American Masters

Cheers and applause

Nelson

I was a highwayman Along the coach roads I did ride Well, I had three of my favorite people out there. I loved them all like brothers. We all got along good together. And we had fun together, we made a movie together. We toured the world a couple of times. It was just some of the best times of my life. The bastards hung me in the spring of '25 But I am still alive

Kristofferson

I was a sailor I was born upon the tide

Colter

These were the icons of American music, not just country -- popular American music, you know? They had built empires of their own.

Kristofferson

I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow And when the yards broke off, they said that I got killed For me, it was heaven. I was up there on the stage with my heroes -- the people that I worshipped.

Jennings

I was a dam builder Across the river deep and wide Where steel and water did collide A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound But I am still around Always be around and round and round

Stuart

The thing that was worth the price of admission was to see those four characters walk out onstage. It's been said before -- It truly was the Mount Rushmore of country music. It was special.

Cash

I fly a starship across the universe divide And when I reach the other side I'll find a place to rest my spirit if I can Perhaps I may become a highwayman again Or I may simply be a single drop of rain But I will remain And I'll be back again and again and again and again And again and again and again

Kristofferson

We did nothing we didn't want to do. And we stood up for things we believed in, you know? And it was a beautiful life that way.

All

On the road again

Nelson

Well, it really all started when John was doing a Christmas show in Switzerland, and we just all happened to be there.

All

Makin' music with my friends And I can't wait to get on the road again

Stuart

The Johnny Cash Christmas special from Montreux, Switzerland, was announced. And it was gonna be Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash.

Carter Cash

This was the very beginning, the genesis of the Highwaymen. It just started with the fact that everyone enjoyed being together as friends.

Cash

That's fierce, Willie. That's fierce.

Carter Cash

And it was there in Montreux, Switzerland, that the Highwaymen really began.

Jennings

We probably are as unlikely a group of teammates to appear together as you'll ever see because each one of us has achieved whatever we've done by going our own way and speaking our own words.

Cheers and applause

Rothbaum

The show was incredible. I don't know anybody that wasn't just blown away by it.

Cash

I hear the train a comin' It's rollin' 'round the bend I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when I'm stuck in Folsom Prison

Carter Cash

My father was -- In many ways, he was a rebel. He was the ultimate image of cool, and still is to many who know the Man in Black and whatever. But there's a greater mystery beneath the surface.

Cash

When I was just a baby My mama told me, "Son Always be a good boy Don't ever play with guns"

Kristofferson

He's always been larger than life for me. He's been this dark, driven force, you know? He was probably the most exciting performer that I'd seen in my life at that time.

Cash

Ah!

Mellencamp

A lot of people down there in Nashville did not appreciate John Cash because he did not represent the status quo.

Stuart

And he was a visionary, I think, when he was at his best and when he was right within himself. If you look back at the "Folsom Prison" record, to me, which was the unlocking of the worldwide Johnny Cash, all of a sudden, the whole world was looking at this town because of Johnny Cash. So he had to be reckoned with.

Benson

He was able to come into your home as a mainstream artist telling you truths about the rights of Indians, the rights of prisoners.

Cash

I know I can't be free

Benson

And these were hot-button topics that only a guy of his stature could have gotten away with, and had the courage to stand up for.

Cash

Sooey! I didn't really particularly strike out in a country direction, but that's the place where I felt at home, where I belonged. It was kind of music that I was raised on.

Kristofferson

All of us have been kind of hard to label. I probably identified as much with Bob Dylan as Hank Williams. And Bob Dylan idolized John.

Cheers and applause

Kristofferson

I met him backstage at the Opry when I was still in the Army, when I went to Nashville on leave. And I saw this guy walk in. He looked like a panther. And he was messed-up, as he often was in those days, and he was skinny as a snake. But he had an electricity about him that was just -- It may be the reason I decided to quit the Army and go back to Nashville.

Cheers and applause

Benson

Kris was amazing. He was a Rhodes Scholar. He was a boxer. He was a helicopter pilot. He was a football player and a dedicated songwriter. He'd given up everything to be a janitor so that he could be around.

Kristofferson

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad So I had one more for dessert Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes Found my cleanest dirty shirt I was a janitor in a recording studio where John recorded. I almost got fired one time because a couple of songwriters crashed the session. And they were trying to pitch him a gospel album. And for some reason, the woman who was the secretary to the producer blamed me for letting them in there and tried to get me fired. And so the next night, my boss come down and said, "I don't think you should go to John's session tonight." I hid down in the vault of the recording studio and was erasing tapes down there or doing some kind of busy work, and John appeared down there in the basement. He said, "I understand you're not coming to the session." I said, "No, I got a lot of work to do down here. I can't." He said, "Well, I just wanted to tell you I'm not gonna record until you come up there."

Laughs

Kristofferson

So I had to go up and sit on the floor. And here, I was the janitor, right? And I'm sitting on the floor, and this woman who tried to get me fired was watching me the whole session. It was the most uncomfortable I've ever been in my life. But I thought it was the measure of the man. He also recorded the first big song for me.

Carter Cash

The most famous recording of that song was live on "The Johnny Cash Show." The television network had asked my father, "Please do not sing the line, 'I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.' Will you sing, 'I'm wishing, Lord, that I was home'?" Now, my father went to Kris, and Kris said, "Well, I don't know, John. It's really not the same thing, but whatever you think." So he climbed up in the balcony, and Kris was watching the show. And on live television, of course, my father went ahead and stood out and sang that, "I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned" and looked up at Kris in the balcony. And I do believe Kris nearly fell out of the balcony.

Kristofferson

Yesterday

Together

On a Sunday morning sidewalk I'm wishing, Lord, that I was stoned

Cash

'Cause there's something about a Sunday

Kristofferson

Imagine, though, the hero of your life makes you what you are. You know, your hero turns your life around.

Together

There ain't nothing short of dyin' Half as lonesome as the sound

Cash

Of a sleepin' city sidewalk

Kristofferson

And I find it amazing today that the janitor had the audacity to be there in the first place, but that he would become my best friend. Whoo!

Cheers and applause

Raphael

I guess these guys, when we did The Highwaymen, their solo careers weren't really hitting on all cylinders at the time.

Benson

CBS Records dropped Johnny Cash because he's not making enough money?

Mellencamp

Once you get to be a certain age and you get to be a certain intelligence of how things are working, you know, they don't want to deal with it. You know, it's much cheaper to get some young kid who you can say, "Hey, you know, we'll give you $30,000 and alleviate you of this publishing responsibility." You know, that's the kind of...they did.

Kristofferson

They didn't understand John. It would be like dropping Dylan from your label or something, you know? There are certain people that are up and beyond the rules.

Benson

There was no soul left in Nashville. They didn't care about Johnny Cash anymore.

Rothbaum

It's not limited to Johnny Cash. It's also Willie and Waylon, and to hear somebody tell me that they had a truck and they back it up to the record company, they'd take them all and dump them at the dump. That, to me, was more than I could handle.

Carter Cash

Some people were counting my dad as out. You know, they saw that he was possibly at the end of his career in some ways, but you could not count out Johnny Cash.

Nelson

Well, a long time forgotten Our dreams that just fell by the way And the good life he promised Ain't what she's livin' today

Jennings

But she never complains of the bad times Or the bad things he's done, Lord She just talks about the good times they've had And all the good times to come

Cash

I met Waylon the first time in the early '60s at a club in Phoenix. June and I were working there, and this was before June and I were married. And we went out and watched him. Well, you know, Nashville is the only music community that I really knew anything about. So June and I encouraged Waylon to come and move to Nashville and start recording and get his career going because, you know, I wasn't half into the show till I knew that here's a man who had a whole lot more to offer to the world than 400 or 500 people that might come into a Phoenix nightclub.

Nelson

He likes the night life, the bright lights And his good time and friends No, he asked me, "Do you think I should go to Nashville?" I said, "How much money are you making here?" And I think he said $400 a week. I said, "Stay here."

Jennings

Through teardrops and laughter They'll pass through this world hand-in-hand A good-hearted woman in love with a good-timin' man

Cash

He came in, but right up front, he bucked against the Nashville music community and the way things were cut and dried.

Raphael

Country music was kind of pretty at that time. You had Marty Robbins singing these beautiful cowboy ballads and Eddy Arnold and Ray Price, you know, with a lot of strings backing them up. So Waylon was raw. You know, so it was a whole different movement from what was going on, you know, in the norm in Nashville.

Stuart

The old world of Nashville was perhaps comparable, in a farm club kind of way, in a country kind of way, to the studio system in Hollywood. Every label had its stars. Every label had manufactured stars. Everybody was assigned producers. The publishing industry was tight-knit. It was pretty much a good ole boy-run town. So things were just kind of set up that way from the foundation up.

Colter

I mean, he had come off a marvelous job here, you know, running the roost, so to speak. And it was a bust.

June

John ended up moving to Nashville, and so did Waylon -- together. That was another nightmare.

Jennings

And there was days both of us were pretty well hooked on pills, but we can honestly say we never gave each other drugs.

Cash

Never. We hid it. We thought we were hiding it from each other.

Jennings

We never did. See, I knew he couldn't handle it.

Cash

Right.

Jennings

So I had to protect him.

Cash

Right, yeah.

Jennings

I think he was thinking about the same thing. You know, when you grow up in Texas, you're taught that you're a little bit bigger and a little bit better and a little bit tougher and a little bit smarter than anybody else. And Willie and I were both taught that. Now, I don't know about Willie, but it was rough on me when I got out in the world and found out I wasn't.

Cheers and applause

Jennings

Nelson

In the twilight glow, I see her Blue eyes cryin' in the rain

Carter Cash

All of the Highwaymen, of course, were outsiders. Willie Nelson sort of wrote the book on being an outsider.

Nelson

When we kissed goodbye and parted

Mellencamp

The establishment, you know, they said, "The guy can't sing. Maybe he should be a songwriter."

Stuart

He played incredible guitar. His main influence was this French Gypsy guitar player named Django Reinhardt.

Nelson

Love is like a dying ember

Raphael

So he was different, and it might have put people out of their comfort zone for listening to this guy.

Nelson

All of us in our own way compromised in some ways and tried to do it their way for a while, and not only was it not -- Wasn't really that much fun, it just wasn't working. It just wasn't clicking.

Raphael

And he got frustrated, left Nashville, moved back to Texas, which was, you know, where he was from originally. It was his home. And move to Austin 'cause he heard there was a lot of new music coming out of Austin.

Benson

Originally, the audiences were young -- University of Texas and young hippies. And then the rednecks were going, "Well, Willie Nelson's there. What's going on over there?" Or, "Look at all them young girls. Well, maybe we can meet some of them young girls that are at that concert," you know.

Raphael

Willie saw he could go into these places and he looked out in the audience and there were cowboy hats and longhairs and they were all getting along.

Stuart

You can't put enough emphasis on when Waylon and Willie went to Austin. Waylon said it before. "You know, Willie called and said, 'You need to come out here. I've found something.'" That was the whole start of it.

Benson

You got to remember -- 1971, '72, '73, '74, '75 in Texas, you could get your ass kicked and killed and your hair cut just by having long hair and being a hippie. So they would flock to this place 'cause they were safe.

Raphael

When I first came to work, the band was still wearing brocade tuxedos. But Willie was growing his hair long and was wearing a long brown leather shirt with big billowing pirate sleeves and a beard and long hair and a cowboy hat.

Rothbaum

I remember once a promotion man said, "We love what Willie's doing. We don't want him in a tuxedo. We like the clothing -- the sneakers and the long hair." I said, "It's guaranteed. He won't go the tuxedo way."

Cheers and applause

Nelson

Thank you very much.

Turner

The Outlaw movement was started by Waylon and Willie. More so Waylon because he was the first one to say, "Hey, I'm not gonna do things the normal way." He said, "I'm gonna do them my way."

Jennings

So one time Willie was in town, and I said, "Willie, come on. Let's go cut an album." I said, "I want to cut this album, but," I said, "I've got it ready." You know, he had a couple songs, and I said, "I want you to play guitar on it, and let's have some fun with it." And I went over, and I cut the album "This Time." When I got through with it, I took it to the record company, and they said, "Oh, that's wonderful. Now we got to go in the studio and cut it." And I said, "No." I said, "That's all you got." So they tried every way in the world, even tried to get them to allow this one to be released, and finally, they released it. And that more or less broke the system in this town where the record companies own the studios.

Turner

I think anybody that has any artistic freedom in their contracts and record deals today owe that to Waylon Jennings.

Keith

Willie's a little more laid back. He was just always grinning all the time and picking and singing and saying, "Let's go." And Waylon was -- He was the bull trying to knock down all the doors. You know, Willie was just like, "Oh, you kicked another door in? I'll walk through there with you," you know?

Nelson

Well, the Outlaw thing started selling, and they really didn't understand that because we were breaking all the rules, doing it wrong, using our own bands.

Raphael

And I think the first record he did for Columbia was "Red Headed Stranger," and the deal was that Willie could just do whatever he wanted -- pick the songs, pick the band -- which he picked his road band, which is never done, and just turn in a finished product. And when he did, it was so sparse -- I mean, "Red Headed Stranger" was basically Willie and the band sitting around in a circle, and he's playing these new songs. And while we're recording, it's the first time we heard the songs. So they're pretty sparse. We're mainly just listening to what he's doing and playing very lightly on it. Well, when he turned it in, the guys at Columbia said, "You know, this is a great demo. Why don't you re-cut it, or we'll put some strings on it?" And Willie said, "No, you've got to put it out like it is." And reluctantly, they did. And it was a hit. I don't know how many weeks it's been on the charts, but for years.

Rothbaum

They broke down the system and gained their own control by having success.

Raphael

Well, "The Outlaws," which was Willie, Waylon, Tompall Glaser, and Jessi Colter, was the first country record to go platinum.

Kristofferson

It broke down boundaries. People who used to not listen to country music because it wasn't cool started listening again because it looked dangerous.

Raphael

At that time, cocaine was a really popular drug, and everybody was doing it. Willie didn't like it because he liked to relax. And he liked to smoke pot and just relax. And cocaine made us all jacked-up and play really fast and loud and not listen to each other. So Waylon did like cocaine. And that was kind of a part of his lifestyle.

Colter

He'd take drugs and stay up in the office and go cut records. And I'm not saying he didn't ever do anything that didn't challenge our marriage, but basically, he was working. That's what he liked.

Jennings

Cowboys ain't easy to love And they're harder to hold They'd rather give you a song than diamonds or gold

Nelson

Lone Star belt buckles and old faded Levis

Raphael

The Highwaymen voices blended together great. A lot of times, it's just two of them at a time singing. You know, it's like duets, and then on the choruses, all of them would sing together. So it was -- You know, it just got bigger than life.

All

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys Don't let 'em pick guitars and drive them old trucks Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such

Stuart

There's four movies right there. There's four folk heroes. There's four great lives that have been lived. And it must have been a weary spot for any of them. It's a wonderful thing to be a star. It's a wonderful thing to be a legend, but at some point, you know, you're a human being, too. And, you know, when you can back up against three other oak trees that understand and nothing has to be discussed, there's bound to be peace in there.

Jennings

Little, warm puppies And children and girls of the night Whoop-whoop

Cash

Whoop-whoop

Nelson

And them that don't know him won't like him And them that do sometimes won't know how to take him He ain't wrong He's just different, but his pride won't let him Do things to make you think he's right

All

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys

Carter Cash

These men were, you know, icons of our culture and whatever they may have been, you know, to the public. But they were buddies. They were laughing and just enjoying their time together.

Rothbaum

Any time I hear a live Highwaymen show, it's a visceral thrill for me. Am I dreaming this? Did it really happen? It's almost too much to take I'm so proud of it.

Cheers and applause

Raphael

You know, because these guys were so popular, the movie deals started coming in.

Nelson

We crossed the burning desert And the arrows on the sun

Raphael

And I guess they did "Stagecoach."

Kristofferson

I didn't catch your name.

Jennings

His name is Doc Holliday.

Kristofferson

Is that right? I heard you're pretty handy with a gun.

Nelson

I'm still alive.

Annie

They wanted him to cut his hair to play Doc Holliday, and, first, I didn't want to cut Willie Nelson's hair, and secondly, I didn't see a need. And when I met him, he was sitting in a chair, and I said, "Mr. Nelson, the producers and director would like me to ask if you'd be wiling to cut your hair for this part." I remember him looking up at me from the chair and saying, "Well, what do you think?" And I said, "I think it's ridiculous. To be perfectly honest, I don't see the need." And he said, "Let's tell them no." And I just saw this smart-ass twinkle. And I went, "Yeah, okay! That's kind of cool."

Nelson

I tell everybody we marry what we need. Kris married a lawyer, and I got a makeup girl.

Carter Cash

When my father was a little boy, he would always go see the film down the road at the local theater, and typically, on a Friday night, it would, more often than not, be a Gene Autry film. Gene Autry was always my father's favorite 'cause he loved to see the Singing Cowboy. It was later on, in the 1990s, that he actually got to spend some time with Mr. Autry.

Autry

How you been, John?

Cash

I'm doing fine. I'm doing just fine. Just make yourself comfortable.

Autry

I'll do my damndest.

Rothbaum

Gene came to the Ocean Way Studio, and just like the same little kids at that theater, their eyes lit up, and there's the cowboy.

Autry

Hey. Willie. Sit down, man.

Nelson

Nice to see you.

Autry

God, I haven't seen you in so long.

Nelson

I know it. Excuse me, Kris.

Autry

You don't come back out here like you used to.

Nelson

No, sir, I don't come as much as I ought to.

Rothbaum

They're with the Singing Cowboy. I mean, they'd make their music. They'd ride their horse. They would act in films. They'd have their shows. They were real cowboy stars.

Together

Yippee, ty-aye-oh Rockin' to and fro Back in the saddle again Yippee-ty-aye-yay I go my way Back in the saddle again

Autry

Hell, you're doing it better than I can. We should have recorded that.

I think we did. -Autry

I think we did.

Kristofferson

I'm gonna steal me a silver stallion

Raphael

They had ideas. They wanted to play colleges. We played colleges. They wanted to go to Europe. We went to Europe. They wanted to go to Asia. We went to Asia.

Carter Cash

It was as if these guys had been on the road together forever. It was a huge band. It was a huge production. But it was a family.

Annie

It was so comfortable. It was sort of just every time we went out, it was a reunion in the middle of the airports, in airport lounges all over the world.

Robin

It could have been a little complicated traveling with 39 people, including infant children, but it just worked itself out.

Lisa

Willie would get down on the ground and play blocks with our kids and make funny jokes and do little magic things with them. And Waylon just loved to carry our daughter around everywhere. My memory is that they're always on the ground with the kids, which is strange for men of such huge stature.

Colter

They were just little boys grown tall. And they wore boots.

Cheers and applause

Nelson

Maybe I didn't love you Quite as often as I could have Maybe I didn't treat you Quite as good as I should have If I made you feel second-best Girl, I'm sorry I was blind But you were always on my mind

Rothbaum

When Willie cut "Always on My Mind," he called me the night he cut it, and he said, "Listen to this." And I heard it over the phone. And I went, "Wow! That's a smash." That band was the same band that toured with Highwaymen every night.

Nelson

Chips put together a lot of material and a lot of musicians. He's a great producer, and he put together the band behind us for all the records. And we couldn't have done it without Chips.

Robin

The way it came to pass with the musicians was that everyone agreed that they would bring in one or two musicians from their own bands, and the rest were studio musicians that were the best at what they did.

Turner

The Highwaymen band was a big band that started with the core being The Memphis Boys.

Young

During the five-year period that we were together, The Memphis Boys cut 120 chart records, hit records. For me personally, the Highwaymen tour was probably the most fun thing I've ever done.

Turner

Reggie Young loved playing live with the High-- We all did. It was a family organization. You know, we always loved each other so much that there's nobody that could fill in for somebody else, you know?

Nelson

You were always on my mind You were always on My mind

Cheers and applause

Cash

We're at Norman, Oklahoma, at the university near Oklahoma City, and we're here for a concert tonight that Willie brought together to aid the farmers that are kind of down and out, you know?

Mellencamp

Willie is Farm Aid. And me and everybody is kind of just his helper, really. Willie should really get the Nobel Peace Prize for Farm Aid.

Kristofferson

People are becoming aware that people have to get involved. I don't think we can sit back and rely on our politicians to take care of problems that they're not taking care of.

Cheers and applause

Kristofferson

Jennings

I've always been crazy And the trouble that it's put me through I've been busted for things that I did And I didn't do

Carter Cash

My father and Waylon were both open about their struggles with addiction. My father, of course, was on amphetamines in the 1960s, but it was later on in the 1980s that he developed an addiction to pain pills. He straightened up, actually, in early 1983. Waylon, also, gave up his drug of choice, which was cocaine.

Jennings

I've always been different, with one foot over the line Winding up somewhere one step ahead or behind

Colter

He had tried three times to dry out. He could get me up all times, days and night, and he was dealing with the frenzy that comes from trying to come off a drug. He called me up one morning. He says, "Come out here and sit with me," and we were out watching the sunrise, which was never anything he wanted to do, you know? But I guess that was the moment that he knew, you know, that he had made a decision. Shortly after, he'd told me because he had a big bag of coke out in the bus. So at one point, he said, "Jessi, you can go throw that down the toilet."

Jennings

Till now I ain't found a rhyme or a reason to change I've always been crazy It's kept me from going insane

Carter Cash

And they supported each other in their recovery.

Colter

June had thrown Waylon a sobriety party at her house. So Johnny says, "Jessi, June is giving Waylon a sobriety party. Will you give me one?" I says, "Yes, Johnny," you know?

Carter Cash

So they really stood behind each other throughout their endeavors of sobriety.

Cheers and applause

Turner

With those four guys, the way they all meshed with each other was amazing.

Raphael

I think Willie was up for anything. Willie just wanted to stir up... He just liked a little tension going on. Waylon didn't like any tension and was always kind of paranoid about it. Kris was ready to stir up anything for his causes.

Turner

Kris had, at one point, had him a Lebanese flag or something -- an Iraqi flag or something out there. I don't even remember what it was. And John Cash started up with Waylon about that flag. And John knew what buttons to push with Waylon, and Waylon would get upset that he realized, "Well, John was just messing with me. I'm upset over nothing."

Kristofferson

See, Waylon -- Waylon is gonna worry about something, you know?

We'll see to it. -Kristofferson

We'll see to it.

Raphael

And really, they all stood for the same things, but their delivery was a little different.

Was

A really revealing glimpse into their life philosophies can be found in the way they each decorated their vocal booth. Johnny Cash -- He draped his in black and put a big rainbow in it. Beneath the Man in Black persona was a sweet, optimistic guy. And Willie -- Willie put a Texas flag in there. Waylon went for a desert motif. But he also, in the garbage somewhere on one of his trips, found a velvet painting of Willie. And he hung that in there, too. And Kris asked me to bring a picture I had of Noam Chomsky hanging in my house. I think there's a picture of Che Guevara. And those are the personas they chose, in a way. You know, they grew into those characters.

Jennings

Listen, my name's Waylon, and his ain't and his ain't and his ain't.

Laughter

Jennings

That's all you need to know.

Rothbaum

They're not playing against each other. They're playing with each other, but they're still competitive. And so there's just a kind of swagger to each entertainer.

Jennings

It's the same old tune, fiddle and guitar Where do we take it from here? Rhinestone suits and new shiny cars It's been the same way for years Somebody told me when I first got to Nashville "Hoss, you finally got it made Old Hank made it here So we're all sure that you will" But I don't think Hank done it this way Did old Hank really do it this way?

Rothbaum

Each time they'd get up to do a show -- "This is the last time, and we're gonna give it hell." This is what great athletes do.

Kristofferson

Willie's the outlaw coyote. Waylon's the riverboat gambler. I'm the revolutionary Communist radical. And John is the father of our country.

Laughter

Kristofferson

Cheers and applause

Benson

They were all able to have the greatest respect for each other as artists, and the sum of the parts was just humongous. And Kris, I think, being a songwriter -- He never considered himself a singer. He's a songwriter. So to him, it was like, you know, the same thing. "How did I get in with this bunch of singers?"

Nelson

When I first heard "Bobby McGee," I said, "Why didn't I write that?" It has all the ingredients of the things that I like to see and hear in the songs from all about freedom and traveling and even down to the red bandana. So naturally, I related to that song a lot.

Kristofferson

Busted flat in Baton Rouge Headin' for the trains Feeling nearly faded as my jeans Bobby thumbed a diesel down Just before it rained Took us all the way to New Orleans I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana I was blowing sad while Bobby sang the blues With them windshield wipers slapping time And Bobby clapping hands We finally sang up every song that driver knew

Nelson

Kris is the best songwriter I know, and has been since he showed up.

Rothbaum

I don't think that I could put in words the effect that Kristofferson had on country music better than Bob Dylan's speech at MusiCares, where he called Kris the Game Changer.

Mellencamp

Nashville had never seen anything like Kris when he showed up. Never. Never. He probably scared the hell out of those people.

Jennings

From the coal mines of Kentucky To the California sun

Kristofferson

I found out that I could express myself in songs, and that was what I was supposed to do with my life. And the fact that I got to do it with the heroes would be like finding out I could go out and write poems with William Blake or something.

All

Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose Nothing ain't worth nothing, but it's free

Jennings

Whoo!

All

Feeling good was easy, Lord, when Bobby sang the blues Feeling good

Kristofferson

Buddy, that was good enough for me and Waylon and Johnny and Willie.

All

Good enough for me and Bobby McGee

Jennings

Yeah, Willie!

Lisa

When we were traveling with the band, right, we would pull off at truck stops periodically for the guys to get food, and they would all get their biscuits and gravy and their bacon and eggs and all the stuff that they love at truck stops. Kris would get off the bus, and instead of going inside at the truck stops, he would just start running for an hour in that direction, and then when the guys were all done eating and would get back on the bus, we'd go down the highway and pick him up wherever he was.

Carter Cash

You know, my father maintained he did the best he could, but he never was one for exercise, whereas Willie and Kris were always exercising, whether it was golf or jogging or whatever. They were very, very physically active.

Raphael

Johnny was not the healthiest person. He had had some implants, some dental implants, and the doctor had broke his jaw putting these things in. And he would still come out and do the show, but he just was not a happy camper.

Annie

He did all of that in excruciating pain and was still so gracious.

Rothbaum

He didn't make a big deal about it, and he hid his pain well.

Robin

The only time he said that he ever felt good in the course of a day or night with this problem was when he was onstage when he could sublimate it and just sing over the pain.

Carter Cash

Waylon was having a bypass surgery done, and my father went and visited him in the hospital. The doctors wanted to check him out when he was there 'cause he didn't look quite right. It was determined that my father also had a blocked artery -- actually, two. So he had to have a bypass surgery, also. So Waylon and my dad were really almost roommates once again because they were right down the hall from each other. So I'm sure there were some jokes being passed back and forth and some old memories that came back because there they were again, after all those years.

Jennings

Look here, is that you I see? You sure seem down to me

Kristofferson

Waylon -- I think he was spiritual down to the bottom of his feet. He was able to express it to me in his music. Everything that came out of his throat, to me, sounded like it was a religious song.

Jennings

Everyone gets crazy now and then

Cash

I know those empty nights get lonely

Carter Cash

My father was an ordained minister. He was a student of the Bible. He was able to say, "I've been to the darkness. I've come out the far side, and the light is my point. The goodness is what I stand for."

Cash

Yes, these troubled times get scary But that's just ordinary

Together

Everyone gets crazy now and then

Nelson

And who can say they've never stumbled?

Turner

All four of the Highwaymen were very spiritual guys in their own sense.

Raphael

Willie was like a yogi, you know, very spiritual. Not in your face. He didn't try to convert anybody. You just kept your mouth shut and listened to Willie or listened to his songs. There's all kinds of lessons in life and love.

Rothbaum

They did a song called "Everyone Goes Crazy Now and Then," and they sang the crap out of it. I mean, Kris will just break your heart on it.

Kristofferson

I get crazy just like you Lost and lonely, too Like some old flag left flyin' in the wind Time has taught me this, for sure Time is the only cure

Raphael

It was very healing for the four guys to be together. And they had their families on tour, so it was a win-win situation, even though each of them had specific -- had their own health problems. Together as a unit, you know, it was a very helpful thing.

Jennings

You better grin, Kris, or I'll hit you.

Laughter

Jennings

Living legends are a dyin' breed And there ain't that many left To tell the truth I ain't been feeling real hot lately my damn self I ain't old, and I ain't bitter And I ain't mad at anyone So don't go takin' seriously what's poked at you in fun But if you've ever been to Nashville Then I think you might agree We've seen a lot of changes Things we never thought we'd see A rock 'n' roller with a banjo Now, that I might recall But a country singer with a briefcase Beats all I ever saw

Lisa

They laugh all the time. They laugh constantly. They crack each other up. They respect each other so much that they can also sit in a room and have a smoke and not have to say a thing. They communicate on a level that I don't speak that language.

Jennings

We're friends forever, as they say.

Let's play golf. -Jennings

You got a deal. I can beat you any day of the week.

Kristofferson

Let's have lunch sometime.

Jennings

I mean, you are no golf-playing sons of bitches.

Nelson

No way. Remember --

Remember the... -Jennings

Nothing!

Nelson

...Linda Ronstadt hit "Blue Bayou"?

Laughter

Nelson

That's the way it'll be all day long, man. "Blue Bayou."

Raphael

We did four tours. There were so many -- three or four years between each tour. And maybe after the last tour -- I don't know if everybody's health was up to speed.

Carter Cash

My father and Waylon seemed to be beginning to suffer physically.

All

Desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train

Jennings

He's a drifter and a driller of oil wells An old-school man of the world

Raphael

Waylon -- He was still battling diabetes. It had gotten pretty bad.

Lisa

He did have heart failure, and towards the end, it would get -- you know, lose his breath. But his attitude never ever showed that he was willing to give up.

Colter

We kept working. It just didn't change our life. That part of him was still the same. He was still a worker.

All

Like desperadoes waiting for a train Like desperadoes waiting for a train

Cash

One day, I looked up, and he's pushing 80 And there's brown tobacco stains all down his chin To me, he's one of the heroes of our country So why is he all dressed up like them old men?

Kristofferson

As soon as Waylon went into intensive care, John went into intensive care. You know, I guess I was in denial. And I thought John went into the hospital sometimes just to rest.

All

Waiting for a train

Kristofferson

And it wasn't. They really were dying.

Carter Cash

In 1997, my father actually retired from the road for good. Even though his friendship, of course, with Waylon carried on, Waylon's health also began to decline.

Turner

Waylon came out to my studio not long before he passed, a couple of years, and he said he wanted to record some songs. He said, "I want you to finish them one day." So when he passed, I was hurt because Waylon was as much family to me -- I mean, I still get emotional. I miss him every day of my life. I really do. And he was a great man. He really was.

Jennings

Lord, help me, Jesus I've wasted it so

Carter Cash

When Waylon passed away, my father really felt like he had lost his best friend. Dad and Waylon always laughed together. And losing Waylon was, in many ways, like losing your brother. They were that close. But my dad persisted.

Stuart

He never turned loose of the music. He was chasing songs till the day he died.

Kristofferson

He may be the most spiritual person I've known because he was conscious of his own mortality and his own weaknesses but used his life to raise the perception of other people into the infinite.

Cash

Maybe, Lord

Carter Cash

I hope that younger musicians will look at the example that the Highwaymen give us and realize that if we stay true to what we believe, if we follow our dreams with our hearts, we can stand together a whole lot stronger. And that's what the Highwaymen did.

Rothbaum

It's like being in a beautiful dream and not wanting it to end. And yet, when the notes of the final song hit, you know that it's -- This isn't forever.

All

Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas, With Waylon and Willie, and the boys

Raphael

I think that the Highwaymen influenced so many other young artists as to maybe follow your heart.

Keith

The Highwaymen's like the first Dream Team in basketball. You put Cash and all those guys together, and it's like you can't repeat that. That's kind of the Mount Rushmore deal.

All

Luckenbach, Texas, ain't nobody feelin' no pain

Kristofferson

Everybody has limitations on what they can do, how close they can get to their dreams. And I believe it is what we're supposed to do is live up to our better instincts.

Jennings

Coat and tie are killing me In your high society, you cry all day We've been so busy keeping up with the Jones

Mellencamp

Their spirit lives on, and that type of constitution that these guys had -- They stood for something that most people just don't have in them.

Stuart

It was four of the last great American heroes from the 20th century. They rode into town and made us love country music. They made us love American music. And you know what, it was a victory lap, and everybody won, especially us, the listener.

Rothbaum

Every detractor, every record company executive who ever sold them short or felt that they were irrelevant or over the hill -- All those people are out of this business. And these guys are still in the business, and their music is still being played. And it will be played for hundreds of thousands of years.

All

Between Hank Williams' pain songs Newbury's train songs Blue eyes cryin' in the rain Out in Luckenbach, Texas

Rothbaum

They are still ornery, lonesome, and mean.

Laughter

Rothbaum

Cheers and applause

Nelson

Well, I taught the weepin' willow how to cry, cry, cry

Cash

And I showed the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky And the tears I cried for that woman Are gonna flood you, big river And I'm gonna sit right here until I die

Nelson

Well, I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota And it tore me up to hear her When she drawl that Southern drawl Well, I heard my dream went back downstream, Cavorting in Davenport But I followed you, big river, when you called