"Man With the Blues" is a song by country music singer-songwriter

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

. After moving to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, and quitting the music business for a year, Nelson returned to perform on the KCUL's Country Hoedown. Through a booking agent, he was signed as a recording artist by

D Records D Records was an American record label located in Houston, Texas, United States. It was founded by Pappy Daily. The label closed in 1965, though George Strait recorded his first songs under the label's name from 1978-1980 until he signed to MCA Re ...

. To pay for his first recording session, Nelson gave his booking agent half of the publishing rights of the song. Backed with "

The Storm Has Just Begun "The Storm Has Just Begun" is a song by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. Nelson wrote the song at the age of twelve. While working for KWMF, KBOP in Pleasanton, Texas, in 1955, the song was one of the first two ever recorded by Nelso ...

", the single failed to succeed. Subsequently, Nelson rerecorded it in 1976 and 2010.

Background

In 1957, after failing to land a spot on the ''

Ozark Jubilee ''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s United States network television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ' ...

'', Willie Nelson moved to

, and quit the music business for a year. He sold bibles and vacuum cleaners door-to-door, and eventually became a sales manager for the ''

Encyclopedia Americana ''Encyclopedia Americana'' is a general encyclopedia written in American English. It was the first major multivolume encyclopedia that was published in the United States. With ''Collier's Encyclopedia'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclo ...

''. Returning to the music business, Nelson started to perform on the local show "Cowtown Hoedown" on KCUL. Uncle Hank Craig, the manager that booked the acts to the show helped Nelson to be signed as a recording artist to

Pappy Daily Harold W. Daily (February 8, 1902 – December 5, 1987), better known as "Pappy" Daily, was an American country music record producer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Texas-based record label Starday Records. Daily worked with many of the well-kn ...

and to his publishing firm, Glad Music.

Recordings

In 1959, Nelson assisted to his first session as a recording artist at Manco Studios in

. His backing was composed of steel guitarist Bobby Penton, drummer Lonnie Campbell, bassist Johnny Smith and the Hoedown artists "The Reil Sisters" as his backing group. To pay for the session, Nelson gave Craig half of the publishing rights for "Man With the Blues". For its release as a single, the song was coupled with Nelson's original "

" on the flipside. Upon its release, the single failed to meet success. Nelson recorded again the song in 1976 for his album '' The Longhorn Jamboree Presents: Willie Nelson & His Friends'', in 2010 for his release ''

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

''., and in 2023 for his album '' Bluegrass''.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{authority control 1959 singles Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Willie Nelson 1959 songs