Willie Nelson’s Long Time Bassist—Dan “Bee” Spears Dies




Cooking Up a Story show

Summary: Dan "Bee" Spears, the long time bassist for Willie Nelson's band passed away last week, at age 62. As many people know, Willie Nelson has been a tireless crusader for the family farmer, and through the organization he helped to create, Farm Aid (http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.2723609/k.C8F1/About_Us.htm), Nelson and his band have continued over 26 years to raise money and awareness for the plight of the small farmer in America. As a longtime admirer of their music, and Nelson's humanity, we wish to extend our condolences to his family, and friends for their loss. Please find below a short clip from an interview with Mr. Spears that was produced by the Kitchen Sisters (http://www.kitchensisters.org/hidden_kitchens/hk_radio_series.htm), a long-running, award-winning radio show featuring stories across the country about food, and American food culture. As the Kitchen Sisters explain in their newsletter, this interview happened quite by chance. They were originally planning to interview Willie Nelson about his involvement with Farm Aid, but Nelson was temporarily delayed. So they began talking with Spears, and it turned into a interview that almost caused them to miss their opportunity to interview Nelson. Short clip of interview with Dan Bee Spears talking in part about cooking an armadillo (hence the reason for the post's image) Here's a link to the complete one hour Texas special ( http://www.hiddenkitchenstexas.org) that the clip above was taken. For those who enjoy Willie Nelson's music, here's a link to a video on YouTube (http://youtu.be/T-Y_6YH1ZcQ) where his son (Lukas) and his daughter (Amy) play in their own band called Promise of the Real. Maybe my ears are a bit weathered from age, but Lukas's voice sounds identical to his dad's. What a gift!