Can you imagine the joy of playing music with someone for the better part of 70 years….what joy and comfort that comes from spending that much time with another person doing the thing you love most…. playing music with your friends!?!….which brings up the question of how it would feel when you were the one left living….well that is what happened today, would feel when February 12, 2020….as Willie Nelson’s long time music partner, drummer Paul English, passed on…..when playing music with your friends closed another chapter….so, we have chosen to tell you about Willie’s drummer.
Paul English (November 6, 1932 – February 12, 2020) was Willie Nelson’s longtime drummer and friend…. who started playing with him in Fort Worth in 1955….although he did not become Nelson’s regular drummer until 1966….when in the years in between being Willie’s drummer….he played with Delbert McClinton. In the early days, one of his duties was to serve as a strong armed collection agent for overdue payments from club owners for the band.
English was the titular “Paul” of the Willie Nelson album Me and Paul….as well as the title track of that album….plus, English had a role in Nelson’s movie Red Headed Stranger in 1986…..and joined Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young as the first members of Farm Aid’s board of directors in 1985…. while serving as the organization’s treasurer for many years.
English died on February 12, 2020, after a bout of pneumonia, at the age of 87….and now there’s just one of Me and Paul left with us….and when he goes, dang near three-quarters of a century of playing music with my friend, will be no more.
It is easy to see why we love our Willie Nelson and Friends video collection here at ImaSportsphile….so, Ain’t If Funny How Time Slips Away”.
