Do you love Willie Nelson?
For more than 30 years Raphael has been a member of the Nelson family. That is family with a capital “F” where connections are created not through marriage or bloodlines but instead musical talent.
It is Raphael’s supreme command of a harmonica that pulsates the flight of desperation in Nelson’s rendition of “Midnight Rider,” drops a touch of bittersweet poetry to “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” and wails like a night train cutting through the dark Mississippi Delta in “City of New Orleans.”
Nelson, who will be appearing with Bob Dylan and his band August 16 at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys, was a not the iconic superstar when Raphael was introduced to him at a party in Dallas during the early ’70′s.
Instead the “Red Headed Stranger” had recently returned from a stint in Nashville where his songwriting, not his singing skills, had gained him recognition. Songs such as “Crazy” and “Hello Walls” had been recorded by country legends Pastsy Cline and Faron Young.
It was also the age when the Nashville Sound was accompanied by a cookie cutter look of flashy jewel encrusted Nudie suits and pompadour hair for most male stars.
Calling him eccentric, Raphael recalls Nelson as being atypical.
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