I fell in love with Willie in the early 70's.  I was living in Dallas.  Some friends and I decided to go to Padre Island and stopped in Austin to visit our buddies at UT.  They insisted we go with them to Armadillo World Headquarters, a  honky-tonk where rednecks and long-haired hippies danced and hung out together.  Not your usual beer joint.  Willie was playing that night.  I knew about Willie, of course, but the Willie I knew was the Willie of traditional Nashville country music, and I was not a fan.  This was not that Willie.  This Willie was different, distinctive -  not country, not rock but flavors of both ... his music was fresh, irreverent, lively and then gentle & haunting; it spoke to me.  I was never the same.  My boyfriend and I went to Willie's 4th of July Picnic in 1976 and it was wonderful, outrageous, memorable ... I loved it!!  I still have the "Willie Nelson and Family" halter top I wore. I've been to many Willie performances since then.  He shook my hand one time and I have his autograph on a napkin. Thanks Willie, for making my life better.
My first Willie's Picnic We drove down from Dallas and knew this was going to be great when we saw cars lined up for miles along this rural road out in the middle of no where.  The only other sign of civilization was a large chicken "ranch" we could see in the distance.  I heard later that the chicken ranch owner tried to sue for damages because his chickens were upset by all the ruckus and quit laying eggs for several days. After about an hour, we arrived in a big field where people were parking their cars, pretty much at random.  Some were setting up camp.  We found a big live oak and parked under it.  There were lots of people, so we followed the flow towards the main concert stage area.  We passed crowds skinny dipping in the stock tank to cool off and quite a few elected to not put their clothes back on after swimming. (It was HOT after all.)  We frequently encountered naked couples casually strolling along.  My boyfriend enjoyed this immensely.  I was being careful not to stare inappropriately, but I don't think they would have cared.  What a diverse crowd... cowboys, druggies, old people, young people, black, white, Spanish, stoned, sober ... and there was such camaraderie.    As great as the music was, it was almost secondary to just being there with the crowd.  It was completely decadent and thoroughly enjoyable.  I couldn't wait till next July! I understand Willie was disgusted with the people that were supposed to manage the picnic.  They didn't handle the vendors, the clean up, the security.  He was so mad he almost didn't have ANY more picnics.  The second picnic I attended in 1979 was much more structured and controlled.  The music was still great, but the atmosphere was like any other concert.   Too bad.  But I'm going to at least one more of Willie's 4th of July Picnics ... maybe THIS year.