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One by Willie

Miranda Lambert on “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys”

One by Willie

John Spong

Music, Music Commentary

4.8833 Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The reigning queen of country music, Miranda Lambert, talks about one of the all-time great Outlaw anthems, Willie and Waylon’s Grammy-winning, #1 hit from 1978, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys.” It’s a song Miranda can’t remember ever not knowing, one she suspects she first heard her dad played on the front porch, before she could even walk. The memory of those family get-togethers gets her thinking about the vital role pickin’ parties have played not just in her own life, but in country music history, the first song that ever made her cry, and the debt that every country artist owes to her hero, Willie Nelson.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:08.0

They only use 100% Texas grains and distill right in the heart of Texas, where the wild weather helps age their whiskey to perfection.

0:15.0

Go to stillaustin.com today for delivery right to your door.

0:18.0

Still Austin Whiskey, the art of Texas Whiskey.

0:28.7

There's nothing better than pulling on a pair of Western boots and listening to some good tunes.

0:35.1

At Tocovus, we honor classic bootmaking traditions and craft every pair with premium authentic materials. Find a Toccovus store near you or shop online at Toccovus.com.

0:42.0

One by Willie is produced and distributed by PRX,

0:45.7

and we are brought to you by Still Austin Craft Whiskey,

0:49.4

with additional generous support from Toccova's boots.

0:56.0

Hey there, and I'm John Spong, and this is One by Willie, a podcast in which I talk

1:01.3

each week to one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie song they really love.

1:06.9

This week, we talked to the reigning queen of country music, Miranda Lambert, about the song she sang at Willie's All-Star 90th birthday bash at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2003.

1:18.9

Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

1:22.0

It's an outlaw country anthem now, but of course it got there by being a number one hit for Willie and Wayland in 1975

1:28.4

well before Miranda was even born. In any event, it's one of those songs she simply can't

1:34.1

remember not knowing. She figured she probably first heard it before she could even walk

1:38.6

when her dad played it at a picking party on the family's front porch. Well, that's a memory

1:43.5

that gets her thinking not just about the way country music kept

1:46.3

her family together during some dire financial times, but also the essential role that

1:51.3

picking parties have always played in Willie's career, her career, and country music more generally.

1:57.4

Which in turn leads us to the first song that ever made her cry,

2:03.5

an old Lambert family pickup truck named Bessie,

...

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