Texas Monthly.

Hey there, I'm John Spong, Texas Monthly magazine, and this is One by Willie, a podcast in which I talk each week to one notable Willie Nelson fan about one Willie song that they really love.

This week, I talked to one of the greatest country songwriters who ever lived,

Sonny Throckmorton, the man who wrote, if we're not back in love by Monday for Merle Haggard,

why not me for the Judds? The Cowboy Rides Away for George Strait,

and the song that I remember

being my mom's favorite when I was a kid, The Last Cheaters Waltz for T.G. Shepherd.

Sonny's going to discuss what a way to live, an early and little-known composition that Willie

has never actually recorded for a proper album, although it was a minor hit for his dear friend

Johnny Bush back in 1967.

From there, Sonny goes on to talk about the famous picking parties Willie used to host

with legendary UT football coach Darrell Royal, the song Willie stole from Elvis Presley,

and why it's best not to play poker with Willie, no matter how nicely he asks you to.

Let's do it.

Hey, it's art.

What a way to live.

When you and I first talked about this, you had picked funny how time slips away to

discuss, and I had wondered aloud if you wanted to pick something

a little more obscure, and you said, oh, you know me, I like big hits. And I thought that struck

me as kind of a great sunny Throckmorton line. It reminded me, I think the first time I interviewed

you, I asked you what kind of song you like, and you said, I like songs that make

lots of money.

...