Green goddess lands red headed stranger in hot soup

Willie Nelson, American entertainer and songwriter, was issued violation citations for drug possession on September 18, 2006.

Nelson was on a Louisiana highway after performing at Austin City. The police were making the everyday inspection in the wee hours of morning, when the strong and unavoidable fetor of marijuana came from the bus as soon as the door was opened.

The police conducted a thorough search of the bus and besides marijuana, they also found magic mushrooms.

Trooper Willie Williams, State Police spokesman, said today that a trooper with the Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped Nelson’s bus on Interstate 10, near milepost 110, for a commercial vehicle inspection, a common procedure on Louisiana roadways.

1.5 pounds of marijuana and about two-tenths of a pound of mushrooms was seized. If this quantity would have been in the possession of one person, it would have been a heinous crime, and warrants would have been issued.

But Williams said that all five people on the bus, including Nelson, laid claim on the drugs, and were each charged with infractions.

Even the driver of the bus was cited for the possession of drugs, which led to the cancellation of his commercial driving privileges.

Willie Hugh Nelson was born on April 30, 1933 in Abbott, Texas. He reached his greatest fame during the outlaw country movement of the 1970s.

Singing locally in honky tonk bars and playing the DJ at a country radio station in Fort Worth, Texas, was Nelson’s initial step towards fame. In 1956, Nelson moved to Vancouver, Washington to begin a musical career by recording ‘Lumberjack’ by Leon Payne. The single sold respectably but did not establish a career.

Nelson continued to DJ in Vancouver and sing in clubs. He sold a song called ‘Family Bible’ for $50; the song was a hit for Claude Gray in 1960, has been covered widely, and is often considered a gospel music classic.

It was in 1965 in Austin that Willie’s career sailplaned. His popularity in Austin soared, as he played his own brand of country music marked by rock and roll, jazz, western swing, and folk influences.

Nelson’s acting career has been sky rocketing too, since the early days and he will soon be seen reprising the role in the upcoming sequel ‘The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee’ in 2007.

Nelson’s private life has been tumultuous, as he has been married four times and fathered seven children. Nelosn Willie (and his 6 living children) can trace their geneology back to the American Revolutionary War, in which his ancestor John Nelson served as a major.

Sometimes, however, his distinctive music and other admirable social and political activities take a backseat to his pop-culture public image- that of an elderly, marijuana-smoking old-school cowboy-hippie troubadour.

Nelson has not been timid of his drug abuse and openly acknowledges to the fact. Besides the Red headed stranger, Tony Sizemore, 59, of St. Cloud, Florida, Nelson’s sister Bobbie Nelson, 75, of Briarcliff, Texas, Gates Moore, 54, of Austin, Texas and David Anderson, 50, of Dallas, Texas were also named for possession of drugs.

No stranger to controversy, in February 2006, Nelson released ‘Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other’, a song about gay cowboys, as a digital single through the iTunes Music Store on Valentine's Day.

As of now, Nelson’s hit ‘Always On My Mind’ will be heard in Julio Iglesias upcoming ‘Romantic Classics’ album, due out September 19, 2006.