Biography

WILLIE & BOBBIE NELSON - FARTHER ALONG (5:20)

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Songwriter:. Rev. W. A. Fletcher

One thing most people don't know is how influential Gospel has been for Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie. From their childhood in the cotton-farming country of Abbott, Texas, Willie and Bobbie were raised with good country Gospel music, and the soulfulness of that upbringing has permeated their lives ever since.

The lyrics to the song were written in 1911 by Rev. W. A. Fletcher, an itinerant preacher, while he was travelling to the Indian Territories by train. Fletcher was feeling depressed because his wife was expecting their first-born child in a few weeks and he wouldn't be present for the occasion. He felt that his priorities were with his ministry in the Indian Territories and wrote the lyrics to reflect his frame of mind at the time.

Sitting next to him on the train was J. R. Baxter, a gospel music promoter who was quite taken with the lyrics that Fletcher was writing and offered him $2.00 for them. Mr. Baxter subsequently had them put to music and the song has been quite popular in the gospel music arena ever since.

The song deals with a Christian's dismay at the apparent prosperity of the wicked, when contrasted with the suffering of the righteous. The repeated theme is that, in Heaven, the truth will be revealed.


WILLIE NELSON - what can you say that has not been said about a living legend such as Willie Nelson ?

One thing most people don't know is how influential Gospel has been for Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie. From their childhood in the cotton-farming country of Abbott, Texas, Willie and Bobbie were raised with good country Gospel music, and the soulfulness of that upbringing has permeated their lives ever since.

On "Farther Along", Bobbie and Willie Nelson hark back to their spiritual and musical roots by bringing to you 18 of their favorite Gospel songs. Such songs as Lily Of The Valley, I'll Fly Away, Old Time Religion, Swing Low Sweet Chariot and 14 other comforting and comfortable classics heard here reflect the background they come from - the Down-to-Earth, Salt-of-the-Earth, Hard-Working country - just like so many of the good people that have enjoyed Willie Nelson's music for all these years.