Editing Willie Nelson (section)

===Outlaw country and success (1972–1989)===
Nelson moved to [[Austin, Texas]], where the burgeoning hippie music scene (see [[Armadillo World Headquarters]]) rejuvenated the singer. His popularity in Austin soared as he played his own brand of country music marked by country, folk and jazz influences.{{sfn|Reid|Sahm|2010|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=1gry61absiEC|page=79}} 79]}} In March, he performed on the final day of the ''Dripping Springs Reunion'', a three-day country music festival aimed by its producers to be an annual event. Despite the failure to reach the expected attendance, the concept of the festival inspired Nelson to create the ''[[Willie Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic|Fourth of July Picnic]]'', his own annual event, starting the following year.{{sfn|Thomas|2012}}

Nelson decided to return to the recording business; he signed Neil Reshen as his manager to negotiate with RCA, who got the label to agree to end his contract upon repayment of $14,000.{{sfn|Reid|2004|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=qCDF5fFuBT8C|page=223}} 223]}} Reshen eventually signed Nelson to [[Atlantic Records]] for $25,000 per year, where he became the label's first country artist.{{sfn|Reid|2004|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=qCDF5fFuBT8C|224|page=224}}]}} He formed his backing band, ''[[Family (Willie Nelson's band)|The Family]]'',{{sfn|Milner|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=zeslYkOZIvUC|page=183}} 183], [{{google books|plainurl=y|id=zeslYkOZIvUC|184|page=184}} 184]|1998}} and, by February 1973, he was recording his acclaimed ''[[Shotgun Willie]]'' at Atlantic Studios in New York City.{{sfn|Harden|Hoekstra|McCall|Morris|1996|p=169}}

{{Listen |type=music |filename=Shotgun Willie.ogg|title="Shotgun Willie introduction" |description=Introduction of the song "Shotgun Willie", opening track of the album ''[[Shotgun Willie]]'', that marked a change of style from Nelson's earlier recordings.}}
''Shotgun Willie'', released in May 1973, earned excellent reviews but did not sell well. The album led Nelson to a new style, later stating that ''Shotgun Willie'' had "cleared his throat".{{sfn|Tichi|1998|p=341}} His next release, ''[[Phases and Stages]]'', released in 1974, was a concept album about a couple's divorce, inspired by his own experience. Side one of the record is from the viewpoint of the woman, and side two is from the viewpoint of the man.{{sfn|Erlewine|2007}} The album included the hit single "[[Bloody Mary Morning]]".{{sfn|Dicair|2007|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=MYMQl9dsKJEC|page=247}} 247]}} The same year, he produced and starred in the pilot episode of [[PBS]]' ''[[Austin City Limits]]''.{{sfn|Richmond|2000|p=75}}

Nelson then moved to [[Columbia Records]], where he signed a contract that gave him complete creative control, made possible by the critical and commercial success of his previous albums.{{sfn|Dicair|2007|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=MYMQl9dsKJEC|247|page=247}} 247]}} The result was the critically acclaimed and massively popular 1975 concept album ''[[Red Headed Stranger]]''. Although Columbia was reluctant to release an album with primarily a guitar and piano for accompaniment, Nelson and Waylon Jennings insisted. The album included a cover of [[Fred Rose (songwriter)|Fred Rose]]'s 1945 song "[[Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain]]", that had been released as a single previous to the album, and became Nelson's first number one hit as a singer.{{sfn|Wolff|Duane|2000|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=3Jorozp1yp4C|page=367}} 367]}} Throughout his 1975 tour, Nelson raised funds for PBS-affiliated stations across the south promoting ''Austin City Limits''. The pilot was aired first on those stations, later being released nationwide. The positive reception of the show prompted PBS to order ten episodes for 1976, formally launching the show.{{sfn|Richmond|2000|p=76}}

[[Image:Kris Willie Waylon.jpg|thumb|left|L–R: [[Kris Kristofferson]], Nelson, and [[Waylon Jennings]] at the 1972 ''[[Dripping Springs Reunion]]''|alt=Three men. From left to right, the first man has brown hair and beard. He wears a blue T-shirt and a white jacket and is looking at the man in the middle. The man in the middle wears a green cap and shades, and long red hair. He wears a brown T-shirt. The man at the right has brown hair, he looks at the man at the middle. He wears a white shirt and a black letter jacket.]]

As Jennings was also achieving success in country music in the early 1970s, the pair were combined into a genre called [[outlaw country]], since it did not conform to Nashville standards.{{sfn|Hartman|2008|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=d3vlqWvTDfgC|174|page=174}} 174]}} The album ''[[Wanted! The Outlaws]]'' in 1976 with [[Jessi Colter]] and [[Tompall Glaser]] cemented the pair's outlaw image and became country music's first [[Music recording certification|platinum album]].{{sfn|Hartman||2008|p=[{{google books|plainurl=y|id=d3vlqWvTDfgC|175|page=175}} 175]}} Later that year Nelson released ''[[The Sound in Your Mind]]'' (certified gold in 1978 and platinum in 2001){{sfn|RIAA staff|2010}} and his first gospel album ''[[The Troublemaker (album)|Troublemaker]]''{{sfn|Erlewine|2008}} (certified gold in 1986).{{sfn|RIAA staff 2|2010}}

In the summer of 1977, Nelson discovered that Reshen had been filing tax extensions and not paying the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) since he took over as his manager.{{sfn|Nelson|Ritz|2015|p=263}} In June, a package containing cocaine was sent from Reshen's office in New York to Jennings in Nashville.{{sfn|Nelson|Ritz|2015|p=262}} The package was followed by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]], and Jennings was arrested. The charges were later dropped, since Reshen's assistant, Mark Rothbaum, stepped in and took the charges. Rothbaum was sentenced to serve time in jail. Impressed by his attitude, Nelson fired Reshen and hired Rothbaum as his manager.{{sfn|Nelson|Ritz|2015|p=263}} In 1978, Nelson released two more platinum albums. One, ''[[Waylon & Willie]]'', was a collaboration with Jennings that included "[[Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys]]", a hit single written and performed by [[Ed Bruce]].{{sfn|Jennings|Kaye|p=10|1996}} Though observers predicted that ''[[Stardust (Willie Nelson album)|Stardust]]'' would ruin his career, it went platinum the same year.{{sfn|RIAA staff 3|2010}} Nelson continued to top the charts with hit songs during the late 1970s, including "[[Good Hearted Woman (song)|Good Hearted Woman]]", "Remember Me",{{sfn|Billboard|1976}} "[[If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time]]", and "[[Uncloudy Day]]".{{sfn|Tribe|2006|p=188}}

{{Listen |type=music |filename=On the Road Again.ogg|title="On the Road Again" |description=From the album ''Honeysuckle Rose'', "On the Road Again" peaked at number one on the [[Hot Country Songs]] chart in 1980.}}
During the 1980s, Nelson recorded a series of hit singles including "[[Midnight Rider]]", a 1980 cover of the [[Allman Brothers]] song which Nelson recorded for ''[[The Electric Horseman]]'',{{sfn|Harrison, Thomas|2011|p=96}} the soundtrack "[[On the Road Again (Willie Nelson song)|On the Road Again]]" from the movie ''[[Honeysuckle Rose (film)|Honeysuckle Rose]]'', and a duet with [[Julio Iglesias]] titled "[[To All the Girls I've Loved Before]]".{{sfn|Jurek|2008}}

[[File:President Jimmy Carter with Willie Nelson and his guests.jpg|thumb|right|Nelson and guests with President [[Jimmy Carter]] in 1978]]
In 1982, ''[[Pancho & Lefty (album)|Pancho & Lefty]]'', a duet album with [[Merle Haggard]] produced by [[Chips Moman]], was released.{{sfn|Monkman|2008}} During the recording sessions of ''Pancho and Lefty'', Johnny Christopher, a session guitarist and the co-writer of "[[Always on My Mind]]", tried to pitch the song to an uninterested Haggard. Nelson, who was unaware of [[Elvis Presley]]'s version of the song, asked him to record it. Produced by Moman, the single of the song was released, as well as the album [[Always on My Mind (Willie Nelson album)|''Always on My Mind'']]. The single topped ''Billboard''{{'}}s Hot Country Singles, while it reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The release won three awards during the [[25th Annual Grammy Awards]]: [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]], [[Grammy Award for Best Country Song|Best Country Song]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance|Best Male Country Vocal Performance]]. The single was certified platinum, while the album was certified quadruple-platinum and later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.{{sfn|Poe|p=147|2012}}

Meanwhile, two collaborations with Waylon Jennings were released: ''[[WWII (album)|WWII]]'' in 1982,{{sfn|Erlewine|2005}} and ''[[Take It to the Limit (Willie Nelson album)|Take it to the Limit]]'' in 1983. In the mid-1980s, Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and [[Johnny Cash]] formed [[The Highwaymen (country supergroup)|The Highwaymen]], a supergroup who achieved platinum record sales and toured the world.{{sfn|Patoski|2008|p=383}} Meanwhile, Nelson became more involved with charity work, such as singing on "[[We Are the World]]" in 1984.{{sfn|Edwards|2015}} In 1985, Nelson had another success with ''[[Half Nelson (Willie Nelson album)|Half Nelson]]'', a compilation album of duets with a range of artists such as [[Ray Charles]] and [[Neil Young]].{{sfn|Patoski|2008|p=368}} In 1980, Nelson performed on the south lawn of the [[White House]]. The concert of September 13 featured First Lady [[Rosalynn Carter]] and Nelson in a duet of [[Ray Wylie Hubbard]]'s "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother". Nelson frequently visited the White House, where, according to the biography by Joe Nick Patoski, ''Willie Nelson: An Epic Life'', he smoked marijuana on the White House roof.{{sfn|Patoski|p=342|2008}}