It is indeed mid summer, and the music world is RED HOT with festivals and new releases. Many of the popular artists on the underground circuit are on the rise rapidly. That means that it is time to talk about the 4th of July Picnic, which now moves around on the road however it has planted it’s Roots in Texas..
Every year I notice that they have an awesome lineup and I like to see all of the videos on social media that others post. This event began in 1973 when Willie was billed to be a part of an event that was poorly marketed , and resulted in poor attendance. Back then there were not as many business minded individuals like there are now that can run an event like this on a financial standpoint.
One reason that it worked for Willie Nelson and not the original festival is the audience and the generational time periods…that is what the history books claim. To be fair, you cannot compare the two events because the original one Willie was one of the opener acts to the likes of Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb and Little Jimmy Dickens. The folks that patronized those acts in the 1970’s did not support the Outlaw acts that he did, and for that reason those business people did a smart choice when they integrated Ernest Tubb into the 1976 4th one in an attempt to draw more genres of people.
The very first one consisted of the likes of his best friends Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, as well as John Prine and Sammi Smith, mother of Waylon Payne. Tom T Hall and Doug Sahm were also on that bill in 1973. The second one was held at Texas Motor Speedway to great disaster as a patron fell asleep in his vehicle with the AC on. The hot exhaust caught the grass on fire, the driver panicked and put it in drive and spread the fire by driving off. Many cars were damaged overall, and the incident was the cover of his debut album for Robert Earl Keen called “Picnic”.
In years after that he was slapped with legal fees and fines for overselling venues, but there is no definite proof that I could find of whose fault that was. In the 1970’s the brand had a large propensity for violence like in 1976, when there were 4 stabbings, and 3 reported rape incidents. Since then with security becoming more effective the crowds have behaved more civil according to history books and online sites I read. I love watching old TNN videos and Youtube from the 1970’s of MANY genres. And don’t forget this is the last chance to see Wilco in that area for awhile!
Last year the Mavericks were on fire for the event and Tami Neilson played some new music for us and this year we get none other than Billy Strings! And Jeff Tweady is doing some solo work as well as Wilco going over the big pond. With this ongoing heat wave, I hope they take care of Willie for sure.
