Willie Nelson‘s official Instagram recently posted a throwback clip of the Red Headed Stranger performing “Night Life” with the legendary B.B. King, and fans are getting emotional about it. The clip, from a 1984 New Year’s Eve party in Houston featuring King, The Highwaymen, and Jessi Colter, shows Nelson in a top hat with his beloved guitar Trigger alongside B.B. King on his own guitar Lucille.
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Fans flocked to the comment section to heap praises on the monumental performance. One fan wrote, “Gosh I wish you were eternal,” referring to Nelson. “Thank you for literally being there in every stage of my life.” Another was similarly emotional, writing, “Hard to explain how my soul wants to burst right now, if this don’t do something to ya then you ain’t got a soul.”
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Two other fans goofed on the state of Trigger, writing, “Only Willie could make an out of tune guitar sound that good,” and “Jeez was that trigger guitar ever new?”
The Story of “Night Life” by Willie Nelson
“Night Life” has almost as long a history as Willie Nelson does. It was originally released in 1960, but written a few years earlier after Nelson and his family moved to Pasadena, Texas. Nelson would commute to Houston to sing at the Esquire Ballroom, and composed the song during one of those 30-mile commutes. According to his 2000 autobiography, he thought of the line “When the evening sun goes down, you will find me hanging ’round” on the way to Houston, and the line “The night life ain’t no good life, but it’s my life” on the way back home.
Over the years, many artists have recorded “Night Life,” but it became a staple for B.B. King throughout his career. He recorded the song as part of a live album, Blues is King, in 1966, then rerecorded it on the 1982 album Love Me Tender. B.B. King performed it with Nelson during the Houston party, which was released as the live album New Year’s Eve in Houston 1984. In 1997, Nelson and King went to the studio to record a version of “Night Life” for King’s album Deuces Wild.
In 1979, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn’s sister, performed “Night Life” on her first TV show, The Crystal Gayle Special. She was accompanied by B.B. King on guitar.
Featured Image via YouTube
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