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

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

. After moving to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, 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. 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 KBOP in Pleasanton, Texas, in 1955, the song was one of the first two ever recorded by Nelson. ...

", 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 American 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 ''Country Mu ...

'', 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 general encyclopedia of any magnitude to be published in North America. 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 ...

's D Records 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 popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

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

Footnotes

References

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