Paula Nelson on "Devil in a Sleepin' Bag" (special Willie's Bday episode)
One by Willie
John Spong
4.6 • 898 Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2022
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we ring in Willie’s 89th birthday with his daughter Paula Nelson, who talks about “Devil in a Sleeping Bag,” off of his 1973 album Shotgun Willie. It’s a song Willie wrote about his longtime drummer and best friend, Paul English—who happens to be Paula’s namesake—and it gets her thinking about Paul’s dual role as Willie’s well-armed money-collector, a gunfight her dad was in, and hanging with Michael Jackson at the “We Are the World” recording session—before closing with some sweet memories of her dad’s older sister, pianist Bobbie Nelson.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Texas Monthly. |
| 0:10.6 | Hey there, I'm John Spong with Texas Monthly magazine, and this is One by Willie, |
| 0:15.7 | a podcast in which I talk each week to one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie |
| 0:20.7 | song that they really love. |
| 0:22.7 | This week, with Willie's 89th birthday, just a couple days away, happy birthday, Willie. |
| 0:27.8 | We've got his daughter, singer-songwriter, and Sirius XM DJ Paula Nelson, on to talk about |
| 0:34.3 | devil in a sleeping bag. It's an album cut off in 1973's Shotgun Willie, |
| 0:39.9 | and it just so happens to be about the man Paula is named after Willie's longtime drummer |
| 0:44.3 | and best friend, Paul English. Paula will explain how she got her name, how Paul got his nickname, |
| 0:50.9 | the devil, and then she'll describe the very real gunfight that earned her dad |
| 0:54.8 | his nickname, Shotgun Willie. She's also going to describe what it was like to be a ninth grade |
| 1:00.2 | girl hanging with Michael Jackson and Cindy Lopper at the We Are the World recording sessions. |
| 1:05.6 | But then, because this was taped last fall before Willie's sister Bobby passed on, she'll talk about just how close her aunt Bobby was to her dad. |
| 1:14.5 | It's a whole lot more composure |
| 1:15.5 | than any of us would be able to muster |
| 1:17.0 | if we were to try to do so now. |
| 1:19.0 | It's pretty powerful. |
| 1:20.8 | Let's do it. |
| 1:22.9 | It's hard. |
| 1:42.1 | Music Well, then where we always start is with a ridiculous question. |
| 1:46.0 | What's so cool about devil in a sleeping bag? |
| 1:50.0 | Really, so many things. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Spong, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Spong and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.