photo: David Wallace
www.caller.com
by: Allison Ehrlich
It was rainy and cold at the beach when the Red-Headed Stranger came to town in 1979.
Willie Nelson, already a music legend, was just starting his movie career when production crews showed up in Corpus Christi to film a few scenes for “Honeysuckle Rose.”
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The movie tells the story of touring country singer Buck Bonham, played by Nelson, and the threat to his relationship with his long-suffering wife when his retiring guitarist’s college-age daughter joins the tour and poses a temptation. Dyan Cannon played wife Viv Bonham and Amy Irving portrayed the tempting young Lily Ramsey, with Slim Pickens as her father.
This was only Nelson’s second film, following his one-line debut in “The Electric Horseman” with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford. Nelson — as one would expect — was not your usual movie star.
A Caller article from Dec. 15, 1979, describes the atmosphere during filming at Malaquite Beach at the Padre Island National Seashore as laidback. “Missing were the glittery costumes, glamorous stars and groupies en masse that seem to accompany the filming of a movie.”
Also missing was the moderate weather that was supposed to serve as a stand-in for a sunny Mexican beach. A steady rain fell and temperatures hovered in the low 50s.
The movie isn’t much remembered except by the most loyal fans. At the time, Roger Ebert stated, “the movie is sly and entertaining, but it could have been better. Still, it has its charms, and one is certainly the presence of Willie Nelson himself.”
The crew members would have agreed. At one point the large, red, white and blue bus labeled with “Buck Bonham’s Band” got stuck in the soft sand on the shoulder when Willie was trying to turn it around. As crew members scrambled to help push it out, Nelson jumped out to help get the bus on the road again.
And in fact, “On the Road Again” may be the most memorable thing to come from the movie. The film’s soundtrack was Nelson’s 27th studio album and made it to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums. “On the Road Again” also hit No. 1 on the Billboard country chart, No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, won Nelson a Grammy for Best Country Song and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 53rd Academy Awards.
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Allison Ehrlich is the archive coordinator for the Caller-Times. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CallerArchives.
