Hey there, I'm John Spong. This is One by Willie, podcast in which I talk each week,

the one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie song that they really love.

This week, we talked to singer-songwriter Kenny Chesney. He also happens to be a country music

hall of famer, author of a New York Times number one

bestselling memoir, Heart Life Music, and most importantly for our purposes, a longtime fan, friend,

and collaborator of Willie Nelson's about Willie's 1970s version of that lucky old son.

Now, that remarkably hushed recording, which opened the album, The Sound in Your Mind,

was one of Willie's first forays in the covers of the Great American Songbook, and to my mind,

it completely set the stage for his masterpiece album Stardust two years later. But for Kenny,

what it does is it takes him back to long bus rides when he was first making

his way through country music and listening to a lot of Willie Nelson.

From there, we get into the duet the two did together on that lucky old son in the early 2000s,

which ended up being a pivotal record in Willie's long career, plus what it was like to produce

a record on Willie, 2008's moment of forever.

And the way that Willie's example helped inspire the artistic change and direction

that grew Kenny Chesney into Billboard Magazine's top country artist of the 21st century.

Oh, and we also listened to a little Ray Charles together, which is always a tree.

So let's do it.

And the lucky old son ain't got nothing to do.

But roll around heaven all day.

The place to start is where we always start.

In your memoir, Heart Life Music, you talked about first getting to know that lucky old son

...