the song and had a hit with it.

The story of Buskirk and Nelson is an interesting one itself. Buskirk was a guitar instructor at a school. He and Willie had dinner together and Willie had no money to pay the check. All he could do was sing the song to Buskirk and offer to sell it to him for $50 and the cost of the meal.

The next thing that Willie Nelson did, was to take the advice from Hoyt Axton's mother, Mae Boren Axton, and move to Nashville and dedicate himself to song writing full-time. He met her while working at the radio station in Washington.

After getting to Nashville, Nelson enjoyed great recognition for writing "Family Bible". And that was all it took. Willie said, "I felt if I could write one hit song, I could write another".

 

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