Robert Paul English (November 6, 1932 – February 11, 2020) was an American musician. He was

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 ...

's longtime

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

who started playing with him in

Fort Worth 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 ...

in 1955, although he did not become Nelson's regular drummer until 1966. In the years in between, he played with

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, h ...

and among others. 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. He was the husband of second wife Janie English. English was the titular "Paul" of the Willie Nelson album '' Me and Paul'' as well as the title track of that album. English had a role in Nelson's movie '' Red Headed Stranger'' (1986). English joined Willie Nelson,

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

as the first members of Farm Aid's board of directors in 1985, and he served as the organization's treasurer for many years. English died on February 11, 2020, of acute pneumonia, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* 1932 births 2020 deaths American country drummers American male drummers Country musicians from Texas Deaths from pneumonia in Texas Drummers from Texas People from Vernon, Texas Willie Nelson {{US-drummer-stub