Outlaw lore

In this extensively researched biography, Nelson pretty much defines his philosophy when he tells an attorney why he doesn't need a formal estate plan: "I want the people around me to be happy, but I look at life as a roller coaster. When I'm up, I'm up. And when I'm down, I'm down. And I hope when it's all over, the money runs out just about the same time that I'm through with my life. Let's not plan. It's a lot more fun if we don't."

Patoski takes no shortcuts: We learn about young Willie's upbringing in Texas, including how his grandparents (who for the most part raised him) encouraged him to play music. A quick learner, he was in his first band (and already getting drunk on beer) at age 10, but his career rise wasn't meteoric. To support himself while pitching songs to record companies in the late 1950s, he worked as a door-to-door salesman of Bibles and vacuum cleaners, a disc jockey and gas station attendant.

Nelson's major breakthrough as a songwriter came in 1961 at age 28, when two recordings of his tunes -- Faron Young's version of "Hello Walls" and Patsy Cline's rendition of "Crazy" -- became smash pop and country hits. But he had trouble getting record companies to take him seriously as a singer. They didn't like how he often sang behind the beat or injected phrasings more common to jazz.

The big thing in Nashville then was a pop-flavored sound, and Nelson didn't want any part of it. He had wide-ranging tastes -- Western swing, honky-tonk, Irving Berlin tunes -- and he wanted to embrace them all.

Whenever Nelson needed a boost of confidence or some money, he'd head back to Texas, where audiences appreciated his distinctive style. After severing ties with RCA, Nelson signed with Atlantic Records, which gave him creative control. He responded in 1974 with "Phases and Stages," one of the most stylish concept albums ever in country music, but Atlantic, home to Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin, didn't know how to market country music and soon closed its Nashville office.

Nelson quickly signed with Columbia Records, where he came up the following year with another concept work, "Red Headed Stranger," which featured Nelson tunes and some decades-old country songs. Columbia didn't think much of its commercial chances but trusted Nelson enough to release the album. It sold more than a million copies.