"What a Way to Live" is a song written by country music singer

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 ...

. He recorded the song on his second session with

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 ...

, after moving to

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Produced by Bill Quinn, it was cut at

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

in March 1960. A cover version by

Johnny Bush John Bush Shinn III (February 17, 1935October 16, 2020) was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Nicknamed the "Country Caruso", Bush was best known for his distinctive voice and for writing the song "Whiskey River", a t ...

was recorded in 1967. Bush's version became a success, peaking at number twenty-nine on ''

Billboard's ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

Background

In 1959, Nelson moved from

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 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. Just arrived in town, Nelson visited the

Esquire Ballroom Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon is an Country and Western bar/honky tonk that was founded as the Esquire Ballroom in 1955 by Raymond Proske in Houston, Texas at 11410 Hempstead northwest of downtown Houston. In the 1970s and 1980s the club was consi ...

, where he tried to sell his original songs to bandleader Larry Butler. Instead of buying the songs, Butler offered Nelson to join his band, The Sunset Playboys. By that time, Nelson also befriended Paul Buskirk, who just had founded the "Paul Buskirk School of Guitar". Buskirk hired Nelson as an instructor. Nelson had moved to Houston to advance as a performer and writer, and to be closer to the office of his newly signed label,

, and its publishing house, Glad Music. During his first

session in Fort Worth, Nelson had recorded "

Man With the Blues "Man With the Blues" is a song by country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson. After moving to Fort Worth, Texas, and quitting the music business for a year, Nelson returned to perform on the KCUL's Country Hoedown. Through a booking agent, he w ...

Recordings

On March 11, 1960, his second session with the label took place at

, produced by Bill Quinn. On the recording of "What a Way to Live", Nelson was backed by Paul Buskirk on guitar, steel guitarist Ozzie Middleton, fiddlers Darold Raley and Clyde Brewer, bassist Dean Reynolds and drummer Al Hagy. Released in May 1960, the single was not a success. As part of the deal that Nelson made with Uncle Hank Craig to sign him to D Records, Craig received part of the proceeds of the single. In 1967,

recorded a cover version for the label Stop Records. Backed by steel guitarist Jimmy Day, fiddlers Tommy Jackson and

Buddy Spicher Buddy Spicher (born July 28, 1938 in DuBois, Pennsylvania; pronounced “Spiker”) is an American country music fiddle player. He is a member of The Nashville A-Team of session musicians, and is Grammy-nominated. He was nominated as Instrumental ...

and bassist Junior Husky. Bush sang his own harmony. The shuffle beat was set to a 4/4 bass. The song debuted on ''

on March 16, 1968, and peaked at twenty-nine. It remained on the chart for thirteen weeks.

Mark Chesnutt Mark Nelson Chesnutt (born September 6, 1963) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Between 1990 and 1999, he had his greatest chart success recording for Universal Music Group Nashville's MCA and Decca branches, with a total of ei ...

also recorded a version of the song on his 1994 album of the same name.

Chart performance

Johnny Bush

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{Willie Nelson singles, state=collapsed 1960 singles Willie Nelson songs Songs written by Willie Nelson 1960 songs Johnny Bush songs