“If you’re wired, you’re fired.”
That was the edict Willie Nelson gave his band and crew as the 1970s drew to a close. Sure, Nelson was and remains a high emissary for marijuana, but he would no longer tolerate cocaine and what it did to his friends and his music.
The band and crew responded with humor. Resident artist Steve Brooks designed a T-shirt printed with “No Blow Blues Band” on the back. Stage manager Poodie Locke paid for a few dozen and handed them out. Most were soon worn to death by the roadies.
But Brooks saved his, adding to an exclusive collection of T-shirts, posters, band jackets, and other Nelson memorabilia that goes on the block as part of a Nelson-themed auction on Aug. 10 at Burley Auction Gallery in New Braunfels. And, yes, the auction includes that ultra-rare T-shirt.
Brooks, who will turn 75 a few days after the auction, says it’s just time to pass the stuff along to Nelson fans who will enjoy it. “I have photos of everything,” he says. “I don’t mind letting it go.”
In addition to original artwork, Brooks is selling rare posters, including ones promoting the Labor Day Picnic in Colleyville (which was canceled) and the Abbott Homecoming—a day-long concert in Nelson’s hometown which was meant to raise funds for the local PTA. Both are from 1973 and represent some of Brooks’ earliest work with Nelson.
The collection has impressed Burley Auction Gallery owner Robb Burley. Having sold Texas music posters by the thousands and seen many high-end private collections, Burley says Brooks has brought him stuff that he didn’t know existed. “I’m telling the bigger buyers that we have, ‘Don’t come back saying you need me to find me one of those. You gotta buy that one. That’s the only one there is.’”
Also in the auction are items from the Scooter Franks estate. Scooter and brother Bo (aka Franks Bros.) were Nelson’s official merchandisers for 50 years, selling items at every concert under a large yellow canopy with red lettering.
That canopy wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, but you could spot it right away. Now Burley is selling it, possibly paired with Scooter’s 2009 Ford Econoline van, which has 750,000 tour miles on it (and a rebuilt engine and transmission). “We’re going to stuff it full of Willie T-shirts and somebody’s going to have a heck of a souvenir,” Burley says.
The Franks items aren’t necessarily vintage, but they are just as rare, including one-off blown-up versions of posters that the brothers would use for advertising.
One of the higher-end auction items is a maquette given to one of the original investors in the Nelson statue that resides outside ACL Live at the Moody Theater, the music venue where the PBS music series Austin City Limits is filmed in downtown Austin. Another is an original photo of Nelson in costume on the set of the 1982 western film Barbarosa, taken by author and screenwriter Bill Wittliff. The print is signed by both Nelson and Wittliff.
The auction is gaining attention among Nelson fans, though first-time auction participants are likely to be surprised at how high the bids will go. Burley says it’s hard to say how much the items in Brooks’ collection will go for, but he wouldn’t be surprised to see quite a bit in the $2,500 range. The ultra-rare posters may be among the hottest sellers. Burley has sold several 1973 Fourth of July Picnic posters by Jim Franklin for between $3,000 and $6,000 and wouldn’t have a problem finding more to sell. The Labor Day Picnic poster is something he’s never even seen before. “I can’t find you another one of those,” he says. “Does that translate into money? I don’t know. As far as price comparables, they don’t exist.”
But there will be more affordably priced items, such as the press kit for “Willie Jeans,” which includes a photo of Nelson modeling his own short-lived brand. (A catalog will be posted online before the auction and there will be a gallery preview on Aug. 9.)
Burley says he’s impressed with how Brooks cataloged and curated his collection, such as pairing a rare posters with matching tickets.
“He really took care of the stuff,” he says. “He was a collector.”
Brooks says everything has a story behind it that he doesn’t want to be forgotten. “I didn’t want there to be any questions about what was what, or why [the artwork] was done,” he says.
There’s a lot of memories there for Brooks, and he’s not certain how he’ll feel on the day of the auction, but right now he’s excited.
“I want to see where these items end up.”
